Published on: 2026-10-10
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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For a month, the exhibition “The Art of the Stage. Academic Painting” In Pavilion No. 1 “Central” at VDNKh, 35 thousand guests visited. It opened on September 10 and is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatre Workers of Russia.
The exhibition continues the series of projects that were presented in Pavilion No. 1 “Central” at VDNH in 2024–2026. The first major event after the pavilion’s restoration was the exhibition of the State Tretyakov Gallery dedicated to Russian art of the 20th–21st centuries, which was visited by about 120 thousand people. The exhibition “The Image of Moscow in Russian Art” from the collection of the State Russian Museum, opened in autumn 2025, became another bright cultural event: more than 330 thousand guests saw 115 valuable exhibits.
The new exhibition features about 200 rare exhibits. Among them are masterpieces by Ilya Repin, Karl Bryullov, Orest Kiprensky, Vasily Surikov, and other painters, as well as graphic art, sculpture, books, decorative and applied arts, and authentic theatrical costumes. The organizers set the goal to demonstrate to the audience the deep connection between Russian academic painting and theater, focusing on visual direction.
The project brought together 32 museums from 12 cities. The exhibition curator is Semyon Mikhaylovsky, rector of the Ilya Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, and honored artist of the Russian Federation.
The exhibition is arranged as a sequential route through seven themed rooms. It begins with Saint Petersburg and the Academy of Arts, continues with biblical, mythological, historical, and genre scenes, and concludes with characters, portraits, and theatrical costumes. This journey gives Muscovites and tourists the opportunity to see a panorama of Russian art.
Under the dome of the “Central” pavilion, a spatial installation called “Costume” was placed. It features authentic stage costumes — treasures from the leading theatrical museums of Russia. The Mariinsky Theatre is represented by 15 pieces. Among them are luxurious costumes from the ballet “The Firebird,” including a jewel-encrusted kaftan made of golden brocade with appliqué, as well as exquisite outfits from “Giselle” and “Cinderella.”
The exhibition also includes costumes from the Bolshoi Theatre: unique outfits of Galina Ulanova for the role of Giselle and the costume of Sergei Lemeshev for the role of Lensky. The Alexandrinsky Theatre presents an equally impressive collection: costumes for “Macbeth” and a reconstructed costume of Monta from “Masquerade,” the last performance of the Russian Empire, which premiered in 1917.
Visitors to the pavilion can see an elegant costume from the play “Anna Karenina” from the MHAT Museum collection. The famous Soviet actress Alla Tarasova performed in this outfit in 1937. Her image can be seen on the bas-relief “To the Banner-Bearer of Peace, Glory to the Soviet People!” in the “Central” pavilion. It was created by a group of sculptors led by People’s Artist of the USSR Yevgeny Vuchetich for the postwar opening of the exhibition in 1954.
You can visit the exhibition “Stage Art. Academic Painting” daily except Monday. Opening hours are from 11:00 to 21:00. Conditions of visit and details are published on the VDNH website. Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased using the service “Mosbilet”.
The implementation of new museum projects corresponds to the objectives of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality” and the development strategy for VDNH until 2030. More about Russia’s national projects and the capital’s contribution can be found at special page.
A large-scale project is presented on the portal mos.ru special project, dedicated to the development of key sectors of Moscow. Among them are transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and construction. The special project helps to learn how the capital has changed in recent years, what initiatives aimed at making residents’ lives even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its residents in the near future.
On the project page “Culture, Heritage, and Leisure Industry” you can learn about how architectural monuments are preserved in the capital.
Moscow is the cultural center of the country and ranks among the leading mega-cities in terms of the number of museums and exhibition halls. The city has created a film cluster that combines the Moskino film factory on Ryazansky Prospect, the Gorky Film Studio, and the Moskino film park.
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