Tretyakov Gallery

The gallery is found in 1856, when Paul Tretyakov, a young Moscow merchant, bought the first paintings for his collection. He continued to collect works of the talented artists throughout his life and in 1892 handed over his entire collection to the city government as a gift. Along with his paintings, Tretyakov also generously donated his own house and the surrounding area which became the initial premises of the gallery. The Tretyakov gallery is still located on the same site, but it is now housed an extended and renovated complex of buildings. The gallery halls feature Old Russian icons (including a big collection of icons by Andrei Rublyov), from 18th-century portraits to 20th-century canvases by contemporary artists and displays of graphic and applied arts. The Tretyakov"s magnificent collection of Soviet art is now housed independently in the enormous Central House of Artists, opposite Gorky Park, and is well worth a visit for those admirers of 20th-century art. Today this is Moscow's leading art museum which is ranked a close second to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The Tretyakov Gallery contains about 57,000 works of art. The collection gives a clear idea of the history of Russian art.