Women in Russian art: Velikaya at the Russian Museum

When: 6 June 2026 — 11 January 2027

Where: Russian Museum, Mikhailovsky Palace, 4 Inzhenernaya Street, Saint Petersburg

Velikaya: The Image of Woman in Russian Art explores art through a shared theme. Formal portraits, family images and personal stories sit alongside one another, inviting comparisons between the ways artists portrayed their subjects.

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin · Mother (1915). A woman holds a child on her lap.Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin · Russian Museum · Source

Connections between the works

The museum names Mother by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Valentin Serov’s portrait of Zinaida Yusupova and Mikhail Nesterov’s portrait of Olga Nesterova. They offer different starting points: motherhood, society portraiture, character and a person’s presence within the painted space.

The exhibition suits a first encounter with Russian art as well as a return to familiar works with a new question. Choose a few paintings and compare pose, setting and visual language rather than hurrying from one title to the next.

Valentin Serov · Portrait of Zinaida Yusupova (1902). A woman in a pale dress in an interior with a dog.Valentin Serov · Russian Museum · Source

Mikhail Nesterov · Portrait of Olga Nesterova (1906). A woman in a dark dress against a landscape.Mikhail Nesterov · Russian Museum · Source

Venue and dates

The exhibition runs from 6 June 2026 to 11 January 2027 at the Russian Museum’s Mikhailovsky Palace, 4 Inzhenernaya Street. The museum publishes current tickets and visitor arrangements.

Discuss transport to the Mikhailovsky Palace with Hola Taxi if you need a city journey from your hotel or another address. You can include later stops in your museum day, listing each address separately. Museum tickets are purchased separately.