Exhibition about Nikolai Vtorov and his time to open in Reserve Centre of Presidential Library

17 May 2025
Source: The Presidential Library

On May 20, 2025 at 19:00 in Moscow, in the Reserve Centre of the Presidential Library of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation will be held the grand opening of the exhibition "Vtorov and his time".

The project is organised by ARTLINE PROJECT and "Russian Museum of Perfumery" with the support of the Reserve Centre of the Presidential Library.

The historical exhibition is devoted to the life and activity of Nikolai Alexandrovich Vtorov (1866-1918), the largest Russian entrepreneur, banker and industrialist of the early twentieth century.

The project is aimed at reading the forgotten pages of Russian history on the eve of 1917, at reviving the good name of Nikolai Vtorov – a true statesman who did a lot for the prosperity of the country and raising the living standards of his contemporaries; his legacy is still used today.

The place for the exhibition was not chosen by chance: it was on Nikolai Vtorov's funds that two buildings of the "Business Court" complex on Varvarskaya Square (today Slavyanskaya Square) were erected shortly before the revolution. Today one of the buildings houses the Reserve Centre of the Presidential Library.

The hotel and administrative complex "Delovoy Dvor" was designed and built in 1912-1913 by the famous architect Ivan Kuznetsov.

"Delovoy Dvor" was a real business centre: it was equipped with offices, shops, billiard room, libraries, telegraph, warehouses equipped with the latest devices for moving goods, in addition, the building was used for art exhibitions.

The hotel "Delovoy Dvor" consisted of 350 rooms equipped with the latest technology - each room had electricity, telephone connection and hot water, which was rare at that time.

Exhibits of the exhibition "Vtorov and his time" - authentic items of the late XIX - early XX century allow you to feel the spirit of that era. Visitors will see various household items: from cutlery to elegant perfume bottles, newspapers, rare books and albums, various documents, advertising publications dedicated to both the "Business Court" and the manufactory goods of the Vtorovs, technical innovations of that time and much more. Copies of archive photographs from the family album tell about the Vtorov family. The map-scheme of the Russian Empire of the early 20th century presented in the exposition gives a clear idea of the scale of Nikolai Vtorov's activity.

The exhibition "Vtorov and His Time" is held at the Reserve Centre of the Presidential Library in Moscow, Slavyanskaya Ploshchad, 4, building 1, and will run until December 31, 2025. 4, building 1, and will run until 31 December 2025.

Entrance to the Reserve Centre of the Presidential Library is possible only with a passport.

Exhibition opening hours:

11:00-18:00 - for individual visits by registration on the portal: https://artlineproject.ru/vtorov

11:00-21:00 - for tour groups by appointment.

Additional information: info@artlineproject.ru; +7 (903) 553-57-00.