Museum of Russian Icons
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Clinton, Massachusetts
Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,606 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton , Massachusetts....
, United States. The non-profit museum was created by collector Gordon Lankton to house his extensive collection of Russian icons
Russian icons
The use and making of icons entered Kievan Rus' following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in 988 AD. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, led from the capital in Constantinople...
. Lankton was president and is currently chairman of NYPRO, a billion dollar sales plastic molding company headquartered in Clinton with offices and manufacturing facilities across the globe. His Russian icon collection comprises over 340 icons from the 13th century to the present and covers almost the entire range of Russian icon images, symbols and forms. It is one of the largest private collections outside of Russia and the largest in North America.
Building
Inside the traditional restored brick building, the three floors of the museum are connected by custom-designed, sweeping metal and glass stairways that allow visual access to all floors from any place in the museum. The floors also are all connected by an elevator; the building is totally ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....
compliant.
Treasures From the Andrey Rublev Museum Moscow
October 16, 2010 to June 2011This exhibition, in an ongoing series of major international shows originated by the Museum of Russian Icons, features over 35 important icons from one of the finest museums in Russia. The earliest work is a late 15th century Baptism, a fine example of the influence of Byzantine style that was the origin of this form of Russian sacred art. Major examples of the Trinity and complex vita icons adorn the walls of the spectacular, new special exhibition room.
Tretyakov gallery exhibition
From October 16, 2008 to May 1, 2009 the Museum of Russian Icons hosted a special exhibition featuring 16 icons from the world-renowned State Tretyakov GalleryTretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection,...
in Moscow. Named “Two Museums, One Culture”, this extraordinary exhibition is organized exclusively by the Museum of Russian Icons and was the only USA venue to see these masterpieces. The exhibition was a ground-breaking cultural exchange between a Russian and an American museum. Concurrently, more than 150 icons from the collections of the Museum of Russian Icons were also on display.
New Construction and Expansion
2011 the latest construction project features a state of the art auditorium and multi use workshop space designed by David and Pam Durrant of the Town of Harvard. Opening in June 2011 will be the new Russian tea room, with glittering stone pilasters, glass walls, and a coffrered ceiling evoking the Imperial style of pre Revolutionary Russia. This room is in the old court house retention goal featuring the original Civil War era goal cells with iron bar grilles. By the time this phase of the new construction will be completed in summer 2011 the Museum will have doubled in size. The building is powered by solar panels integrated into the roof system, yielding a sizeable proportion of the electricity needs of the building.Completed in 2010 a new special exhibition room has been created adjacent to the main building of the Museum. Connected to the original structure by a new and glamorous Gift Shop the space features restored historic court room painted a rich red, light by long windows. Outside the space is a summer terrace overlooking the 19th factiory buildings of the Nypro Inc. Heardquarters. The roof is a new green technology featuring a vegetative cover that insulates the rooms below.
In 2009, less than three years after opening its doors, the Museum of Russian Icons broke ground on a major expansion project. The new space includes a new gallery, auditorium, library, and office space. After expansion, the size of the museum doubled. The Museum of Russian Icons has recently purchased another building in Clinton for additional classroom space, part of the building will be used as a suite of rooms for a resident scholar.