The exhibition For the Glory of Russia. Entrepreneurs and Patrons in Russia in the 18th – Early 20th Centuries from the collection of the State Russian Museum is unique, both in the themes it explores and in the works it presents. Portraits of merchants provide the basis of the exhibition. It was the merchant class, the “third estate”, that formed Russia’s economic power at that time. The Stroganovs, the Demidovs, the Yakovlevs, the Zlobins, the Kusovs, the Kokorevs, the Pryanishnikovs, the Soldatyonkovs, the Gromovs and other entrepreneurs from the endless list sometimes established entire “empires” with their own settlements, roads and internal regulations. The richest merchants – some of them had come from the lowest social classes – were ennobled for their merits. Among them, there were many philanthropists, patrons of the arts, and donors to churches. 18th-century portraits convey their appearance: at first bearded and dressed in traditional clothes, with time and growth of their wealth, the merchants change into luxurious European clothes, appear shaved and wearing wigs. The way of life was changing along with the clothes. However, 19th-century portraits preserve a certain canonical type in many ways: bearded dignified men pose, showing their medals received for generous  donations, award rings, letters and envelopes often with foreign addresses, and gold coins.

The exhibition, presenting brilliant works of art to such an extent for the first time ever, shows the portraits created by prominent Russian and European masters of painting, including Nikolai Argunov, Orest Kiprensky, Vasily Tropinin, Sergei Zaryanko, Ivan Kramskoi, Illarion Pryanishnikov, Boris Kustodiev, Louis Tocqué, Alexander Roslin, and Carl Steuben. The entrepreneurs could afford to commission their portraits from the most respected painters.

The exhibition also features portrait types created by unknown masters of metropolitan and provincial schools, sometimes self-taught. The works attract the viewers’ attention with their vivid figurative characteristics, impressive individual manner, and striking artistic expression.

The exhibition is supplemented with genre scenes, images of fairs and shopping areas in the capital and towns, as well as the rarest extant examples of signboards and advertising posters of trade and commercial enterprises.

The set of images closes the section with works by artists of the late 19th – early 20th century, who addressed the theme of merchant life of the 17th century in a retrospective, festive and joyful way. There are paintings by Sergei Ivanov, Andrei Ryabushkin, and others.

The exhibition shows various items of applied art and works of famous manufactories, factories, and workshops that produced household items, furniture, porcelain, samovars, and other examples of so-called small forms. The porcelain factories of Francis Gardner, Alexei Popov, Nikolai Yusupov, Filipp Batenin, the furniture factories of Heinrich Gumbs and Carl Tur, bronzes by Félix Chopin’s foundry, and jewelry by Pavel Ovchinnikov’s factory are widely known in the world. These items will make up the entourage for large paintings.

Coins and medals, tokens and shares, bills and bonds, pay rolls, and share certificates – indispensable signs of trade and entrepreneurial activity – will become a valuable and fascinating addition to the exhibition.

The exhibition gives the idea of the life and patronage activities of the famous merchant dynasties: the Stroganovs, the Yakovlevs, the Gromovs, the Sapozhnikovs, the Zlobins, and others.