St. Petersburg~A Favorite City of Mine

As usual in Russia, it is a place of mixed meaning and effect. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703 as his “Window on the West” it is still that and for that reason a place at arm’s length from the rest of Russia. And for that reason, one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

 St. Petersburg is a feminine city. She is an elegant and noble woman sitting draped with the jewels of her youth waiting for her prince to return. It is the most beautiful Italianate city in Europe. This “Venice of the North” with its symmetry, canals, architecture, statuary, museums, performing arts, palaces, gardens and languid summers with endless days make it a city never to be forgotten. The palaces are more flamboyant than Versailles and more numerous than anywhere in the world. I used to call it “Paris without paint,” but for the 300^th anniversary in 2003, the lady polished her nails, groomed her hair and donned a clean and colorful dress.  From my book, “Walking on Ice, an American Businessman in Russia.”

 St. Petersburg is not Russia; it is the historical myth of Imperial Russia. St. Petersburg is charming, gentle, romantic. It goes to bed at ten. But during the glorious summer White Nights it doesn’t sleep at all.

 As President of the Los Angeles/St.Petersburg Sister City Committee, I keep reasonably in touch.

 What do you think? Have you been there?

Buy here  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”

“Grappling With Soviet Symbolism,” New York Times

In the May 15, 2010 edition of The New York Times, was an article by Andrei Zolotov, Jr. “Grappling With Soviet Symbolism. This paralleled well with the sentiments in my book  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia.” So, I wrote a letter to the New York Times and they, surprisedly, answered at once telling me it was going to be published in the International Herald Tribune. I expect to see a copy of that soon. Here is what I wrote:

 “What a welcome account of the obvious change happening in Russia today. It has been happening, but slowly and often unnoticed by the press. Lenin said Russia progressed one step forward and one step back. I say today it is three steps forward and two back, but we must acknowledge that residual step and help build on it. Zolotov covered it all well. Indeed, it is often the “blink” of events that help turn the head and then the body in a new and better direction. The Smolensk fatal crash killing the Polish leadership on the anniversary of the Katyn massacre may well have been that unexpected moment that turned the Russian heads. In my seventeen years in Russian business, it has been so obvious that the country was inching toward a reality first foreseen by Peter the Great, now led by the world-conscious young as they lead Russia out of the historic dark past into the light of the new world.”

Buy the book here  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”

Russian Art ~ As I see it.

A few words about Russian art which is too little known in the West and was pretty well unknown to me on my first trip in 1991. But, I was an avid learner.

Everyone knows about The Hermitage. That is not Russian art. It is one of the world’s most important collections of Western art in the most elegant surroundings. Real Russian art is to be found in The State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, and in The Tretyakov (the old and the new museums) in Moscow.  It can also be found in many other smaller museums about the country. Under communism, the state owned everything and private collections were confiscated.

 When I first arrived, I was totally astonished to find a world of art in Russia that, in my unlettered opinion, was the equal of anything seen in the museums of the Western world. The Iron Curtain had kept it all a secret. I thought all Russian art was either religious icons, or Socialist Realism (and that being propagandistic). Indeed, religious art existed as the Russian church dominated society until the 18^th century. The next phase reflected the growing Western influences after Peter the Great,  and along classical lines (mainly portraiture, court painting, epic and religious scenes).

In the mid 19^th century things started changing—concurrent with growing unrest and change in all of Russian society. There began a breaking away from the Imperial school in St. Petersburg and a migration to a study of common people and of Russia as it really was— impressionism. Near Moscow there is an estate called Abramtsevo, the home of the rich merchant Savva Mamontov. Mamontov turned his estate over entirely to the new wave of artists who wanted to show the real Russians in real-life situations. Out of this came the art and artists I most admire. The artists would travel the land and rivers and capture the essence of the common man. They would follow the Czar’s army fighting the Turks and study in Italy, the Holy Land, and Asia. Among these was a group was called the Peredvizhniki or The Wanderers. The industrial revolution brought the train to Europe and in France the Impressionists became a movement and a style, as the artist could travel and record his impressions of the country and life. Although Russia was 10-20 years behind Europe, these Russian Wanderers did the same thing–without the train.

Read more »