Unit II
Museums, Art Galleries, Exhibitions
Ex. 1. Practice the reading:
Museums of Moscow:
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts — Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина
Tretyakov Gallery — Третьяковская галерея
Pushkin Museum — Музей А. С. Пушкина
Museum of Moscow History — Музей истории Москвы
Central House of Art — Центральный Дом художника
Battle of Borodino Museum — Музей-панорама "Бородинская битва"
Andrei Rublyov Museum of Old Russian Art — Музей древнерусской культуры и искусства имени А. Рублева
Historical Museum — Исторический музей
Vasnetsov House-Museum — Дом-музей В. И. Васнецова
Anton Chekhov House-Museum — Дом-музей А. П. Чехова
Apartment Museum of Maxim Gorky — Музей-квартира М. Горького
Yesenin Museum — Музей С. А. Есенина
Museum of Literature — Литературный музей
Polytechnical Museum — Политехнический музей
Biology Museum — Биологический музей имени К. А. Тимирязева
Darwin Museum — Дарвинский музей
The first museum in Moscow (the Zoological Museum) was founded in 1791.
Today Moscow has about 150 museums. There are 12 million exhibits in them. 14 million people visit the Moscow museums yearly.
Ex. 2. Read and translate the text:
Государственный Бородинский военно-исторический музей-заповедник
The State War and History Museum-Reserve of Borodino
The State Museum-Reserve of Military History of Borodino is situated in 124 km west of Moscow on the field of the same name. One of the greatest battles was fought here on September 7, 1812. Mikhail Kutuzov led the Russian troops.
Nowadays one can see more than 300 monuments and historic objects on this field.
The foundation of this museum dates back from August 26, 1839. It has already celebrated its 150th anniversary.
The main monument of this memorial was built in 1839 on the territory of disposition of the Russian battery led by Rayevsky. It was a 30-metre stela. In honour of the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812, 36 monuments were unveiled including that to Mikhail Kutuzov in the village of Gorky. A monument to the Unknown Soldier of the War of 1812 was established on the occasion of the 150th anniversary.
The field of Borodino with the total area of 109.7 sq. km was declared the State War and History Museum-Reserve in 1961. There are many portraits of battle heroes, Kutuzov's personal things, some pieces of French weapons, many documents concerning the history of Borodino in this museum. Now the State
War and History Museum-Reserve of Borodino is one of the biggest in Russian Federation. It co-operates with the museums of the same character in Bulgaria, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
Ex. 3. Learn the words and answer the questions:
troops — войска
defeat — наносить поражение
nowadays — в наши дни, теперь
unveil — торжественно открывать (памятник)
declare — объявлять
QUESTIONS
1. Where is the State Museum-Reserve of Military History of Borodino situated?
2. How many monuments can one see on this historic field? What are they?
3. When was this museum founded?
4. When was the main monument of this memorial built?
5. When was a monument to M. Kutuzov unveiled?
6. A monument to the Unknown Soldier of the War of 1812 was established on the occasion of the 150th anniversary, wasn't it?
7. What kind of interesting things can you see in this museum?
8. You like to visit museums, don't you?
9. How often do you go to the museums?
10. Have you been to this museum?
Speech Exercises
Ex. 1. Comment on the following situations:
1. What do you feel when you look at an outstanding painting?
2. How do you appreciate the paintings?
3. What is the best way to make you take an interest?
4. What feelings and emotions do you usually have visiting exhibitions?
Ex. 2. Points to render:
1. What are the ways and means by which the artist’s painting is revealed and estimated?
2. The best way to get understanding and enjoyment of art is to view many paintings.
3. Great works of art seem to look different every time one stands before them.
Ex. 3. Speak about Russian painters. Do you know any facts about their lives and pictures?
Art Gallery
Ex. 1. Read and translate the text:
THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY
One of the best-known picture galleries in the Soviet Union and perhaps in the world is the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. It is housed in a small but very Russian-looking building in the centre of Moscow, close to the Kremlin and the Moskva River.
The gallery takes its name from its founder P. M. Tretyakov, who began to collect Russian paintings in 1856 for the purpose of bringing art close to all the people. The gallery, with the excellent collection it contained, was nationalized in 1918 and since then it has received many thousands of works of art, making it one of the best collections of Russian painting. In fact its collection is now so large that a new building will soon be built not far from the Gorky Park of Culture and Rest, so that the riches it contains will be seen by still more lovers of art in the Soviet Union and abroad.
The gallery contains halls devoted to old Russian painting to the great painters of the 18th and 19th centuries, to great masters such as Ivanov, Levitan, Serov, Surikov, Repin, and to the Soviet period in art.
Probably the best known among the old Russian painters is Andrei Rublev. His "Trinity", painted about the year 1411, is remarkable because, although it is in the manner of the old icon painters, it is more humanistic and reflects in a new way the life and soul of the Russian people.
Tretyakov began his collection with the works of the travelling artists or "peredvizhniki", so it is natural that canvases of masters such as Kramskoy, Perov and Ge have a big place there. Well known to lovers of art all over the world are "Morning in the Forest" by Shishkin and "Ivan Tsarevich on the Grey Wolf" by Vasnetsov, both in the tradition of the travelling artists.
The Soviet people love the works of Levitan, who also took part in the travelling artists' movement. How colourful and Russian are his landscapes "Golden Autumn", "A Birch Grove", "After the Rain"! How sad is his "Vladimirka", showing the road of the political prisoners into exile in tsarist times.
Repin, to whom a whole hall is devoted, is one of the best-known of Russian painters. His works reflect the history of the Russian state ("Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan"); the life of the Russian people ("The Volga Boatmen" which moves us in the same manner as the well-known Russian song sung so often by Shalyapin); the working people's struggle ("Not expected"— the return of a political exile, "The Arrest of the Propagandist"). Repin is also famous for his portraits — self-portrait, portraits of L. Tolstoy, Rubinstein and others, which can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.
The many new exhibits the gallery has received since the Great October Socialist Revolution include works by painters of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and especially canvases of Soviet artists. The gallery now contains many works by Ioganson, Gerasimov, Plastov and many others. These show the life and work of the Soviet people, scenes of war and of labour, political and everyday life, the efforts of the Soviet people to build socialism and a happy and peaceful life for all people.
The Tretyakov Gallery, besides the big collections in its halls, also organizes exhibitions in other towns and halls. Thus it continues the tradition of its founder and of Soviet culture by bringing real art closer to the people.
Ex. 2. Answer the questions to the text:
1. What is one of the best-known picture galleries in Russia?
2. Where is it housed?
3. Who does the gallery take its name from?
4. When did P.M. Tretyakov begin to collect Russian paintings?
5. Why did Tretyakov collect Russian paintings?
6. When was it nationalized?
7. What are the riches the gallery contains?
8. What great masters can one see in the halls of the State Gallery?
9. Who is the painter of the best known icon “The Trinity”?
10. What is this icon famous for?
11. What canvases did Tretyakov begin his collection with?
12. Who are the representatives of the travelling artist’s movement?
13. What masters of landscape and portraits is the State Gallery proud of?
14. Does the Tretyakov Gallery continue the tradition of its founder?
Speech Exercises
Ex. 1. Find in the text synonyms to:
a painter; to reflect; to contain; a landscape; a painting; to collect; to organize exhibitions.
Ex. 2. Say as many sentences as you can, using the following substitution pattern:
Gainsborough
is
an outstanding
painter of the
19th
century
Morland
a brilliant
18th
Reynolds
a prominent
17th
Van Dyck
16th
Michelangelo
Rembrandt
Bryullov
Shishkin
Surikov
Vasnetsov
Ex. 3. Use the following words and word combinations in sentences of your own:
well-known; to be housed; to be devoted to; a work of art; a real master of; a collection of the 18th century; to continue the tradition of; humanistic; to reflect; the life and soul of; to receive; Russian culture; close to people.
a gallery; the State Gallery; the National Gallery; the Tate Gallery; the State Tretyakov Gallery; the Art Gallery.
Ex. 4. Which is the odd word out?
a) painter, photographer, potter, sculptor, sailor, weaver.
b) drawing, painting, embroidery, needlework, sculpture, sewing, sketching, teaching, weaving.
c) to colour, to dye, to read, to paint, to stain, to tinge, to tint.
Ex. 5. Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1. It is housed in a small but very Russian-looking building in the centre of Moscow, close to the Kremlin and the Moskva River.
2. The gallery was nationalized in 1918 and since then it has received many thousands of works of art.
3. In fact its collection is now so large that a new building will soon be built not far from the Gorky Park of Culture and Rest, so that the riches will be seen by still more lovers of art.
Ex. 6. Complete the following sentences using the words from the text:
1. The gallery, with the excellent collection it …, was nationalized in 1918.
2. The riches it …, will be seen by still more lovers of art in Russia and abroad.
3. The gallery … halls devoted to old Russian painting, to the great painters of 18th and 19th centuries, to great masters such as Ivanov, Levitan, Serov, Surikov, Repin.
4. The gallery now … many works by Ioganson, Gerasimov, Plastov and many others.
Ex. 7. Translate into English using the vocabulary of the Unit:
1. Я вижу ты интересуешься пейзажами Левитана.
2. Ты заметил тот прекрасный портрет «Девушка в зеленом»?
3. Коллекция галереи Тейта содержит работы Констебля, Блейка, Тернера и других британских мастеров.
4. Коллекция картин Передвижников отражает историю России18 и 19 столетий.
5. Какой уникальной древнерусской иконой владеет Третьяковская галерея?
6. Общеизвестно, что это произведение искусства очень ценное.
7. У них было много общего в изображении жизни и души русского народа.
Ex. 8. Say some sentences about the portrait given below:
Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov by I. Kramskoy
Ex. 9. Say some words about the gallery that he founded.
Ex. 10. Read, translate and learn the dialogues:
CONVERSATION IN THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY
"Ah! I see you are interested in Repin's portraits." "Yes, I like this one of Pirogov very much." "What I like about Repin's portraits is the expression of the eyes. Did you notice Pirogov's eyes in his portrait?"
"Yes, the eyes of a thinker and at the same time of a very human person."
"But you know that is noticeable also in Repin's other canvases. Take for example his "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan". The tsar's eyes, which shine against the dark background, really reflect his soul: his horror because he has killed his son and also his love for the Russian state, which made him commit- that crime."
"I think you are right! The expression of the eyes is also very characteristic in such canvases as "The Arrest of the Propagandist"; strong will and readiness to die for his cause in the eyes of the man who is arrested, surprise, fear and hatred of the gendarmes in the eyes of some other people in the room."
"And what about 'The Volga Boatmen'?"
"I think their eyes show suffering, and at the same time their will to fight and to live."
"I agree with you. And I think that we can see in Repin's own eyes, in his self-portrait, the soul of a man who sees all of life, who understands his comrades and sees the good and bad in them. All that is necessary to paint such famous canvases."
SHORT CONVERSATIONS
1. "Hello, Igor! Are you going anywhere special?"
"I'm going to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. There's an exhibition of French impressionists there."
"Oh, impressionists, naturalists, surrealists! I don't understand all those schools in art, I never go to such exhibitions."
"But you'll never understand art if you don't take any interest in it. I don't like all the modern schools either, but we learn a lot by seeing the world through other people's eyes."
2. "Hello, Raya! Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"To the Polytechnical Museum to see the exhibition of earth satellites."
"The sputniks? Now that's interesting. Is the entrance free?"
"Yes, it is, but there are always a lot of people who want to go. This evening is organized by our club."
"May I come with you?"
"I suppose so, if you want to,"
"Of course, I do!"
"Come on then, Sasha. We must hurry or we'll be late for the beginning."
Ex. 11. Reproduce the dialogues from Ex. 10.
Ex. 12. Describe your visit to a museum or an art gallery.
Ex. 13. Speak on the following situations:
a. Your hobby is collecting stamps of Russian painters. You meet a friend of yours who is also interested in Russian painting. You describe your collection and try to get new stamps of Russian painting of the 18th and 19th centuries.
b. You want to buy a birthday present for your teacher. You think a reproduction of famous paintings will be a suitable present. You discuss it with the shop-assistant what to buy and choose a landscape by Levitan.
Ex. 14. Make up a dialogue of your own using the words:
to notice; paintings by Shishkin; exhibition; master; tradition; natural; purpose; to surprise; special; manner.
Ex. 15. Look through the video-film “The Tretyakov Gallery p. I” and make the plan.
Additional Material
Ex. 1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary.
THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY
There are many interesting galleries in our country. The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the famous and well-known picture galleries in our country and all over the world.
The State Tretyakov Gallery is situated in a Russian-looking building in the centre of Moscow. This gallery is named after its founder Peter Tretyakov. He began to collect Russian paintings in 1856. He wanted these paintings to be seen by people.
This gallery and collections of paintings were nationalized in 1918.
The first works in Tretyakov's collection were the paintings of the "Peredvizhniki". The collector bought paintings "Morning in a Pine Wood" by Shishkin and "Ivan Tsarevich on the Grey Wolf" by Vasnetsov.
The gallery has got many halls. There are halls devoted to the great Russian painters of the 18th and 19th centuries. We can see pictures by such painters as Serov, Repin, Ivanov, Levitan and others. You can see the landscapes "After Rain" and "Golden Autumn". These paintings by Levitan are beautiful. I like to see his paintings because he is one of my favourite artists. I compare his painting "Golden Autumn" with the poem "Autumn" by Pushkin.
There are some paintings by Repin in the Tretyakov Gallery. His paintings are connected with the history of our country. For example, his painting "Ivan Grozny Murders His Son Ivan". There are some portraits of Lev Tolstoy and a self-portrait of Repin in this hall.
I like the painting "Trinity" by Andrei Rublyov. This work reflects the life and soul of the Russian people.
This gallery has many new exhibits now. You can see works of the painters of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century there. I like works by Gerasimov. I think that he is a very talented painter.
WORDS
1. Trinity — Троица
2. compare — сопоставлять, сравнивать
3. favourite — любимый
4. painting — живопись
5. exhibit — экспонат
6. talented — талантливый
Ex.2. Answer the questions:
1. Are there many galleries in our country?
2. What is one of the famous galleries?
3. Who was the founder of this gallery?
4. When did Peter Tretyakov begin to collect paintings?
5. Where is this gallery situated?
6. How many halls are there in the State Tretyakov Gallery?
7. What Russian artists do you know?
8. Do you know the paintings of the "Peredvizhniki"?
9. You like some landscapes by Levitan, don't you?
10. Why do you like works by Repin?
Ex. 3. Discuss the following statements:
a. Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can.
b. Genius is a talent provided with ideas.
c. Genius is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.
Ex. 4. Comment on the following quotations:
a. “A picture is a poem without words”.
Horace (65-8 BC)
b. “All art is but imitation of nature”
Seneca (4 BC – 65 AD)
c. “A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great”
Reynolds (1723-1792)
Ex. 5. Look through the video-film “The Tretyakov Gallery (p. II)”
a. Give your impression of it
b. What new facts have you learnt?
Ex. 6. Practice reading the following words and words combinations. Learn them by heart:
outstanding - выдающийся
brilliant - блестящий
prominent - выдающийся
a painter - художник
a portraitist - портретист
a century - столетие
pastoral scenes - пасторальные сцены
nature - природа
landscape - пейзаж
sea-scape - морской пейзаж
genre scenes - жанровые сцены
still-life - натюрморт
battle scenes - батальные сцены
the artist's deep psychological approach – глубокий психологический подход
enables him – дает ему возможность
to portray – изображать
to create – создавать
to impact – передавать
likeness – портретное сходство
a sinister atmosphere – зловещая атмосфера
a true impression of the sitter – правдивое изображение модели
enlivens the landscape – оживляет пейзаж
the ruins of the castle – развалины замка
a real masterpiece of world painting – настоящий шедевр мировой живописи
Revision Exercises
Ex. 1. Say where they were born:
a. (Kramskoy/Voronezh) was born in Voronezh.
b. (Kiprensky/Petergoff)
c. (Venetsianov/Moscow)
d. (Surikov/ Krasnoyarsk)
e. (Serov/St. Petersburg)
Ex. 2. Who was this painting painted by?
a. “Ukraine Night”
b. “The Vladimirka Road”
c. “The Movers”
d. “Hunters at rest”
e. “Portrait of the Composer Musorgsky”
Ex. 3. Insert the words where necessary:
was housed; is situated; was born; is enriched; was trained; is occupied; are shown
a. Tretyakov Gallery … constantly … by works of Russian and Soviet painters, sculptors, graphic artisis.
b. It … in a small but very Russian looking building in the centre of Moscow.
c. A.S. Stepanov … at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture by Sorokin and Pryanishnikov.
d. A predominant place in Stepanov’s work … by autumn and winter landscape remarkable for their plain-air effects.
e. Surikov … in Krasnoyarsk in the family of a Cossack.
f. The Hermitage … in St. Petersburg and its art exhibitions … around Russia.
Speech Exercises
Ex. 1. Read and translate the dialogue
- What do you know about Russian art?
- I am fond of Russian avant-garde. The canvases of Tatlin, Malevich, Kandinsky do credit to our nation and traditions.
- I wonder where Russian avant-garde art has ever been displayed abroad.
- Yes, today Russian avant-garde art is being displayed in its entirety – both in Russia and abroad. Previously only the canvases of the artists of the 1920s were popular.
- It must be very interesting.
- You have said it. The exhibition usually attracts crowds of people.
- Yes, even among very young people there are very talented and progressive artists. Their pictures give much food for thought.
- Certainly.
Ex. 2. Speak about your last visit to the exhibition.
Ex. 3. Write down an essay on your impression of this exhibition.
