Metadata: Main Fond
Collection
- Country:
- Belarus
- Holding institution:
- National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus. Fine Arts (Graphic Arts) Collection
- Holding institution (official language):
- Национальный исторический музей Республики Беларусь. КОЛЛЕКЦИЯ «ИЗОБРАЗИТЕЛЬНОЕ ИСКУССТВО» (ГРАФИКА)
- Postal address:
- 12 Vulica Karla Marksa, Minsk, 220030, Republic of Belarus
- Phone number:
- +375 17 3273665
- Web address:
- http://histmuseum.by/en/
- Email:
- histmuseum@histmuseum.by
- Reference number:
- Unnumbered fond
- Title:
- Main Fond
- Title (official language):
- Основной фонд
- Creator/accumulator:
- National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus
- Date(s):
- 1753/2008
- Language:
- Belarusian
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Yiddish
- French
- Extent:
- 2,893 storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Graphic material
- Scope and content:
- The main fond includes a set of artworks that pertain to Jewish history and culture, including drawings, lithographs, and engravings by Jewish and Belarusian artists, among them: L. Frenkel’, “A Bazaar on the Outskirts of Odessa” (1903); Ia. Kruger, “The Cold Synagogue in Minsk” (1921); M. M. Filipovich, “A Synagogue in the City of Grodno” (undated), “A Shul in the Synagogue Courtyard” (1924), “A Synagogue across the River in the City of Slutsk” (1925), “The Cold Synagogue” (1925); I. Kh. Malik, “The Pogromist” (1924); V. Maizelis, “At the Old Jewish Cemetery” (1925); M. Kh. Gorshman, “The Elderly Dancing at the Celebration of the Torah” (1926); Z. Pavlovskii, “A Jewish Wedding” (1926), “A Street in the Town of Uzda” (1928); Ia. M. Taits, “A Portrait of the Jewish Writer Taits” (1927); L. Zevin, “A House” (1929); S. B. Iudovin, “A Synagogue in Iarmolintsy” (1920s); A. M. Gorshman’s illustrations for the Sholem Aleichem story “Motl Peyse” (1959); L. Al’perovich, “A Jew at Prayer” (undated); M. M. Aksel’rod, “The Outskirts of Minsk” (undated), “A Town” (undated); L. P.-A. Bishebua, “Jewish Smugglers near Vilnius,” from an original by K. Kukevich (undated); S. Ia. Kishinevskii, “A Jewish Native of the City of Vilnius” (undated); S. M. Tarasevich, “A Synagogue in Ozery” (undated); etc.
- Archival history:
- The National Historical Museum traces its history to the Minsk Regional Museum, which was opened in the building of the former Assembly of the Nobility in 1919. In 1923, it was renamed the Belorussian State Museum (Belgosmuzei). As of 1924, it included the following branches: The State Historical Museum of Proletarian Culture in Mogilev and the Provincial Historical and Archaeological Museum in Vitebsk; and from 1926 on, the Gomel’ State Cultural and Historical Museum. In August 1928, these regional branches of the museum became standalone units. In the 1930s, the Belorussian State Museum was renamed the Minsk Socio-Historical Museum. Upon the German invasion, the museum did not manage to evacuate in time, and in June 1944 its holdings were transferred to the Bavarian castle of Hochstadt, a collection site for museum treasures looted by the Nazis in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. In 1945, Hochstadt was captured by American forces. In October 1947, the Belorussian portion of the museum’s collection was transferred to East Berlin, and from there back to the BSSR. In total, over 15,000 storage units were returned; these were distributed among the fonds of the Belorussian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, the Grodno Historical and Archaeological Museum, and the BSSR Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, in the 1950s, an organizational group for the revival of the Belorussian State Museum was established. The State Museum of the BSSR was officially opened on 2nd November 1967. After Belarus became an independent republic, the museum was renamed twice: first, in 1992, it was renamed the National Museum of the History and Culture of Belarus, and since 2009, it has been called the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus. The Fine Arts collection includes collections of paintings, graphic artworks, and sculptures, stored separately. It is divided into the Main and Research and Auxiliary fonds, which are constantly supplemented with new museum items. The following fond information is as of 2016.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Axelrod, Meir, 1902-1970
- Gorshman, M.
- I︠U︡dovin, S. (Solomon), 1892-1954
- System of arrangement:
- The fond includes inventories of exhibit items systematized by serial number per the museum’s accession log.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Theological Seminary