After a long wait, the first Russian Icon Collection catalog titled “Russian Icons from the Mid-17th to the Early 20th Centuries: The Collection of Oleg Kushnirskiy” has finally appeared in bookstores. Published by “EKSMO,” the book was released with the support of Fine Art Shippers, an NYC-based art logistics company. It offers an in-depth look into Russian religious art represented by icons from the private collection of Oleg Kushnirskiy, some of which are being revealed to the public for the very first time.
“EKSMO” publishes the catalog of Oleg Kushnirskiy’s Russian icon collection
The catalog of Oleg Kushnirskiy’s Russian icon collection features forty-six images of authentic antique icons. High-quality illustrations are followed by descriptions of the icons and their background. The book was created in collaboration with notable scholars and experts in the field of art history to give the readers a comprehensive overview of the collection. Most of the icons featured in the catalog are pieces of smaller size, dedicated to various religious subjects. A large portion of the collection is comprised of icons depicting the scene of the Resurrection — the Harrowing of Hades, which has been favored by many icon painters and believers throughout the centuries.
Many distinguished scholars worked together to bring this project to life. The compilation of Russian icons was prepared by Anna Ivannikova who works for Russia’s Culture Ministry and specializes in ancient Russian art. Anna Ivannikova curated the collection of icons at the Department of Ancient Russian Art at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and worked as an academic secretary at the Museum of Russian Icon in Moscow. Apart from preparing the catalog, she is also the author of one of the three academic articles featured in the book.
The other two articles were written by the art historian at Chapman University Wendy Salmond and the sociologist and cultural researcher Alek D. Epstein. The art historian and art director of the Russian Icon Collection Sofia Birina edited the book.
The creation of the catalog was supported by the director of the Museum of Russian Icon in Moscow Nikolay Zadorozhny and the well-known icon collector Sergey Khodorkovskiy.
“Russian Icons from the Mid-17th to the Early 20th Centuries: The Collection of Oleg Kushnirskiy” has been released as a limited edition and is rapidly appearing in many Russian bookstores such as labirint.ru, book24.ru, chitai-gorod.ru, bgshop.ru, and others.