Private collecting in the context of europeanization of Russia in XVIII – early XX centuries.

Abstract

The article aims to observe correlations between private collecting and other forms of culture, cultural practices and lifestyles of different social groups. Russian Europeanization was pushed forward by the authorities; the first efforts belonged to the Emperor Peter the Great. The imitation of European fashion emerged at first among court nobility and aristocracy. New aristocratic lifestyle included, besides celebrations, fashion and art, the practice of collecting, specifically collecting art. The period between the XVIII and early XIX centuries was a period of aristocratic collecting. Private collecting easily found its place in the lifestyle of noble Russians as an activity for the elite; it merged into common patterns of “intellectual” leisure activities. Since that time, a part of aristocrats was slowly moving on from collecting of mundane things to historical collecting and collecting art. In the second half of the XIX century the culture of Russian aristocracy slowly fell to decay, and rich manors, mansions and collections soon found new owners. The merchants and manufacturers adopted European (mostly aristocratic) values due to European education. They traveled a lot and started collecting during their journeys. The main innovation of that period of private collecting was publicity, because the collections were made not only due to personal interest, but mostly for some public and social benefit. Public collecting came to be perceived as an activity that benefited society, and a collector got the status of a noble person (equal to aristocrat). Collecting practically allowed a person to change his/her social status. The diffusion of those practices in provincialRussiaemerged from the imitation of theSaint PetersburgandMoscowlifestyles. Growing interest to collecting helped to form scientific and art collections, and they became a basis for future museums and scientific societies.