Museums of Russia: The exhibition, marking the 100th anniversary of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo Museum-Reserve of I. S. Turgenev, opens in Moscow

The exhibition When you will be in Spasskoye…, marking the 100th anniversary of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo Museum-Reserve – the estate of I. S. Turgenev, opens on October 12, 2022 in the House of Lyuboshchinsky-Vernadsky in Moscow. The title of the exhibition is referencing a letter of the seriously ill writer, mentally saying goodbye to his ancestral home.

The Spasskoye has combined in itself the most valuable and sacred meanings for the writer, played an immense role in the formation of his personality and creative fate. Here, Turgenev experienced romantic interests, longed for Pauline Viardot – perhaps, that’s why the estate became the main setting for numerous Turgenev’s works. The novels Rudin, Home of the Gentry, On the Eve, Fathers and Sons were written here. Almost the entire palette of Russian literature, the writer’s friends and acquaintances have visited his family estate: L. Tolstoy, K. Leontiev, M. Shchepkin, A. Fet, I. Aksakov, P. Kireyevsky, D. Grigorovich, S. Botkin, A. Druzhinin.

The exhibition tells about the history of the estate and the museum-reserve. Special attention is paid to the fate of Turgenev’s heritage and the collection of his memorabilia.

The exposition consists of three sections, a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue is dedicated to the history of the estate, the first section – to the history of the family, the second section tells about the life of the estate during Turgenev’s lifetime, the third one – about the death and revival of the state. The epilogue reveals the activity of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo Museum-Reserve today. The exhibits include first publications of Turgenev’s works, family portraits and photographs of the Turgenevs and their estate, personal belongings of the writer, illustrations for Turgenev’s works, letters, picturesque sketches. The exposition is complemented by audio installations from fragments of memories, letters, literary works.

The multimedia part of the exhibition presents the 100-year long history of the Spasskoye-Lutovinovo Museum-Reserve.