Museum of Maltsevi (or Maltsevy) (Музей хрусталя им. Мальцевых) family is actually a former Russian Orthodox Church of Saint George. It was constructed in 1892- 1903 by Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev- Maltsev, one of the members of the Maltsevi clan who made glass for many decades in the city. The architect of the beautiful cathedral was Leonti Benois and many of the of the frescoes were painted by a famous Russian artists Viktor Vasnetsov. It was constructed in a Byzantine style that was quiet popular at the time. The only thing that is left from the original interior is a mosaic over the the former altar. The church miraculously survived survived Soviet era, but it lost its bell tower and the top of the main building. Instead it in 1974 it was converted into a museum of glass that was historically produced here.
The exposition of one of the best museums of domestic
art glass was opened to visitors in May 1983. Currently, it presents
about two thousand exhibits. This is a rich collection of samples of
mass production of the Gusevsky Crystal Factory, starting from the 2nd
half of the 18th century to modern production samples, as well as unique
author's works of Gusev glass artists. The exposition is constantly
supplemented with modern samples of production.
The creative team
of the plant is a team of professional artists. All of them are
permanent participants of exhibitions both in Russia and abroad. Solid
works of the People's Artist of Russia V.S. Muratov, who managed to
organically combine professionalism with the folk traditions of
glassmaking in his work. Muratov's decorative glass sculptures are a
whole system of new plastic solutions, a subtle, figurative
understanding of color. Refined, graceful, elegant handwriting O.I.
Kozlova. In the tradition of old free-flowing glass, the works of V.V.
Korneev - Honored Artist of Russia and chief artist of the crystal
factory. They have a lot of subtle humor, juicy, bright sound of glass.
Korneev is the leading master of the diamond cut. His drawings of
diamond cutting are notable for their originality, non-standard
thinking, while at the same time respecting the traditions of the
classic diamond cutting of the 19th century. The beauty of the nature of
Meshchera nourishes the work of the "elders" of artists - People's
Artist of Russia E.I. Rogov. Bright decorative ensembles, lyrical
compositions and multi-object sets of artists V.I. Kasatkina, V.S.
Zaitseva, R.N. Aksyonov's works are marked by impeccable taste,
figurative richness, and emotional richness. Works of the Honored Artist
of Russia A.S. Kurilov is distinguished by the ability to speak the
language of feelings, to recreate lyrical images, while remaining within
the boundaries of glass plasticity. His favorite technique - engraving -
turns into artistic expressiveness of form in his works.