The Unknown Shchukin. More Than Modern Art

The great Moscow philanthropist Sergei Shchukin is worldfamous for his collection of modern art — Impressionists, Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso and Derain. However, recent studies have shown that, alongside avant-garde masterpieces, the collector’s mansion housed entirely different objects. These include Ancient Egyptian artifacts, Asian art, Old Masters, porcelain, and medieval Russian icons. One could say that the Moscow mansion in Bolshoy Znamensky Lane was a real Noah’s ark of world cultures. A century ago, these collections were transferred from the Shchukin house to Moscow and regional museums, which have now come together in the exhibition and research project ‘The Unknown Shchukin. More Than Modern Art ’. Here, every item harbours a discovery. New information expands our understanding of the Shchukin family of collectors, as each work may be connected to one of Sergei Shchukin’s brothers — Pyotr, Dmitry or Ivan — or to his son Ivan Jr. In the catalogue, leading Russian and foreign specialists describe items from the recently discovered and newly studied collections.