Russian Art 2009 # 1, pp 83-87

The phenomenon of collecting Russian art abroad has drawn the attention of art historians and cultural anthropologists for a long time. The collectors of Russian art in Europe and the United States tend to be creative, extraordinary and, at times, eccentric individuals. Most of the time the treasures they collect appear on display infrequently and are not accessible to art-lovers and experts. Russian icon collecting in the United States is associated with the name of Marjorie Post, a founder of the Hillwood Museum. The nucleus of her private collection was paintings, decorative, and applied arts that were displayed side by side with the icons she acquired while living in Soviet Union in 1930s as the wife of Ambassador Joseph E. Davies.

Due to the inaccessibility of Russian art collections in the United States it was wonderful when Gordon Lankton opened a museum based on his private collection of 350 icons in Clinton, MA in 2006. The talented entrepreneur and experienced traveler is also an avid collector. Lankton is enthusiastic, modest, tactful, and witty. He loves his family and the town of Clinton, and he is passionately devoted to Russian culture.

One day in October 2008 the police closed off the streets in downtown Clinton, MA so that cars from around the country could drive to the old building that once housed the town post office and library for the “Two Museums/One Culture” exclusive exhibit with the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Along with a throng of visitors, notable dignitaries included Lidia I. Iovleva, Deputy Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Sergey V. Garmonin, Consul General of the Russian Federation in New York, USA, Ilya Rogachev, the Deputy Permanent Russian representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, His Eminence Mercury, Bishop of Zaraisk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA, Archpriest Alexander Abramov, Secretary of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, officials from the State Tretyakov Gallery, representatives from state and town governments, art historians, artists, icon restorers, journalists, and professors from Harvard University.

It is astounding that two years after the museum opened its’ doors to the public, Mr. Lankton managed to convince officials of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow to allow sixteen extremely rare icons from the 16th – 17th centuries to be shipped abroad for the first time. Lankton personally negotiated the terms of the contract for the loan, ensuring secure transport, temperature and humidity control in the temporary exhibition space, and a state of the art security system to provide protection for the icons on display. The sixteen icons were brought to the United States by curators from the Tretyakov who oversaw the unpacking of the icons from large wooden crates although the design and concept of the entire exhibit was planned by their American colleagues.

Gordon Lankton began collecting Russian icons after he purchased his first icon for twenty dollars at Moscow’s Izmaylovo Flea Market in the 1990s during his first business trip to Russia. By the early 90’s Lankton had already established a successful plastics business which became and still is the bulwark of industry for the picturesque New England town of Clinton. At the turn of the 20th century many Clintonians were involved in the manufacture of carpets but during the Great Depression the factory was closed, leaving people jobless and the factory buildings dilapidated. Mr. Lankton purchased a factory building that currently houses his company Nypro in order to renovate it and expand his business. Gordon Lankton and Nypro have had a significant contribution to the growing prosperity of Clinton which is reminiscent of the 19th century Russian provincial entrepreneurs and patrons of art who would care for their fellow townsmen and leave their collections as gifts to their towns.

Like most other collectors, Gordon Lankton didn’t start out seeking to create a museum but instead was fascinated with discovering more about the beauty of the Russian icons. The more icons he collected the more he sought to learn about the complex theological ideas behind them along with Russian history and culture. Eventually Lankton was inspired to create a museum based around his passion. This fascination was the motivating factor behind the “Two Museums/One Culture” exhibition.

The Museum of Russian Icons is housed in one of the oldest buildings in downtown Clinton. The building was restored, re-designed, and transformed into a state-of-the art museum with the latest technology. The bottom floor houses storage space along with additional icons and a map of Russia which marks icon painting centers and monasteries, pictures of Russian cathedrals, and a few 19th century icons. The custom-designed spiral staircase reminds one of the interior of the Guggenheim Museum and defines the museum space. The middle floor has galleries, a gift shop, a conference room, offices, and a library. The museum is quickly becoming one of the centers for scholarly research on Russian culture.

The top floor of the museum is the main gallery. The icons on display do not follow a chronological order, but are organized thematically. For example, the main types of representation of the Theotokos produced during the different historical periods are grouped in the same area. There is also a special exhibition space devoted to twenty hand-carved wooden sculptures representing the Venerated Nil of Stolbensk.

Among the icons from the Tretyakov Gallery are the 16th century “Vladimir Mother of God”, a product of the circle of Master Dionysius, four icons from the Holy Feast Days tier of the Dormition Cathedral at the Tikhvin Monastery, which embody the idea of the Russian iconostasis and offer a characteristic example of 16th century iconography, and icons depicting saints venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church, such as Paraskeva, Nikita of Pereyaslav, Makary of Unzha and scenes from their lives. There is also a two-sided Novgorod icon with the “Jerusalem Mother of God” on one side and “The Miracle of Archangel Michael at Chonae” painted on the other side. These icons are displayed along with the icons from the Museum of Russian Icons, with their stunning and exquisite examples of 16th -19th century Russian iconography. A special place in the exhibition is devoted to a copy of the original image “Not Made by Hands” written by the contemporary icon master Alyona Knyazeva, who also has written an icon of the “Reverend Andrei Rublev with Scenes from his Life” along with a copy of the “Crucifixion”, one of Dionysius' greatest masterpieces. Gordon Lankton acquired an original image of “Not Made by Hands” in Russia but this icon is stored in Moscow as Russian law bans cultural valuables from being exported. Lankton currently acquires most of his icons through auction houses in the USA and Europe, and also from private collections. The curator of the museum, Kent dur Russell, is also involved in the acquisition and collection of new icons. To accompany the Tretyakov exhibition the Museum of Russian Icons produced and published an exhibition catalogue. The museum also arranged bus tours from Boston and is unexpectedly averaging a few hundred visitors daily.

Delivering the opening remarks, His Eminence Mercury greeted the museum staff and said:”Unfortunately, it seems that in our times social success and surfeit are conceived as life-values. While in many homes the doors have been shut on God, in this Museum the door is opening up on Jesus…”

Translation by: Svitlana Malykhina