Masterpieces of Sacred Art from the Oleg Kushnirskiy Collection

The exhibition features sixty icons drawn from Oleg Kushnirskiy’s important collection of Russian sacred art. Displayed in a museum setting for the first time, Kushnirskiy’s collection presents a remarkably focused assembly of works created in the renowned icon-painting centers of Palekh, Mstyora, and Guslitsy, among others, in the late 17th–19th centuries. Many of the icons elaborate the iconography of Eastern Christendom’s eminent, and indeed pivotal, theme: The Resurrection (Descent into Hell).

Oleg Kushnirskiy is a New York-based collector of Russian icons and a professional fine art photographer. Born to a Jewish family in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, he moved to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) at a young age, where he worked as a photographer for private collectors and institutions, including the State Hermitage Museum. 

In 1992, Kushnirskiy immigrated to the United States. In New York, he continued to work as a professional art photographer and opened the Russian Heritage Store at the Chelsea Antique Center, which eventually turned into a successful business.

When collecting icons, Kushnirskiy was immediately drawn to the aesthetics of late Russian icon painting, with its strikingly multifaceted, colorful, festive compositions and miniature painting, practiced in Palekh and some other traditional icon painting centers. The iconographic scheme of The Resurrection (Descent into Hell) with the full cycle of liturgical events was developed in Palekh, gaining popularity in the 19th century. For Kushnirskiy, it became one of his favorite themes, forming the backbone of his collection.

Masterpieces of Sacred Art from the Kushnirskiy Collection will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery October 26, 2024 – January 26, 2025.

TMORA extends our gratitude to Fine Art Shippers for their staunch support in making this exhibition possible.