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30.03.2020

A Tsarskoe Selo Bicentenary Exhibition poster of 1911 has joined our Museum’s collection as a gift generously presented by Ms Larisa Bardovskaya, Tsarskoe Selo Painting Collection curator.

The poster was a work by Vladimir Y. Langvagen, then an excellent graduate of St Petersburg’s Civil Engineering Institute, just accepted into state service.

His design of the poster boldly attempted to combine past and present and future, with a plane flying in the evening sky above the silhouettes of such historic landmarks of Tsarskoe Selo like the Catherine Palace Chapel, Cameron Gallery, Turkish Bath and Chesme Column.   

Marked in 1910, the Bicentenary of Tsarskoe Selo was later celebrated with a major exhibition project patronized by Emperor Nicholas II. During 10 August to 5 October 2011, the pavilions of the Catherine and Alexander Parks housed displays on the history of both the estate and the town, as well as those demonstrating Russia’s achievements in arts, education, medicine, charity, sports, trade, industry and agriculture. Particularly admirable were new electrical appliances, such as refrigerators and medical equipment, while the accessibility of the exhibition was achieved through progressive bus shuttles.

Impressed by the history and thrilled by new devices, visitors of the exhibition were inspired to dream of what the future might have in store for such a wonderful place as Tsarskoe Selo.   

The poster will first go on display in the 310th anniversary exhibition of Tsarskoe Selo at St Petersburg’s museum and exhibition centre “Russia, My History” in June 2020.