Irina Sidorenko

Private Art Collecting in St. Petersburg Around 1900: Case Study: the Yusupov Collection Irina Sidorenko

This work deals with the history of private art collecting in St. Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century. It sheds light on the local peculiarities of private art collecting in St. Petersburg within a broader national phenomenon of collecting. The description and analysis of the art life and art market is provided to highlight the specifics of private art collecting in St. Petersburg around 1900. The case study of one of the oldest private art collections of the country, the Yussupov art collection, offers an insight into the collecting activity of the nobility in St. Petersburg at the turn of the century. It is used as a prism through which the role of an art collector of the noble origin in collecting and patronising art is defined. The Yussupovs as old collectors and patrons of art are contrasted to the new generation of collectors of various background of both St. Petersburg and Moscow. The study of the Yussupov collection demonstrates how collectors of the old type, such as the Yussupovs, adjust to new artistic reality. The analysis should be especially useful to professionals in Art History and History or anyone else who may be interested in Russian culture and history.