Ryabushinsky Mansion also known as the Gorky House Museum - architectural monument (Moscow)

 Art Nouveau / Jugendstil (architecture), 1903_construction, object of cultural heritage of federal importance (Russia), historic house museum

Maksim Gorky (1868-1936), the "Father of Soviet Literature" lived in this house at number 6 for the last five years of his life. Stalin gave him this residence as a meeting place for writers and artists, but Gorky never felt comfortable in the opulent surroundings and confined his use of the house to two small rooms on the first floor. By the time he moved to this house, Gorky's career as a novelist and playwright was in decline. His early support of the Bolshevik Party, however, earned him the job of being president of the Writers Union, where he served as a propaganda tool for the Soviet government. Although called the Gorky House Museum, for his rooms, books and letters, which are on display, the building itself is quite interesting. Stepan Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (1876-1942) was a member of the wealthy banking family. He commissioned the architect, Fyodor Shekhtel to design this Art Nouveau structure in 1902. It took four years to complete the mansion, which is notable for its nature themes.

Along the top of the pinkish-glazed brick walls runs a majolica frieze of flowers with purple irises in the main facade. The flat roof with large overhang sets off the sculpted entryway porches and balconies. There are ornate stained glass windows with elaborately carved, bent wood frames, a glass ceiling and a wrought iron fence with the design of fish scales. Every ceiling and window treatment is different, even the beautiful parquet floors have a unique design in each room. The piece de resistance, however, is the curved staircase of artificial marble, polished in the shape of a giant crashing wave and ending in a twisted bronze lamp shaped like a jellyfish. The first and second floors are open, but the third floor with its private chapel reached by a secret staircase is not. Ryabushinsky belonged to the Old Believers sect and was a collector of Old Russian art and icons, which were displayed in two rooms on the second floor.