Step into a world where winter is not an ordeal, not a season to endure, but one to embrace. Through 20th-century paintings and folk art, this exhibition explores how generations in Russia transformed long winters into seasons of beauty, celebration, and community. Traditional winter attire, winter landscapes, objects of folk art painted with the scenes of skating, sledding, festivals, and snow-covered villages reveal a culture that found color and warmth, amid the frozen landscape.
Presented in Minnesota, these works invite us to reflect on our own experience of life in a northern climate. Though separated by continents, our regions share an enduring relationship with winter—one shaped not only by resilience, but also by creativity, beauty, and joy. Discover how generations of artists and craftspeople turned the frozen snow-white landscape into a celebration of life.
The Northern Palette: Winter in Russian Art and Tradition is on view in the Main Gallery October 10, 2026 – January 24, 2027.
Troika, 1964
Oil on canvas
Gift of Jack and Pam Safar
Collection of The Museum of Russian Art
Old Ladoga, 1965
Oil on board
Gift of the Wally Findlay Galleries
Collection of The Museum of Russian Art
Boy in Winter Clothing with Skis
1990s
Fabric, wood
Gift of Susan Johnson
Girl Wearing Valenki with Painted Bear Sled
1990s
Fabric, felted wool, wood
Gift of Susan Johnson
Wood
Gift of Robert J. Brokop
Wood
Gift of Robert J. Brokop
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