Museum of Kasteev - half a century

Centuries project

Many of us are familiar with the building of the National Museum of Arts named after Abylkhan Kasteev. Today, as decades ago, we see it as it appeared in 1976. Yet few people know that the architectural appearance of the museum could be completely different: in different years, projects were proposed that differed significantly from the implemented building.

There is another curious fact: the main art museum of the country got a glass dome above the atrium before the famous Louvre.

With the exception of ongoing repairs, the museum building has not undergone extensive restorations. Rather, its surroundings changed – the space around, the urban environment, the very appearance of Almaty.

But what was there before 1976? What was the origin of the museum and what preceded its opening? Let’s look back and find out what this place was like before the Kasteev Museum appeared here.

This can be told to the visitors of the exposition by the curator of the exhibition and research project art historian Oksana Tanskaya.

She managed not only to collect rare archival materials: architectural drawings and photographs, documents, newspaper publications, posters and invitations of the last century, but also for the first time to raise from the funds works of art transferred to the opening of the building in 1976.

So we, as viewers, can see it all today, 50 years later.

Half a century ago

So, 50 years ago, the building of the State Museum of Arts of the Kazakh SSR was opened in Almaty - a space specially created for art. For the anniversary of the building, for the first time in one exposition, architectural drawings, archival documents, photographs of construction and museum life, works of art transferred to the opening, newspaper publications, posters and other evidence of the fifty-year history of the building are presented. They allow you to see the way from the initial idea to its implementation.

Archival photographs continue this story already in the space of the built building: construction, opening, first exhibitions, employees, artists, visitors, educational programs and everyday life of the museum. Architecture is gradually turning from a project into a living cultural space.

Oksana Tanskaya gives us a brief tour, from which it becomes clear how the museum itself appeared and how it developed.

- Separately, it is worth talking about the architectural layout and archival documentation, including design and estimate materials and drawings. The archives also contain cancelled projects. You can see what the museum would be like if the original plans were implemented. For example, on one of the models, the facade of the building is decorated with monumental panels – a remarkable detail that allows you to imagine how the museum was conceived at an early stage of design, Oksana Tanskaya shares. Archival materials also clearly show how the original project was repeatedly changed, reworked and eventually acquired the form in which the building exists today. Of particular interest are archival photographs, in which we see the Shevchenko Gallery even before the museum acquired its own building and received its current status. The gallery existed from 1935 to 1975 and became an important stage in the history of the future museum. Later, the construction of a separate building begins, and during this period an important role in the history of the museum is played by Lyubov Plakhotnaya.

The history of the modern building of the museum dates back to 1965, when the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR decided to design a new building for the State Art Gallery named after T. Shevchenko. According to archival materials, at the stage of development of the project, it was supposed to create not just an exhibition space, but a multifunctional museum complex that would combine the storage, study and restoration of art collections, their exhibition, as well as scientific and educational work.

The implementation of this plan was completed in 1976 with the construction of a new building in Almaty. The project was designed by architects E. Kuznetsova, O. Naumova and B. Novikov. Today, the museum building is a significant object of the architectural heritage of Almaty and is included in the State list of historical and cultural monuments of republican significance as a monument of urban planning and architecture.

- Then we move on to the construction phases of the museum. If you move around the exposition in a circle, the history of its creation is consistently revealed before us: the opening of the museum, the building itself, invitation cards, posters, first publications and releases. Then begins the story of its visitors and the events that took place within these walls for decades. There is another particularly important point – a document signed by Plahotna has been preserved, which states that a certain number of works by famous authors should be transferred to the museum specifically for the construction and opening of the building. We have also included some of these works in our exhibition. Many of them are presented to the viewer for the first time in the last 50 years, says Oksana Tanskaya.

Love Fluffy

Lyubov Georgievna Plakhotnaya (1914-1992) - Honored Worker of Culture of the Kazakh SSR, Director of the Kazakh State Art Gallery named after T. Shevchenko from 1950 to 1973.

Here is what art critic Elizaveta Kim writes about it: In the 1960s in the Soviet Union, among the directors of museums, three names were known to everyone - Vasily Alekseevich Pushkarev (Russian Museum), Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky (Museum in Nukus) and Lyubov Georgievna Plahotnaya. She was in every respect a very large woman. And in accordance with this, she had a strong character, greatness of spirit, passion for gathering and therefore unconditional respect from people of art. All her life she dreamed of a specialized building worthy of such a beautiful collection, and managed to achieve this difficult goal. Today, the Museum of Art named after Kasteev is located in a beautiful architectural structure, in the construction of which Lyubov Georgievna invested her indomitable energy and determination.

It is known that Plakhotnaya served high art, the embodiment of which was the Shevchenko Gallery for her, which later became the Kasteev State Museum of Arts. She gave all her time and energy to collecting. It is amazing how much Lyubov Georgievna has done for the gallery and the museum - you involuntarily think about the role of the individual in history. She knew all the Soviet collectors and the composition of their collections. If she considered it necessary to purchase a work for the gallery, she persistently persuaded the owner with letters, postcards and personal visits and invariably sought her own. That is why we have such a rich collection of unique works of art.

And again, decades later

A special place in this exposition is occupied by works of painting and graphics transferred to the museum funds for the opening of the new building in 1976. These are the works of such artists as R. Falk, K. Redko, E. Zakaryan, N. Livchak, V. Zazerskaya, A. Komarov and others. A significant part of these works is exhibited for the first time in the walls of the museum.

A separate section is represented by printed and graphic materials: newspaper publications, invitations, posters, programs and other printing artifacts. They tell about the first exhibitions in the new building, the educational and educational activities of the museum and its formation as an important part of the cultural life of the city. The history of changing the museum logo from the 1950s to the present day continues this story at the level of the visual image of the institution.

Present

- But the museum is not just about the past. It is a space that lives on today, entering into a dialogue with modernity. That is why, next to the history of the museum, we turn to today’s art, says Oksana Tanskaya. The history of the museum was already reflected by modern artists during the plein airs held near its building. Their work becomes another link in this continuous connection between the past and the present.

The exposition is completed by an architectural layout of the building, made by 3D printing and specially prepared for the opening of the exhibition. On a new scale, the familiar architecture appears as a whole, combining the original idea, the implemented project and five decades of museum life. In the future, the architectural layout is planned to be integrated into the permanent exhibition of the museum as a tactile exhibit for visually impaired persons.

The Living Body of Architecture exhibition and research project invites not only to see the museum from the inside, but also to look at it as an independent cultural phenomenon created for art and eventually became part of the history of art itself.

The exhibition will run until October 30.