Exhibition of Artists, St. Petersburg, 1911

In 1911, the society of architects-artists organized an exhibition in the halls of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg of works by realist artists of the 18th-19th centuries. The exhibition, even at that time, gave rise to many disputes and discussions in the scientific world. According to the results of the exhibition, the organizers decided to issue a catalog- "made this publication in order to familiarize the public with the most valuable and still almost unknown art material ..." It contains unknown works by Gonzago, Sergeev, Guarenghi, Belsky. Many works caused controversy and were marked as arbitrary sketches. Indeed, on them Petersburg, to put it mildly, is not quite as we see it. There are both ancient ruins, and analysis (splitting) of megalithic masonry and panoramas with drifts from flooding. Of particular interest are sketches of interiors and furniture, such as chandeliers with Masonic symbols, etc. This work, because of its small circulation and controversy, immediately ended up in the storerooms of libraries. Now the library of the Association "Protohistory" has received a full scanned copy and all interested researchers can get acquainted with it.