One of the centers of the ‘creation’ of the Russian style was the Abramtsevo estate, located 50 kilometers north of Moscow. Here in 1870 the famous businessman and philanthropist Savva Mamontov bought for himself the estate of the writer Sergei Aksakov. For several years, famous artists, actors and writers, whose main common goal was the development of national culture, have been visiting and working in the estate. Sometimes Ilya Repin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Vasily Polenov came to Abramtsevo for the whole summer, sometimes for a shorter period. In the estate of Savva Mamontov and his wife Elizabeth, a real home museum soon appeared, a collection of folk art amassed by members of the Abramtsevo Art Club, who saw aesthetic value and inspiration for their work in the objects of peasant life.
In 1876, at the school founded by Elizabeth Mamontova to teach carpentry to teenage boys from the surrounding villages, the Abramtsevo carpentry workshop was opened. Then, in 1885, Elena Polenova (sister of the artist Vasily Polenov) became its head, and the workshop’s activities took on not an educational, but an artistic and experimental character. Abramtsevo products were very popular in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities, received prizes at prestigious exhibitions, including the 1900 Paris Exhibition. According to the sketches of Polenova, who completed more than a hundred projects from 1885 to 1894, the workshop made furniture and small household items, decorated with woodcarving, toning, paintings.
Most of the items presented in this part of the exhibition were made according to the artist’s sketches. Among the cabinets, there are three very similar to each other. Each of them has an open shelf supported by a carved pillar on one side. Because of this detail, the cabinets got their name: ‘cabinets with a pillar’. On the left side of the ‘cabinet with a pillar’ you can see a shelf, the shape of which resembles a Russian stove, decorated with carvings and floral ornaments. It is not certain who the author of its sketch is.
In 1876, at the school founded by Elizabeth Mamontova to teach carpentry to teenage boys from the surrounding villages, the Abramtsevo carpentry workshop was opened. Then, in 1885, Elena Polenova (sister of the artist Vasily Polenov) became its head, and the workshop’s activities took on not an educational, but an artistic and experimental character. Abramtsevo products were very popular in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities, received prizes at prestigious exhibitions, including the 1900 Paris Exhibition. According to the sketches of Polenova, who completed more than a hundred projects from 1885 to 1894, the workshop made furniture and small household items, decorated with woodcarving, toning, paintings.
Most of the items presented in this part of the exhibition were made according to the artist’s sketches. Among the cabinets, there are three very similar to each other. Each of them has an open shelf supported by a carved pillar on one side. Because of this detail, the cabinets got their name: ‘cabinets with a pillar’. On the left side of the ‘cabinet with a pillar’ you can see a shelf, the shape of which resembles a Russian stove, decorated with carvings and floral ornaments. It is not certain who the author of its sketch is.
