Treasury

In April 1995 a new exhibition of classical Russian art was opened to visitors in the main building on Lavrushinsky Pereulok. In actual fact, the official Gallery opening took place earlier in the autumn of 1994. Following reconstruction work the exhibition was changed a great deal from its former layout – the traditional route was as it had previously been and the majority of exhibits were in their former places. However, something new had also been added: it had sections devoted to sculpture from the 18th – the first half of the 19th century and the turn of the 19th – 20th century. Six halls contained specialist equipment for displaying graphic art work. The halls that contained icon painting were redesigned anew. The "Treasury" was opened at the Gallery, where works made from precious metal and jewels were displayed together with the works of medieval Russian applied art, miniatures and icons on valuable mounts.

Vrubel's hall

Construction work on the inner courtyards provided new halls for the display of works by K.P. Bryullov, A.A. Ivanov, I.N. Kramskoy and A.I. Kuinji. The biggest of them was designed to display M.A. Vrubel’s work. The main exhibit in this hall is a wonderfully decorative panel entitled Princess of Dreams (1896), which was transferred to the Gallery from the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR in 1956.

What other discoveries are capable of stunning an art lover? As far back as 1953 the large State Kremlin Palace in Moscow donated to the Gallery a huge five-metre long canvas by I.E. Repin entitled Reception for Local Cossack Leaders by Alexander III in the Court of the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow (1886). This work was commission by the royal family and provides an insight into the individuality of the master.

A true discovery for the Gallery was made in the 1960s-1970s when it acquired two of the earliest genre paintings by V.G. Perov. The painting entitled "The District Police Officer arrives at the Investigation" won the artist the small silver medal from the Academy of Arts in 1857. And the painting entitled "Scene at a Grave" (1859) had been regarded as a lost work for many years.

Many art collectors, from different backgrounds and public positions, have donated works of art to the Gallery, following in the footsteps of P.M. Tretyakov its founder. The museum has always been grateful to receive both individual pieces and entire private collections. The Gallery holds exhibitions of the work it has acquired or received as gifts as part of Russia’s national heritage. It is not possible to produce a full list of all the people who have donated art to the Gallery. Therefore, we will mention just a few of them.

Exposition «Art of 20 centuries» on Krymsky Val

The famous painting by V.M. Vasnetsov entitled Syrin and Alkonost. The Song of Joy and Sorrow (1896) was given to the Gallery by Grand Duchess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in 1908.

Mira Basevich, a Leningrad collector, was the owner of a wonderful collection of work by artists of the late 19th – early 20th century during the 1930s-1960s. In 1961 she presented the Gallery with extraordinary works by A.N. Benois, P.V. Kuznetsov, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, N.K. Roerich and M.S. Sariyan. Among the works was Bathing the Red Horse (1912).

Konstantin Kostaki’s collection was widely known both in Russia and abroad. In 1977 he gave his huge collection to the Gallery as a gift. It included such masterpieces as Portrait of M.V. Matyushin (1913) by K.S. Malevich, A People’s Court (1934) by S.B. Nikritin, "Jug on a Table. Plasticity Painting" by L.S. Popova, Spassky Gate by V.E. Tatlin, Heads. A Symphony by Shostakovich (1927) by P.N. Filonov and Lilies of the Valley (1916) by M.Z. Chagall.

Nikolai Arzhanikov was a collector and major expert in the area of aerial dynamics, a Doctor of Science and Professor. In 1984 his wife, Anna and daughter Irina, gave a gift to the Tretyakov Gallery, 10 works by Russian artists from the late 19th – early 20th century. The work was of the highest expertise and mastery. One of them was a still life by S.Yu. Sudeikin entitled Flowers in an Earthenware Vase (early 1910s).

Nina Arning was a singer, she worked for the radio and film industry. In 1980 she presented the Gallery with works from her husband’s, Kazimir Arning, collection, who was a lawyer and close friend of I.S. Ostroukhov. One of the pieces is in the Gallery’s exhibition - the painting by A.Ya. Golovin titled The Umbria Valley.

Tatiana Mavrina, a well known painter and graphic artist, presented the Gallery with a collection of icons and her work entitled Portrait of A.F. Sofronova with her Daughter (1938).

Sergei Gorshin was a collector of landscapes. The traditional opinion that I.K. Aivazovsky was nothing but a marinist, is not quite accurate. There are works by Aivazovsky that have the "land" as a theme. One of them is a painting from S.N. Gorshin’s collection entitled Sheep in the Pasture (1850s).

The collection of P.M. Nortsov, a famous baritone at the Bolshoi Theatre, and his wife Z.V. Nortsova, was not extensive, but it did contain many first class pieces by Russian artists from the second half of the 19th century. They included Landscape. Steppe (1890-1895) by A.I. Kuinji.

Vera Dulova, a world famous harpist, People’s Artist of the USSR and Professor at the Moscow Conservatoire, was an enthusiastic collector. Her collection included works by K.P. Bryullov, V.D. Polenov, I.N. Kramskoy, A.K. Savrasov, I.E. Repin, K.A. Korovin, A.N. Benois, L.V. Turzhansky, S.Yu. Zhukovsky, M.V. Dobuzhinsky and N.K. Roerich. She personally knew many artists, such as I.E. Grabar, A.V. Lentulov, V.I. Yakovlev and P.V. Williams. In her will she left the best paintings and drawings in her collection (58 pieces in total) as a gift to the Tretyakov Gallery. The House in the Province. Spring (1878) by A.K. Savrasov was among them.

Building state Tretyakov galleries on Krymsky Val.

The museum’s collection is growing as a result of the Friends of the Tretyakov Gallery Society established in 1995. It unites individual and corporate members who provide charitable assistance to the museum to help realise various projects, including those involving the acquisition of works of art.

In September 1996 the Patronage Board of the State Tretyakov Gallery was re-established once more and Yu.M. Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, was elected as its chairman.

In December 1998 at the Tretyakov Gallery building on Krymsky Val the opening of the first part of the new exhibition took place, "Twentieth Century Art". The exhibition covers the history of art from the turn of the century and pre avant-garde trends to avant-garde and Socialist Realism. In May 2000 this was followed by the final section which displayed Russian art from the middle of the 1950s to the late 1990s, dealing with the history of Russian art from the "Thaw" to present day. Today, therefore, the Gallery is in a position, for the first time, to be able to have on display an entire overview of Russian art from the previous century.

In 2006 the State Tretyakov Gallery celebrated its 150th anniversary as a national art museum.