Russian Icons in America: The Fullest Icons Catalog in English
Russian iconography represents a distinct cultural, spiritual, and artistic tradition within the broader global icon painting legacy, attracting the interest of art historians, Orthodox culture researchers, and private collectors. Oleg Kushnirskiy has been a devoted collector of Russian icons since his life in the USSR. He has spent decades collecting icons across Russia, resulting in a vast collection currently on display at major American museums. Interested collectors and researchers can explore the collection via the icons catalog, published in 2025. The brainchild of the Russian Icon Collection project, this religious art catalog invites readers on an exciting journey through the development of a unique spiritual tradition and the key historical milestones that shaped it.
Icons Catalog of the Oleg Kushnirskiy Collection
The icons catalog, titled Russian Icons in America: The Oleg Kushnirskiy Collection, presents rigorous academic research on the late Russian icon painting tradition. Texts from Anna Ivannikova, a Russian icon specialist at the State Hermitage Museum, and Prof. Dr. Wendy Salmond, a famous U.S. icon studies expert, enrich the visual component with academic rigor and insight. The catalog also includes articles by Alek D. Epstein, an Israeli PhD in cultural studies with extensive expertise in historical and cultural heritage, and Dr. Clemena Antonova, a renowned theologian and art historian and an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge.
The book opens with reviews of the collection and comments from diverse specialists and collectors: Dr. Irina Shalina from the State Russian Museum; Natalia Komashko, who for more than 20 years worked as the scientific secretary of the Andrey Rublev Museum; Sergei Brun, general director of the Novgorod State Museum Reserve; and others. In the following sections, Anna Ivannikova, who oversaw the collection’s scientific cataloguing, describes the journey of Russian icons to America, while Alek D. Epstein provides a captivating account of Oleg Kushnirkiy’s collecting efforts. The art catalog documents the wide range of Old Believer icon painting techniques and styles, enabling unprecedented depth of research. Oleg Kushnirskiy’s collection is presented in full, with colorful illustrations that immerse the reader in the rich history of traditional icon painting. The in-depth analysis of the profound meaning, artistic value, and style of each piece ensures a complete, meaningful experience for anyone genuinely interested in Russian iconography and spiritual heritage.
Buy the Catalog of the Oleg Kushnirskiy Collection Online
Russian Icons in America: The Oleg Kushnirskiy Collection can be justly characterized as the culmination of many years of tireless collecting and research. High-resolution images of Russian icons from the 17th to early 20th centuries advance iconography studies and provide rich material for visual analysis, while expert commentary and new, unique articles from renowned specialists substantially enrich the knowledge of careful researchers. The catalog is now available for purchase online, with convenient domestic and international shipping options.