Tretyakov Gallery

The Tretyakov Gallery is the largest collection of Russian fine art in Moscow and one of the country's leading art museums. The museum's main historic building stands in the Zamoskvorechye district, at 10 Lavrushinsky Lane, not far from the Kremlin and Red Square.

History

The gallery counts 1856 as its founding year: the Moscow merchant and patron Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov bought his first paintings by Russian artists, including Vasily Khudyakov's "Clash with Finnish Smugglers". The Tretyakov family had owned a house in Lavrushinsky Lane since 1851, and the collection grew there.

In 1867 Tretyakov opened the gallery to visitors in his own house, and in 1874 a separate two-storey building was put up for the growing collection, designed by the architect Alexander Kaminsky. In 1892 Pavel Tretyakov donated his entire collection to the city of Moscow, together with the collection of European painting left by his late brother Sergei — 1,276 paintings, 471 drawings and 10 sculptures. This created the "Moscow City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov". After the 1918 nationalization the museum took its present name, the State Tretyakov Gallery. From 1986 to 1995 the main building was closed for a major reconstruction that preserved its historic appearance.

Vasnetsov's facade

In 1902–1904 the estate's many additions were united behind a single facade shaped like an old Russian terem, designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov, the same artist whose famous painting "Bogatyrs" hangs in the gallery. Construction was led by the architect A. M. Kalmykov, with Vasily Bashkirov as the builder. Vasnetsov drew the facade for free, in memory of his friend Pavel Tretyakov. Today this terem, with its carved window frames and tiles, is one of the most recognizable facades in Moscow and has become the museum's emblem.

The collection

The collection holds more than 130,000 works of Russian art from the 11th to the early 20th century: Old Russian icons, including Andrei Rublev's "Trinity", portraits, landscapes and history paintings. Tretyakov commissioned portraits of his contemporaries, among them Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Among the landmark paintings are Vasily Surikov's "Boyarynya Morozova", bought from the artist in 1887, Isaac Levitan's "Above Eternal Peace" from 1894, and Viktor Vasnetsov's "Bogatyrs", Tretyakov's last purchase, made two weeks before his death in 1898; the painting still hangs in the same hall as it did in his lifetime.

Besides the main building in Lavrushinsky Lane, the Tretyakov Gallery includes the New Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, built by 1983, which shows 20th- and 21st-century art, including the Russian avant-garde works of Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. In May 2024 another building opened, on Kadashevskaya Embankment.

Getting there

The main building is at 10 Lavrushinsky Lane. The closest metro station is Tretyakovskaya, 3–5 minutes' walk from the entrance; Novokuznetskaya and Polyanka stations are also within reach. The museum is closed on Mondays, and entry is allowed no later than an hour before closing. A ticket to the permanent exhibition costs from 300 to 700 rubles; admission is free for children under six.