The building of the Sochi Museum in the 'Stalinist Empire' style was erected in 1936 to a design by the prominent Soviet architect Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovsky. The museum is an architectural monument: from Kurortny Prospect it is adorned with the sculpture 'The Stonemason' by N. K. Ventsel, and from Ordzhonikidze Street — 'The Carpenter' by L. I. Efimova. Originally the city committee of the CPSU was housed in the building. In 1972 the building was transferred to the Exhibition Hall, and in 1988 the Exhibition Hall was granted museum status.
Photo: puzzlegarage.com
The core of the collection consists of paintings transferred from Sochi sanatoriums. Today the museum's holdings include more than 6,000 items, covering periods from antiquity to contemporary foreign art. The collection is divided into thematic sections and is presented in departments of painting, sculpture, graphic arts and decorative and applied arts.
P.P. Konchalovsky 'Lilac' 1935. Photo by the author
The Sochi Museum displays the famous Mzymta hoard — the largest ancient hoard ever found on the territory of Sochi. In 1997 it was discovered by a 'black archaeologist', a resident of the village Kazachiy Brod — Andrey Chamkin. The hoard was found at the site of an ancient warrior's burial and was dated to the 5th century BC. The assemblage included parts of military equipment and Sarmatian-style swords, silver bowls (phiales) with relief decoration and phalerae — plaques used to decorate the harnesses of war horses. Specialists suggest that the hoard may have been part of the spoils of the Mixellines (mixed Greeks) who in antiquity inhabited the territories of the Black Sea coast. The hoard was restored by specialists from the Hermitage with sponsorship from Greece.
Mzymta hoard. Photo: sochi.scapp.ru
Silver phalera depicting a woman-snake. Photo: Pinterest
The painting collection is represented by works of realist artists: Brodsky, Gerasimov, Zhilinsky, Byalynitsky-Birulya, Kuprin, Baksheev, Konchalovsky, Krymov, Mashkov and others. The museum's collection also includes works by renowned painters of the 19th–20th centuries — Aivazovsky, Polenov, Feshin, Serov.
A.E. Arkhipov 'Winter Morning' 1920. Photo by the author
A.M. Gerasimov 'Peonies' 1929. Photo by the author
On three thousand square meters of exhibition space the museum regularly displays works from different eras. Each year the museum hosts 25–30 exhibitions with exhibits brought from various cities of Russia and Europe. The Sochi Art Museum named after D.D. Zhilinsky is an outstanding architectural monument of the city and a pillar of the cultural life of the Black Sea coast.
