The memorial hall of the Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev House-Museum presents a large showcase with the painter’s personal belongings that were donated by his descendants, including Kustodiev’s paint cases, a palette, oil paint tubes, brushes, a box of pastels of the Moscow brand “Dosekin”, a chalk box and the German magazine Die Kunst.

Die Kunst was a monthly publication on fine and applied arts, printed in Munich, Germany, by the publishing company Friedrich Bruckmann. The quarto-format paperback magazine featured lots of high-quality illustrative photos and reproductions. It was highly praised by Boris Kustodiev.

On August 19, 1901, Boris Kustodiev wrote to the artist Ivan Kulikov,

The main section of the magazine contained reviews of exhibitions and articles on the work of artists, sculptors, and craftsmen, such as embroiderers and puppeteers. The beginning and the end sections had various advertisements and announcements, for example, about the activities at the Royal School of Art in Berlin or the First Bavarian Exhibition of Industry and Art.

On pages 305–309, the magazine features an article by Pavel Ettinger on the work of Boris Kustodiev. After briefly recounting the artist’s biography — his birth in Astrakhan, his studies in Saint Petersburg under Ilya Repin, and his participation in the creation of the painting “Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901”, Ettinger praises Kustodiev for his sense of form and his understanding and bold rendering of textures. Considering Kustodiev’s activity as a portrait painter, the author notes that Kustodiev does not always emerge victorious in his struggle with the color structure. There is still room for him to develop as a colorist, as his excessive use of bright colors quite often overshadows real life. The critic also mentions the maturing painter’s distinctive works and the great prospects ahead of him.