PHOTO: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna standing in front of her works at a charity exhibition, held in her palace on Artilleriyskaya str. 46-48 [renamed Tchaikovsky st., in 1923] in St. Petersburg. Photographer: I. N. Alexandrov. (1914).]

On 16th November 2023, a collection of 180 watercolours by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) have been donated to the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg. The donation was made possible thanks to the St. Catherine’s Charitable Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The collection of 180 works were in the possession of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovsky-Romanov (1926-2020), the third wife of Grand Duchess Olga’s eldest son, Tikhon Nicholaevich Kulikovsky (1917-1993). Upon the grand duchess’s death in 1960, a large number of her watercolours were acquisitioned by Tikhon. When Tikhon died in 1993, his wife Olga Kulikovsky decorated her Toronto apartment with the watercolours. [*I visited Mrs Kulikovsky;s apartment on several occasions in the 1990s, and bore witness to the vast collection of the grand duchess’s works decorating the walls – PG] During the 1990s, Olga Kulikovsky travelled to Russia, taking the watercolours with her. She toured the country, hosting numerous exhibits of her mother-in-laws paintings to Russians for the first time.

“It’s a miracle that such a collection has returned to Russia,” said the Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova. “The return of these paintings to their homeland is a unique event. This is an opportunity for the specialists of the Russian Museum to study them. I am sure that these works will decorate the exposition and attract the attention of a variety of audiences: from the scientific community to schoolchildren studying history.” The Minister of Culture thanked the St. Catherine’s Foundation for the wonderful gift.

PHOTO: Grand Duchess Olga produced over 2,000 paintings during her lifetime

“This collection is a contribution to the important process of preserving the historical and cultural heritage of our country,” said Alexander Andreev, General Director of the St. Catherine’s Charitable Foundation. “We are very pleased that the collection is in Russia, and soon everyone will be able to see these paintings on display in the Russian Museum.”

“We have received a very valuable gift today,” said Alla Manilova, Director of the State State Russian Museum. “Philanthropists play an outstanding role in the life of the museum, and the donation of a collection is always a landmark event. Especially in this case, when the collection of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the daughter of Emperor Alexander III and the younger sister of Emperor Nicholas II, is donated to our museum.”

Alexander Andreev also personally thanked Olga Lyubimova and her colleagues for the great work they did together with the foundation to return Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna’s works of art to Russia.

During her life, it is known that the youngest sister of Russia’s last Tsar, painted more than 2,000 watercolours during her lifetime – in Russia, Denmark and Canada. Grand Duchess Olga’s works are today in the private collections of HM Queen Elizabeth II, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, HM King Harald of Norway, the Ballerup Museum, Denmark, and private collections in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The Russian State Museum’s collection, however, is now the largest in the world.

© Paul Gilbert. 18 November 2023