The Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Valletta is currently hosting Nikolay Krasnov and his legacy, an art exhibition dedicated to the 155th anniversary of the birth of Krasnov, a Russian architect and artist with a Malta connection.
Krasnov was born in the Russian Empire into a family of peasants. His outstanding talent was recognised early and at the age of 12 he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
At the age of 23, in 1887, he was appointed chief city architect of Yalta (Crimea, Russia). During this appointment he transformed this seaside town into the top resort destination of Russia and designed several villas for the Russian aristocracy.
In 1909 Krasnov was commissioned to design and built a new Imperial Palace at Livadia (a settlement near Yalta) for the last Russian Tsar Nicolas II.
The massive Neo-Renaissance building of 116 rooms was completed in just 17 months. Krasnov was appointed Imperial Court Architect and always considered Livadia Palace his artistic triumph.
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Krasnov left Russia and lived in Malta in exile from April 1919 to May 1922. There he painted over 100 watercolours depicting views of Malta. His works clearly show that he could not resist falling in love with the colours of the Mediterranean sea, sky and stone.
The exhibition consists of over 20 digital copies watercolors painted by Krasnov during his stay in Malta in 1919-1922.
Seven of them are from the collection of MUŻA and the rest are from a private collection. Of special interest are digital copies of Krasnov’s design of Livadia Palace (Crimea, Russia), a summer residence of the last Russian Tsar Nicolas II.
Out of nearly 100 architectural projects designed by the prolific Krasnov in Russia and Serbia, Livadia Palace is his opus magnum.
The Russian Centre for Science and Culture expresses its gratitude to Heritage Malta, Dr Albert Ganado, House of the Russian Abroad (Moscow, Russia) and Livadia Palace Museum (Crimea, Russia) for their cooperation in organising this exhibition.
Nikolay Krasnov and his legacy will be open to the public until December 27.