Sometimes the unpredictable weather in St. Petersburg turns against us either in the form of rain or extreme heat. Either way, we have compiled a list of several exhibitions in St. Petersburg  for the summer of 2011 which can be your escape from the elements. All these exhibitions are hosted at the State Russian Museum and its branches.

Firstly at Mikhailovsky (Engineer’s) Castle visitors can find Ana Tzarev’s “The Life of Flowers” which shows until September 5. This exhibition focuses on paintings of flowers from around the world which were studied by Ana and painted in a style similar to Vincent Van Gogh.  The paintings are bring, exotic, and express postimpressionism, primitivism and fauvism.

“All my life I have been in love with flowers,” says Tzarev. “They accompany us from birth to death, giving beauty and inspiring us in both joy and sorrow. In every corner of the world, unique species of flowers can be found, and I tirelessly study them by preserving their blossom on my canvases for future generations.”

“Her method is first of all modeling, then applying layers, and manual contact with the paint and canvas. She forms the world according to her own standards,” said Alexander Borovsky, curator of the exhibition at the State Russian Museum.

The Marble Palace, located near the Hermitage on Millionnaya Ulitsa, has an exhibition named “Trace of the Meteor” created by students of the St. Petersburg Institute of Peoples of the North and runs through October 2nd.  This exhibition includes sculptures, paintings, applied art, and photographs from the 1920s and ’30s. The exhibition is made to give an insight into the lives of people from the far North of Russia including Siberia and the Far East.

Also at the Marble Palace visitors will find and exhibition from Viktor Safonkin who is showcasing artwork from the Renaissance period and Middle Ages to give a contrast with the world view of contemporary man. Viktor is a Russian-born artist from the Czech Republic and brings a unique style of creativity to St. Petersburg.  This exhibition is open until July 25.

Finally at the Marble Palace is an exposition titled “Unofficial Meeting” and includes paintings, sculptures, and objects by Russian non-conformist artists from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. These items were brought from the Swiss gallery of Nadezhda Brykina, one of the biggest collections of Russian art outside Russia. This showcase is open through August 1st.

The last exhibition is at a branch of the Russian Museum, the Stroganov Palace. Canadian artist Birgit Freybe Bateman is showcasing travel photographs of various countries including India, China, Japan, Italy, and even Russia. Bateman offers strange photo angles, unusual colors, and textures to give his artwork the feel of oil paintings. This exposition is running through August 29th.