The third exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of the birthday of Rembrandt has opened in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace. The exhibition presents works from the collection of P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, the celebrated Russian traveler, geographer and explorer of Central Asia.

The name of the outstanding scholar and statesman Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914) has enjoyed well-earned glory. However, his activity as collector was rather less known to the public. A love for the work of the great Dutchman was the defining passion of this Russian collector of the "age of Rembrandt." The scholar's collection contained more than 700 Dutch and Flemish paintings towards the end of his life.

The exhibition in the Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace has been timed to coincide with the solemn transfer of the remains of Empress Maria Fedorovna from the Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark) and burial in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St Petersburg. The exhibition has been organized by the State Hermitage together with the State Museum of Arts in Copenhagen (Denmark), with the participation of the Pavlovsk State Museum-Preserve.

The exhibition displays 16 works by Lauritz Tuxen (1853-1927) and a painting by Poul Fischer depicting Tuxen at work on the canvas Visit of the Royal Family to New Karsberg. Tuxen showed an interest in drawing at a very early age. During the years 1868-1872, Tuxen studied in the Academy of Arts. He went on to develop his talent in France, where he was influenced by the portraitist Leon Bonnat (1833-1922). While in France the artist mastered contemporary painting techniques, and in his landscapes and studies of nudes he was a continuator of the French Impressionists.

The exhibition in the Winter Palace has been organized by the State Hermitage together with the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, with support from the Ministry of Culture of the French Republic. Family portraits remained a favorite genre of artists during the first half of the 19th century and during the age of Baroque. The Bellelli Family (1858-1867, 200å250 cm) is almost disconnected from the rising Impressionist movement, though Edgar Degas soon became one of its leaders. Very likely it was this absence of bright formal novelty which led to the painting's remaining unnoticed when it appeared in 1867, and it was truly discovered only a half century later. Degas' group composition was scarcely a copy of old methods; on the contrary, it was an amazing development of these methods, drawing on the centuries-old tradition of figurative painting and combining them with the artistic investigations and insights which came following Impressionism, from Seurat to early Mondrian.

The exhibition in the Twelve-Column Hall of the Winter Palace displays more than 100 works of graphic art which came to the Hermitage from various collections in Germany including art treasures which were removed to Russia after the Second World War. The exhibition continues the showing of art works which for a long time remained inaccessible to both researchers and museum visitors.

The name A.F.E. von Menzel links the Age of Romanticism with the period of Expressionism in German fine arts. The years of Adolf Menzel's life marked an important period, one might say a turning point in German history: from the end of the war of liberation in 1815 to 1905, the eve of the First World War.

The exhibition in the Blue Bedroom features works made of rock crystal and various closely related forms of quartz: smoked quartz and amethyst. The exhibition brings together for the first time very important works which were kept in various departments of the museum. The wide time span covered, which ranges from the 5th century B.C. to the start of the 20th century, makes it possible to demonstrate in a convincing manner the merits of gem-cutters of different schools, countries and ages as well as to compare the unique methods and artistic manner of working this amazingly beautiful and warm "icy" stone.

The Russian Museum presents the Alexei Savrasov exhibition. Alexei Savrasovis a founder of the lyric direction in the landscape genre. 90 works from collections of the Russian Museum and Tretyakov Gallery are presented at the exhibition.

Along with the most famous painting Rooks have Come, which had become one of the top achievements of the Russian realistic landscape, the presented works let viewers understand how great the oeuvre of the great master was.

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17 July - beginning of December 2006
Benois Wing

The State Russian Museum presents the major "Pavel Filonov. Witness of the Unseen" exhibition. It is the first since 1988 and the largest personal exhibition of one of the "Titans" of Russian avant-garde. Pavel Filonov dedicated his life to the creation of his own original painterly method. He's recognized and acknowledged by art historians but his oeuvre isn't widely known among the public - that's the result of strict Soviet censorship.

Times of Change. Art of the 1960-85s in the Soviet Union
Benois Wing

The large collection of the art of the 20th century stored in the Russian Museum helps to "reconstruct" the atmosphere of the artistic life of the 1960-80s within the frame of the Times of Change exhibition. On the one hand - the official art, in which the artists of the "harsh style" and representative of the generation of the 1970s rank first - Korzhev, Andronov, Nikonov, Moiseyenko, Zagonek and others. On the other hand - the art of club and apartment exhibitions of the "underground" represented in works by Arefiev, Weisberg, Rabine, Yankilevsky, Tselkov and others.

23 August - end of October 2006 Stroganov Palace
The State Russian Museum for the first time presents the one-man show of the artist Rudolf Frentz (1888-1956). Nearly 80 works - painting, graphic and decorative and applied art from the Museum collection.

The exhibition reflects the early period of the artist's oeuvre, the 1920s. Frentz, famous primarily as a battle and panoramic painting master, for the whole life had been interested in the themes of battles and victories of the Russian and Soviet armies in the wars of the 20th century. He created panoramas and dioramas Storm of the Winter Palace, Defense of Petrograd, Battle of Stalingrad.