The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is a museum complex with one of the largest collections of foreign art in Russia. Today its collection contains about 700,000 works from different epochs, from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece to the beginning of the 21st century.
Birth of the Museum of Fine Arts
At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, a bold dream emerged to create a Museum of Fine Arts at Moscow University. This idea, first voiced in 1831 by Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya and Professor Stepan Shevyryov, remained a far-off dream for a long time.
The idea received new impetus in 1894 when Ivan Tsvetaev proposed creating an educational museum similar to the "Cabinet of Fine Arts and Antiquities" at Moscow University.
A fateful day was March 12, 1898. On this day, Ivan Tsvetaev presented Emperor Nicholas II with a project for the future Museum of Fine Arts. Nicholas II approved the project, allocating 200,000 rubles for construction.
Main Building of the Pushkin Museum
In 1912, the Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander III opened its doors, now known as the A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Its majestic building, erected in neoclassical style, resembles an ancient temple.
The technical marvel of the building was the glass vault designed by the outstanding engineer Vladimir Shukhov. Using unique structures with arched ties, he achieved soft, natural light filling the museum halls.
Formation of the Collection
The museum's collection began forming long before construction was completed. The first sculptures were available to visitors as early as 1894. The Egyptian collection was acquired in 1909-1911 from the famous orientalist Vladimir Golenischev.
The final form of the art exhibition was acquired in 1948 after the transfer of the collection from the State Museum of New Western Art.
Main Masterpieces
Among the museum's masterpieces: "Annunciation" by Sandro Botticelli, "Madonna and Child" by Lucas Cranach the Elder, " Esther before Ahasuerus" by Rembrandt, "Bacchanalia" by Peter Paul Rubens, " Luncheon in the Grass" by Claude Monet, "Portrait of Actress Jeanne Samary" by Pierre Renoir, "Red Vineyards in Arles" by Vincent Van Gogh, "Oh, You Are Jealous?" by Paul Gauguin, "Blue Dancers" by Edgar Degas, "Girl on a Ball" by Pablo Picasso, "Red Fish" by Henri Matisse.