How the Tretyakov Gallery began. State Tretyakov Gallery: history of creation, exhibits, photos, address, top tips before you visit

The Tretyakov brothers came from an old but not very rich merchant family. Their father, Mikhail Zakharovich, gave them a good home education. From their youth, they took up the family business, first trading, and then industrial. The brothers created the famous Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory, did a lot of charity work and social activities. Both brothers were collectors, but Sergei Mikhailovich did it as an amateur, but for Pavel Mikhailovich it became his life's work, in which he saw his mission.

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov is not the first collector of Russian art. Famous collectors were Kokorev, Soldatenkov and Pryanishnikov, at one time there was a gallery of Svinin. But it was Tretyakov who was distinguished not only by his artistic flair, but also by democratic convictions, deep true patriotism, and responsibility for his native culture. It is important that he was both a collector and a patron of artists, and sometimes an inspirer, a moral co-author of their work. We owe him a magnificent portrait gallery of outstanding figures of culture and public life. He was an honorary member of the Society of Art Lovers and the Musical Society from the day they were founded, he contributed substantial sums, supporting all educational initiatives.

The first paintings by Russian artists were acquired by Tretyakov as early as 1856 (this date is considered to be the year the gallery was founded). Since then, the collection has been constantly updated. It was located in a family-owned house in Zamoskvorechye, in Lavrushinsky Lane. This building is the main building of the museum. It was constantly expanded and rebuilt for the needs of the exposition, and at the beginning of the 20th century it acquired a familiar look. Its facade was made in the Russian style according to the project of the artist Viktor Vasnetsov.

From the moment the gallery was founded, Pavel Tretyakov decided to transfer it to the city and already in his will of 1861 he stipulated the conditions for this transfer, allocating large sums for its maintenance. On August 31, 1892, in his statement to the Moscow City Duma on the transfer of his gallery and the gallery of his late brother to Moscow, he wrote that he was doing this, “wishing to contribute to the establishment of useful institutions in my dear city, to promote the flourishing of art in Russia and at the same time to preserve for eternity the time of my collection." The City Duma gratefully accepted this gift, deciding to allocate five thousand rubles annually for the purchase of new items in the collection. In 1893 the gallery was officially opened to the public.

Pavel Tretyakov was a very modest person who did not like the hype around his name. He wanted a quiet opening, and when the festivities were organised, he went abroad. He refused the nobility, which was granted to him by the emperor. “I was born a merchant and will die a merchant,” Tretyakov explained his refusal. However, he gratefully accepted the title of honorary citizen of Moscow. This title was awarded to him by the City Duma as a sign of high distinction and gratitude for his high merits in the preservation of Russian artistic culture.

History of the museum

An important milestone in the history of the Tretyakov Gallery was the appointment in 1913 of Igor Grabar, an artist, art critic, architect and art historian, to the post of its trustee. Under his leadership, the Tretyakov Gallery became a museum of the European level. In the first years of Soviet power, Grabar remained the director of the museum, which was given the status of a national treasure by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars in 1918.

Aleksey Shchusev, who became director of the gallery in 1926, continued to expand the museum. The Tretyakov Gallery received a neighboring building, which housed the administration, manuscript and other departments. After the closure of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, it was reequipped for the storerooms of the museum, and in 1936 a new building called “Shchusevsky” appeared, which was first used as an exhibition building, but then it also housed the main exposition.

In the late 1970s, a new museum building was opened on Krymsky Val. Large-scale art exhibitions are constantly held here, as well as a collection of domestic art of the 20th century.

Branches of the Tretyakov Gallery are also the House-Museum of V. M. Vasnetsov, the Museum-Apartment of his brother A. M. Vasnetsov, the Museum-Apartment of the sculptor A. S. Golubkina, the House-Museum of P. D. Korin, as well as the Temple-Museum St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, where divine services have been resumed since 1993.

Museum collection

The most complete is the collection of art of the second half of the nineteenth century, it has no equal. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was, perhaps, the main buyer of the work of the Wanderers from their very first exhibition. Paintings by Perov, Kramskoy, Polenov, Ge, Savrasov, Kuindzhi, Vasiliev, Vasnetsov, Surikov, Repin, acquired by the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery himself, are the pride of the museum. Here are collected truly the best examples of the golden age of Russian painting.

The art of artists who do not belong to the Wanderers is also well represented. The works of Nesterov, Serov, Levitan, Malyavin, Korovin, as well as Alexander Benois, Vrubel, Somov, Roerich took pride of place in the exhibition. After October 1917, the museum's collection was replenished both at the expense of nationalized collections and thanks to the works of contemporary artists. Their canvases give an idea of ​​the development of Soviet art, its official movements and the underground avant-garde.

The Tretyakov Gallery continues to replenish its funds. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a department of the latest trends has been operating, which collects works of contemporary art. In addition to painting, the gallery has a large collection of Russian graphics, sculpture, and a valuable archive of manuscripts. A rich collection of ancient Russian art and icons is one of the best in the world. Its beginning was laid by Tretyakov. After his death, it consisted of about 60 items, and at the moment it has about 4,000 items.

The Tretyakov Gallery - as the museum is commonly called - has a rich collection and is famous for its many ideas and projects that have found their embodiment. That is why the Tretyakov Gallery has gained such wide popularity and attracts the attention of true connoisseurs of art from all over the world. Even people who seem to be far from such “high matters” strive to visit its halls in order to get acquainted with the work of the great masters of the brush. To come to Moscow and not go to the Tretyakov Gallery? This is even hard to imagine, since it is usually included in all excursion programs. Of course, you can visit here on an individual tour.

The Tretyakov Gallery, as one of the most famous cultural institutions in Russia, proclaims four main goals of its activity: to preserve, explore, present and popularize Russian art, thereby forming a national cultural identity and instilling in modern generations an understanding of the important role played by art as the embodiment of achievements and an expression of the civility of our society. And these goals are achieved through the acquaintance of our fellow citizens (we are not talking about foreign tourists) with genuine masterpieces - creations of Russian and world talents. Thus, as one of the grateful visitors of the Tretyakov Gallery noted in his review, people's lives are made brighter, more beautiful and better.

Who was the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery?

Let's start our excursion into the history of the Tretyakov Gallery with an acquaintance with its founder - an outstanding man, without exaggeration, whose name is forever inscribed in the tablets of national culture. This is Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, who belonged to a well-known merchant family, which had nothing to do with culture: his parents were engaged exclusively in commerce. But since Pavel belonged to a wealthy family, he received an excellent education for those times, and he began to show a craving for beauty. As an adult, he joined, as they would say now, in the family business, helping his father in every possible way. When both parents died, the factory they owned passed to the young Tretyakov, and he thoroughly engaged in its development. The company grew, bringing more and more income. However, despite being extremely busy, Pavel Mikhailovich did not leave his passion for art.

Tretyakov often thought about creating the first permanent exhibition of Russian painting not only in the capital, but also in Russia. Two years before the opening of the gallery, he began to acquire paintings by Dutch masters. The beginning of the legendary collection of Tretyakov was laid in 1856. The young merchant was then only 24 years old. The very first novice philanthropist acquired the oil paintings "Clash with Finnish smugglers" by V. Khudyakov and "Temptation" by N. Schilder. Today, the names of these artists are well known, but then, in the second half of the 19th century, the general public did not know anything about them.

P. M. Tretyakov replenished his unique and priceless collection over the course of several decades. He collected paintings not only by outstanding painters, but also maintained friendly relations with novice masters, without refusing to help those who needed it, promoted their work in every possible way. If you give the names of all who should be grateful to the patron for the comprehensive help and support, then the scope of one article will not be enough for this - the list will be impressive.

History of the Tretyakov Gallery

The creator of the unique museum saw his brainchild not just as a repository of works by Russian artists, but precisely those of their paintings that would convey the true essence of the Russian soul - an open, wide, full of love for their Fatherland. And in the summer of 1892, Pavel Mikhailovich donated his collection in Moscow. So the Tretyakov Gallery became the first public museum in Russia.

At the time of the transfer, the collection consisted not only of paintings, but also of graphic works by Russian painters: the first were 1287 copies, the second - 518. Separately, it should be said about the works of European authors (there were over 80 of them) and a large collection of Orthodox icons. In addition, there was a place in the collection for sculptures, there were 15 of them.

The authorities of Moscow also contributed to the replenishment of the museum collection, acquiring real masterpieces of world fine art at the expense of the city treasury. By 1917, which became fatal for Russia, there were already 4,000 items in the Tretyakov Gallery. A year later, already under the Bolshevik government, the museum received the status of a state museum. At the same time, the Soviet government also nationalized many private collections.

The Tretyakov Gallery fund, in addition, was replenished by including exhibits from small metropolitan museums: the Rumyantsev Museum, the Tsvetkovskaya Gallery, the Museum of Painting and Iconography of I. S. Ostroukhov. Thus, the beginning of the 1930s was marked by a more than fivefold increase in the art collection. At the same time, the canvases of Western European artists were transferred to other collections. Founded by P. M. Tretyakov, the gallery has become a repository of paintings that glorify the originality of the Russian people, and this is its fundamental difference from other museums and galleries.

Buildings of the Tretyakov Gallery

The main building of the Tretyakov Gallery at 10 Lavrushinsky Lane, in Zamoskvorechye, formerly belonged to the founder's family - his parents and himself lived in this house. Subsequently, the merchant's estate was rebuilt several times. The gallery also occupies the buildings adjacent to the main building. The facade that we can see today was built at the beginning of the last century, the author of the sketches was V. M. Vasnetsov.

The style of the building is neo-Russian, and this is no coincidence: it was also intended to emphasize the fact that the museum is a repository of samples of Russian art. On the same main facade, visitors can see the bas-relief image of the capital's coat of arms - St. George with a serpent. And on both sides of it is a ceramic polychrome frieze, very elegant. A large inscription made in ligature with the names of Peter and Sergei Tretyakov - both donors of the collection - forms a single whole with the frieze.

In 1930, an additional room was erected to the right of the main building, designed by architect A. Shchusov. To the left of the former merchant's estate is the Engineering Corps. In addition, the Tretyakov Gallery owns a complex on Krymsky Val, where, in particular, exhibitions of contemporary art are held. The exhibition hall in Tolmachi, the museum-temple of St. Nicholas, as well as the museum of A. M. Vasnetsov, the house-museum of the folk artist P. D. Korin and the museum-workshop of the sculptor A. S. Golubkina also belong to the Tretyakov Gallery.

What to see in the Tretyakov Gallery

At present, the Tretyakov Gallery is more than just a museum, it is a center for the study of various trends in art. Gallery employees, who are high-class professionals, often act as experts and restorers, whose opinions and assessments are listened to. Another property of the gallery can be considered a unique book fund, which stores over 200 thousand thematic publications in various areas of art.

Now directly about the exposure. The modern collection includes more than 170 thousand works of Russian art, and this is far from the limit: it continues to grow thanks to artists, donations from individuals, various organizations and the heirs of prominent artists who donate various works. The exposition is divided into sections, each covering a specific historical period. Let's call them: Old Russian art, from the 12th to the 18th century; painting of the 17th - first half of the 19th centuries; painting of the second half of the 19th century; Russian graphics from the 13th to the 19th centuries, as well as Russian sculpture of the same period.

So, in the section of ancient Russian art, the works of both famous icon painters and those who remained nameless are presented. Of the well-known names, we will name Andrei Rublev, Theophan the Greek, Dionysius. In the halls reserved for masterpieces of art of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, paintings by such outstanding masters as F.S. Rokotov, V.L. Borovikovsky, D.G. Levitsky, K.L. Bryullov, A.A. Ivanov are exhibited.

Noteworthy is the section of Russian realistic art dating from the second half of the 1800s, presented in all its fullness and diversity. In this part of the Tretyakov Gallery you can see the outstanding works of I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, I. N. Kramskoy, I. I. Shishkin, I. I. Levitan and many other masters of the brush. Among the most famous and discussed is the famous "Black Square" by Kazimir Malevich.

Turning to the bright collection of works of the late XIX - early XX century, you will see the immortal work of V. A. Serov and M. A. Vrubel, as well as the masters of the art associations that existed at that time: "Union of Russian Artists", "World of Art" and " Blue Rose".

Separately, it should be said about that part of the exposition, which is known as the "Treasury". It contains a literally priceless collection of art objects made of precious stones and precious metals, made from the 12th to the 20th century.

In another special section of the Tretyakov Gallery, samples of graphics are shown, the peculiarity of which is that direct bright light should not fall on them. They are exhibited in halls with soft artificial lighting, which makes them seem especially beautiful and charming.

Note to tourists: photographing temporary exhibitions at the Tretyakov Gallery may be prohibited (this will be reported separately).

Working hours

The Tretyakov Gallery on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays is open from 10:00 to 18:00; on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays - from 10:00 to 21:00. The day off is Monday. Tours can be booked at the tour desk located at the main entrance. It lasts from 1 hour 15 minutes to an hour and a half.

How to get there

You can get to the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane, 10 by metro. Stations: "Tretyakovskaya" or "Polyanka" (Kalinin metro line), as well as "Oktyabrskaya" and "Novokuznetskaya" of the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line and "Oktyabrskaya" of the Circle line.

With the acquisition of a large Turkestan series of paintings and studies by V.V. Vereshchagin, the question of building a special building for the art gallery was resolved by itself. Construction began in 1872, and in the spring of 1874 the paintings were relocated to the two-story, consisting of two large halls (now halls No. 8, 46, 47, 48), the first room of the Tretyakov Gallery. It was erected according to the project of Tretyakov's son-in-law (sister's husband), architect A.S. Kaminsky in the garden of the Zamoskvoretsky Tretyakov estate and connected to their residential building, but had a separate entrance for visitors. However, the rapid growth of the collection soon led to the fact that by the end of the 1880s the number of halls of the gallery had increased to 14. The two-story building of the gallery surrounded the residential building on three sides from the side of the garden up to Maly Tolmachevsky Lane. With the construction of a special gallery building, the Tretyakov collection was given the status of a real museum, private in affiliation, public in nature, a museum free of charge and open for almost all days of the week for any visitor, regardless of gender or rank. In 1892, Tretyakov donated his museum to the city of Moscow.

By decision of the Moscow City Duma, which now legally owned the gallery, P.M. Tretyakov was appointed its life trustee. As before, Tretyakov enjoyed almost the sole right to select works, making purchases both with capital allocated by the Duma and with his own funds, transferring such acquisitions already as a gift to the “Moscow City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov” (such was then the full name of the Tretyakov Gallery). Tretyakov continued to take care of expanding the premises, adding 8 more spacious halls to the existing 14 in the 1890s. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov died on December 16, 1898. After the death of P. M. Tretyakov, the Board of Trustees, elected by the Duma, became in charge of the gallery's affairs. In different years, it included prominent Moscow artists and collectors - V.A. Serov, I.S. Ostroukhov, I.E. Tsvetkov, I. N. Grabar. For almost 15 years (1899 - early 1913), Pavel Mikhailovich's daughter, Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina (1867-1959), was a permanent member of the Council.

In 1899-1900, the empty residential building of the Tretyakovs was rebuilt and adapted for the needs of the gallery (now halls No. 1, 3-7 and vestibules of the 1st floor). In 1902-1904, the entire complex of buildings was united along Lavrushinsky Lane with a common facade built according to the project of V.M. Vasnetsov and gave the building of the Tretyakov Gallery a great architectural originality, which still distinguishes it from other Moscow sights

TRANSFER OF THE P.M.TRETYAKOV GALLERY AS A GIFT TO MOSCOW. 1892-1898

In the summer of 1892, the youngest of the Tretyakov brothers, Sergei Mikhailovich, died unexpectedly. He left a will in which he asked to attach his paintings to the art collection of his older brother; there were also the following lines in the will: “Since my brother Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov expressed to me his intention to donate an art collection to the city of Moscow and, in view of this, to give ownership to the Moscow City Duma of his part of the house ... where his art collection is located ... then I am part of this house, belonging to me, I give it to the property of the Moscow City Duma, but in order for the Duma to accept the conditions under which my brother will provide her with his donation ... ”The testament could not be fulfilled while the gallery belonged to P.M. Tretyakov.

On August 31, 1892, Pavel Mikhailovich wrote an application to the Moscow City Duma to donate his collection to the city, as well as the collection of Sergei Mikhailovich (along with the house). In September, at its meeting, the Duma officially accepted the gift, decided to thank Pavel Mikhailovich and Nikolai Sergeevich (Sergei Mikhailovich’s son) for the gift, and also decided to petition for the donated collection to be named the City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov. P. M. Tretyakov was approved as a trustee of the Gallery. Not wanting to participate in the celebrations and listen to thanks, Pavel Mikhailovich went abroad. Soon thank-you addresses, letters, telegrams really rained down. Russian society did not remain indifferent to Tretyakov's noble deed. In January 1893, the Moscow City Duma decided to allocate 5,000 rubles annually for the acquisition of works of art for the Gallery, in addition to the amounts bequeathed by Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov. In August 1893 the Gallery was officially opened to the public (Pavel

Mihailović was forced to close it in 1891 due to the theft of works).

In December 1896, P.M. Tretyakov became an honorary citizen of the city of Moscow, as stated in the verdict of the Moscow City Duma "... For the great service to Moscow, which he made the center of artistic education in Russia, bringing his precious collection of works of Russian art as a gift to the ancient capital" .

After the transfer of the collection to the city, Pavel Mikhailovich did not stop taking care of his Gallery, remaining its trustee until the end of his life. The paintings were bought not only with the money of the city, but also with the funds of Tretyakov, who donated them to the Gallery. In the 1890s, the collection was replenished with works by N.N.Ge, I.E.Repin, A.K.Savrasov, V.A.Serov, N.A.Kasatkin, M.V.Nesterov and other masters. Beginning in 1893, P.M. Tretyakov annually published catalogs of the collection, constantly supplementing and refining them. To do this, he corresponded with artists, their relatives, collectors, extracting valuable information bit by bit, sometimes offering to change the name of the picture. So N. N. Roerich agreed with Pavel Mikhailovich when compiling the catalog of 1898: “... For the language, indeed, a short name is better, at least such a “Slavic town. Messenger". It was the last catalog prepared by Tretyakov, the most complete and accurate. In 1897-1898, the Gallery building was again expanded, this time with an internal garden, in which Pavel Mikhailovich liked to walk, sacrificing everything for the sake of his beloved brainchild. The organization of the collection of Sergei Mikhailovich, the new re-hangling of paintings took away a lot of strength from Tretyakov. Trade and industrial affairs, participation in many societies, and charity required time and energy. Pavel Mikhailovich took an active part in the activities of the Moscow

society of art lovers, the Moscow Art Society, the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He did a lot for the Arnold School for the Deaf and Dumb, helping not only financially, but also entering into all the subtleties of the educational process, construction and repair of buildings. At the request of I.V. Tsvetaev, Tretyakov also contributed to the creation of the Museum of Fine Arts (now the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). All the donations of P.M. Tretyakov cannot be listed, it is enough to mention the help of the expedition of N.N. Miklukha-Maclay, numerous scholarships, donations for the needs of the poor. In recent years, Pavel Mikhailovich was often unwell. He was also very worried about the illness of his wife, who was stricken with paralysis. In November 1898, Tretyakov went on business to St. Petersburg, returning to Moscow, he felt ill. On December 4, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov died.

Gallery history. State Tretyakov Gallery

MONUMENT TO P.M.TRETYAKOV

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1898) was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery next to his parents and brother Sergei, who died in 1892; in 1948 his remains were transferred to the Serafimovskoye cemetery (Novodevichy Convent). Tombstone by sculptor I. Orlov, designed by artist I. Ostroukhov (granite, bronze).

After 1917, a monument-bust to V.I. Lenin was placed on a rectangular pedestal in front of the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery. Some time later, in 1939, a monument was erected on this site, a sculptural image of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Sculpture S.D. Merkulova 3.5 meters high, depicting Stalin in full growth, made in red granite. After dismantling, it is preserved in the State Tretyakov Gallery, has a high degree of preservation and is located in the courtyard of the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery (leaned against the wall). On April 29, 1980, on the site of the removed monument to Stalin, a monument was finally erected to the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery, Pavel Tretyakov, a sculpture that still exists today. This is a four-meter granite statue, designed by sculptor A.P. Kibalnikov and architect I.E. Rozhin.

THE POST-DEATH JOURNEY OF THE TRETYAKOVS

The Danilovskoye cemetery used to be famous for its special “third estate” flavor, however, it has not been completely lost to this day. The Moscow historian A.T. Saladin stated in 1916: “The Danilovskoye cemetery can be safely called a merchant cemetery, and it could not be otherwise, being close to the merchant Zamoskvorechye. Perhaps, no other Moscow cemetery has such an abundance of merchant monuments as this one.” A lot has changed since then. You can’t find here now the graves of the famous Moscow merchants Solodovnikovs, Golofteevs, Lepeshkins ...

Perhaps the most famous merchant burial of the Danilovsky cemetery, and perhaps the whole of Moscow, was the site of Tretyakov Pavel Mikhailovich, Sergei Mikhailovich and their parents. A. T. Saladin left the following description: “On the grave of Sergei Mikhailovich there is a black marble, rather high, but completely simple monument with the inscription: “Sergei Mikhailovich TRETYAKOV was born on January 19, 1834. He died on July 25, 1892.” The monument to Pavel Mikhailovich is a few steps away, under a protective wire grill, it is almost the same, but in a slightly more refined treatment. Caption: “Pavel Mikhailovich TRETYAKOV 15 Dec. 1832 d. Dec 4 1898". However, today all this is not at the Danilovsky cemetery. On January 10, 1948, the remains of both brothers, as well as the wife of P. M. Tretyakov, Vera Nikolaevna, were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery.

Formally, the reburial was carried out on the initiative of the Committee for Arts under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Chairman of the Committee M. B. Khrapchenko, in a letter to the manager of the funeral home trust under the Moscow City Council, motivated his initiative as follows: are falling into disrepair. (...) Taking into account the petition of the Directorate of the State Tretyakov Gallery, as well as the request of the next of kin of the founders of the Gallery, the Committee for Arts under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, for its part, petitions for the transfer of the remains of Pavel Mikhailovich, Vera Nikolaevna and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov, as well as their artistic gravestones from the cemetery Danilovsky Monastery at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent, where the most prominent figures of Russian culture and art are buried.

That the chairman of the commissariat confused the cemeteries of the Danilovsky Monastery and Danilovsky is not so strange - they are still confused, although the first has not existed for more than seventy years. The justification for the need to move the graves sounds strange: in the old place, de they "fall into extreme decline." However, graves that are taken care of will never “fall into decay”, but if they are abandoned, the decline is guaranteed, even if they are at the very Kremlin wall. The urn with the ashes of Mayakovsky stood in the then best in the country columbarium of the Donskoy cemetery and could not “fall into decay” in any way - nevertheless, it was transferred to Novodevichy anyway.

The underlying reason for all these reburials was, of course, completely different, and, judging by Khrapchenko’s letter, the authorities did not really want to reveal it: a campaign was unfolding in Moscow to collect and concentrate the remains of famous personalities in the Novodevichy pantheon. Moreover, reburials were made not only from cemeteries subject to liquidation, but in general from everywhere, except, perhaps, the Vagankovsky cemetery - traditionally the second largest after Novodevichy.

Some sources (for example, the encyclopedia "Moscow") indicate that Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov still rests at the Danilovsky cemetery. This is wrong. In the archive of the Tretyakov Gallery there is an “Act on the reburial of the remains of P. M. Tretyakov, V. N. Tretyakov and S. M. Tretyakov from the Danilovsky cemetery at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent dated January 11, 1948.” In addition to the act and other papers, there are several photographs in the archive: some show the moment of exhumation, others were already taken at the Novodevichy cemetery at the edge of a freshly dug grave. The photographs leave no room for doubt.

But here's what is curious: in the archives of the neighboring Danilovsky Monastery, among the cards for those buried here, there is also a card of Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov. It turns out that the Danilovsky monastery churchyard also claims to be the place of his burial? Of course not. Having the evidence of A. T. Saladin and the above-mentioned Act, this version can be safely discarded, but making the most interesting conclusion: since Sergei Mikhailovich was not buried in the monastery, but the documents were nevertheless “brought to him” there, obviously, the Danilovskoye cemetery was a kind of a branch of the monastery - maybe not always, but for some time.

At the Danilovsky cemetery, the grave of the parents of famous patrons has been preserved. Rather, their monument. To the left of the main path, almost immediately behind the memorial to those who died in the Great Patriotic War, surrounded by extremely rusted fragments of a forged fence, there is a strong, slightly lopsided obelisk, reminiscent of a Russian stove, with the inscription:

Mikhail Zakharovich Tretyakov
Moscow merchant
died 1850 December 2 days.
His life was 49 years, 1 m. and 6 days.
Alexandra Daniilovna Tretyakova
was born in 1812.
died February 7, 1899."

Whether someone's remains lie under the obelisk today - we do not know for sure. It would seem, who could have thought of disturbing the bones of the older Tretyakovs? Ah, apparently it could. The transfer of the founders of the largest art gallery to the elite cemetery is somehow still understandable, but here’s what else their admirers came up with: according to the “guarantee letter” stored in the Tretyakov Gallery archive, Mytishchi Sculpture Factory No. 3 was obliged to produce at the Danilovsky cemetery: “a) Removal of ashes Tretyakov P. M. and his burial at the Novo-Devichy cemetery, b) The removal of the ashes of Tretyakov M. Z. and burial in the grave instead of the ashes of Tretyakov P. M., c) The movement of the monument to Tretyakov M. Z. to the place of the monument to Tretyakov P. M."

The Tretyakovs got it! Both older and younger. By the way, for some reason, not a word is said about Alexandra Daniilovna in the “guarantee letter”. The father, it turns out, was reburied in the place of the son (if they were reburied), but the mother was not? Mystery. So it turns out that it is impossible to say for sure whether the old Tretyakovs are now buried under their “nominal” tombstone.

In the depths of the Danilovsky cemetery, at the very apse of the St. Nicholas Church-chapel, there is a barely noticeable monument - a low column of pink granite. There are buried brothers and sisters of Pavel Mikhailovich and Sergei Mikhailovich, who died almost simultaneously in infancy in 1848 during an epidemic of scarlet fever - Daniil, Nikolai, Mikhail and Alexandra. This is the only grave of the Tretyakov family, which no one has ever encroached on.

Pavel Tretyakov - founder of the Tretyakov Gallery. How was the life of this philanthropist? We will talk about this in the article.

Brief information about the life of the great philanthropist

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was born on December 27, 1832 in Moscow. His parents were merchants. Throughout his childhood, Pavel Mikhailovich was an excellent assistant to his father at work. He and brother Sergei were inseparable. From an early age they worked together, and later created the famous art gallery.

By the end of the 40s of the 19th century, the Tretyakov merchants owned five trading shops. But soon the breadwinner of the family, Mikhail Zakharovich Tretyakov, fell ill with scarlet fever and died. All responsibility for the family and trade was assumed by Pavel and Sergey. After the death of his mother, Pavel Mikhailovich headed the paper mill, where he did business very successfully.

By nature, Pavel Tretyakov, interesting facts from whose life you will learn later, was a kind and sensitive person. He loved comfort and appreciated art. At work, they spoke of him as a businesslike, persistent and firm person. But it cannot be said that he was extremely strict with his subordinates.

The early years of Tretyakov

His interest in great art manifested itself at the age of twenty, after visiting the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. It was then that the idea arose to collect his own collection of paintings. He understood that the collection of a unique collection would take all his free time, but Pavel was inspired by the idea.

The first paintings were purchased in 1853, the next year he bought nine paintings by old Dutch masters - they decorated his living rooms until Tretyakov's death. A couple of years later, his collection was replenished with the works of N. G. Schilder "Temptation", V. G. Khudyakov "Finland smugglers", then followed by the purchase of paintings by I. P. Trutnev, A. K. Savrasov, K. A. Trutovsky, F A. Bruni, L. F. Lagorio, as well as the famous portrait of the archaeologist Lanchi of Italian origin.

The purpose of collecting Pavel Tretyakov was not enrichment and fame, but the love of art and the gift of his collection to the people.

Marriage

The year 1865 was marked for the young philanthropist by his marriage to a twenty-year-old girl, Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova, who was quite educated for that time. The bride was brought up in the same family as he, and was very warm towards music and art in general. After a while, their daughters are born, and later their son Michael. But, unfortunately, he grew up as a sickly child and demanded constant attention. Michael's life was short.

The activity of Pavel Mikhailovich is aimed at collecting the works of his contemporaries and artists - democrats of the national school. The heart of the Tretyakov Gallery are the works of I. N. Kramskoy, V. I. Surikov and E. Repin.

First steps

Communicating with famous people, Tretyakov decides to create a large hall of portraits of his compatriots and contemporaries. To do this, he created a list of names by which Tretyakov accepted orders for portraits.

Pavel Mikhailovich chose a place for the future museum of painting in Lavrushinsky Lane, where he started building a chic two-story building of the future Tretyakov Gallery. In the summer of 1893, the long-awaited opening took place. Later, the fate of the gallery was decided by the people. It was transferred to the city of Moscow. As a reward, the autocrat offered Pavel Mikhailovich a title of nobility, but he refused, choosing the merchant class, which he was so proud of.

The history of the appearance of the family of merchants Tretyakov

P. Tretyakov came from an old merchant family. The great-grandfather of Pavel and Sergei - Elisey Martynovich Tretyakov - came from the merchants of Maly Yaroslavets, known since 1646. In 1774 he moved to Moscow with his wife Vasilisa and children: Osip and Zakhar. Later, Elisha remarried, and his second wife bore him a son, Misha. Matured Mikhail in 1831 marries Alexandra Borisova. So Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov were born. They also had sisters: Sophia, Elizabeth and Nadezhda. The father carefully monitored the education of his children. The Tretyakov family was a model of obedience and courtesy. There were no quarrels and insults between the children. The brotherly love of Pavel and Sergei later laid the foundation for the creation of the famous Tretyakov Gallery.

Tretyakov brothers

After the death of their parents, Pavel and Sergei had to take control of the factories into their own hands. Their work was measured and successful. According to written sources, the Tretyakov family was not rich enough. The Tretyakov brothers took the money that went to purchase the collection from the family budget and the income of their enterprises.

Sergei fully supported his brother and was actively involved in charity work. They worked, rested and together founded the Arnold-Tretyakov School. It is still famous today, because this educational institution was created for the deaf and dumb in Moscow.

Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov was the head of the city and a passionate collector of collections.

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov devoted his whole life to collecting. There was one difference between the brothers: Sergei Mikhailovich regarded collecting as his hobby, while Pavel Tretyakov saw in his desire, and later in his activity, a kind of mission.

Happiness and love of patron Tretyakov

The biography of Pavel Tretyakov indicates that he was the last member of his family to marry. It happened in the thirty-third year of his life. His wife was Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova. All her life this woman was a guiding star for Pavel Mikhailovich. Vera Nikolaevna could not put up with only one main rival - with her husband's art gallery, on which he spent all his fortune and most of his time.

At thirty-two, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was the only bachelor in the family. No one even hoped that he would marry. But soon he announces his engagement to Vera Mamontova, and then the wedding.

Pavel Tretyakov met Vera Nikolaevna at one of the family evenings in the Mamontovs' house. Vera Nikolaevna grew up in a merchant family. Her femininity, high intelligence, love of music fascinated the patron.

The wedding date was set for August 22, 1865. To the surprise of everyone, the marriage of Paul and Vera turned out to be strong and happy. Their family was big. They lived in the house with six children. Vera Nikolaevna throughout her life kept warmth and harmony in the family. However, their family life was not so rosy. The husband was strict and kept financial records. Clothes were bought new only after the old wore out. The fact is that Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov spent all the money of the family on replenishing his art collection and on charity.

Despite such huge expenses, Vera Nikolaevna never reproached her husband for this. She treasured his love and always agreed with him.

Grief in the Tretyakov family

Not all children of Pavel Tretyakov could become the pride of their parents. In 1887, the Tretyakov family was overtaken by an inevitable misfortune: the youngest son of Pavel Mikhailovich died, seriously ill with scarlet fever. Another blow that followed the first was the verdict of the doctors about the dementia of the second son. Unable to endure such a surprise of fate, the philanthropist withdrew into himself and became completely detached.

In 1893, the beloved wife of Pavel Mikhailovich experienced a microstroke, and five years later she came down with paralysis. And then Tretyakov realized that Vera Nikolaevna was dearer to him than anything in the world. From experiences, he himself fell ill, and on December 16 he left this world. Vera Nikolaevna passed away three months after the death of her husband. In 1898, the gallery, according to his will, became the property of the city of Moscow. And in 1918, by order of the leader of the proletariat, it received the name of the State Tretyakov Gallery. During the Soviet era, the Tretyakov Gallery collected not only paintings by artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, but also works by artists of the post-revolutionary period: Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Yuri Pimenov, Semyon Chuikov, Arkady Plastov, Alexander Deineka...

Death of a patron

The merchant Pavel Tretyakov was known not only as a collector of the collection, he was an honorary member of the Society of Art and Music Connoisseurs. He also took an active part in charity work. At one time, together with his brother, he founded a school for the deaf and dumb in Moscow.

In early December 1898, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov came down with a stomach ulcer. Even in the last hours of his life, he thought about the business in the gallery. The last request of the dying man was to save the gallery, and our contemporaries did just that.

The philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery. Now his ashes rest at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Replacing a famous painting

In 1913, the mentally ill icon painter Abram Balashov, while in the Tretyakov Gallery, cut up the painting by the artist Repin "Ivan the Terrible kills his son." The faces in the picture had to be restored again. And the curator of the gallery (at that time he was E. M. Khrustov), ​​having learned about this, threw himself under the train.

The surprising fact was that the artist himself did not notice changes in his work. This saved the gallery from collapse.

Interesting facts about the Tretyakov Gallery

• In 1929, the Church of St. Nicholas was closed in Tolmachi, which immediately became one of the storerooms of the Tretyakov Gallery. It was connected to the exhibition halls on the top floor of a two-story building, which was intended to display the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People" by Alexander Ivanov.
• During the Great Patriotic War, Tretyakov's collection was evacuated to Novosibirsk. The meeting occupied seventeen wagons.
• The history of the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived". This picture was painted by the famous artist Alexei Savrasov. After the death of his newborn daughter, he tried many times to repeat his work. It all ended with the artist painting walls in taverns with a copy of this painting. And with the money he earned, he bought himself bread and vodka.
• In order to get the desired picture, Pavel Mikhailovich paid for the trips of the artists. In 1898, Osip Braz painted a portrait of A.P. Chekhov, which Pavel Mikhailovich sent to Nice. However, the writer himself did not like the portrait.
• The well-known Malevich painted four versions of the famous "Black Square", and two of them are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Immortal Legacy

Summing up, it can be noted that the meaning of Pavel Tretyakov's life is his famous collection. In Russia, a rare person with such an obsession and fanatical desire tried to convey the "beautiful" to all people, not paying attention to prejudice and social inequality. Pavel Tretyakov was a truly great man who loved his homeland and people. The Tretyakov Gallery is his greatest contribution to world art. And the memory of the man with a capital letter, who was Tretyakov, will never die!

The State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Tretyakov Gallery (also known as the Tretyakov Gallery) is an art museum in Moscow founded in 1856 by the merchant Pavel Tretyakov and has one of the largest collections of Russian fine art in the world. The exposition in the engineering building "Russian Painting of the 11th - early 20th centuries" (Lavrushinsky pereulok, 10) is part of the All-Russian Museum Association "The State Tretyakov Gallery", founded in 1986.

Pavel Tretyakov began building his art collection in the mid-1850s. This, after some time, led to the fact that in 1867 the “Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov” was opened for the general public in Zamoskvorechye. Her collection included 1276 paintings, 471 drawings and 10 sculptures by Russian artists, as well as 84 paintings by foreign masters. In 1892, Tretyakov bequeathed his gallery to the city of Moscow. The facades of the gallery building were designed in 1900-1903 by the architect V. N. Bashkirov based on the drawings of the artist V. M. Vasnetsov. The construction was managed by the architect A. M. Kalmykov.

In August 1892, Pavel Mikhailovich donated his art gallery to Moscow. By that time, the collection included 1287 paintings and 518 graphic works of the Russian school, 75 paintings and 8 drawings of the European school, 15 sculptures and a collection of icons. On August 15, 1893, the official opening of the museum took place under the name "Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov."

On June 3, 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was declared "state property of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic" and was named the State Tretyakov Gallery. Igor Grabar was appointed director of the museum. With his active participation in the same year, the State Museum Fund was created, which until 1927 remained one of the most important sources of replenishment of the State Tretyakov Gallery collection.

Ilya Efimovich Repin, Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov

From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, the Gallery began dismantling the exposition - like other museums in Moscow, the State Tretyakov Gallery was preparing for evacuation. In the middle of the summer of 1941, a train of 17 wagons left Moscow and delivered the collection to Novosibirsk. Only on May 17, 1945, the State Tretyakov Gallery was reopened in Moscow.

In 1985, the State Art Gallery, located at Krymsky Val, 10, was merged with the Tretyakov Gallery into a single museum complex under the general name of the State Tretyakov Gallery. Now the building houses an updated permanent exhibition "Art of the 20th century".

A part of the Tretyakov Gallery is the Museum-Temple of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, which is a unique combination of a museum exposition and a functioning church. The museum complex in Lavrushinsky Lane includes the Engineering Corps intended for temporary exhibitions and the Exhibition Hall in Tolmachi.

The structure of the federal state cultural institution All-Russian Museum Association State Tretyakov Gallery (FGUK VMO GTG) includes: Museum-workshop of the sculptor A.S. Golubkina, House-Museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, Museum-Apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov, House-Museum of P.D. Korina, Exhibition Hall in Tolmachi.

Paintings from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. Unknown, 1883.

This is perhaps the most famous work of Kramskoy, the most intriguing, which remains misunderstood and unsolved to this day. Calling his painting “Unknown”, Kramskoy fixed an aura of mystery forever behind it. Contemporaries were literally at a loss. Her image caused anxiety and anxiety, a vague premonition of a depressing and dubious new - the appearance of a type of woman who did not fit into the old system of values. “It is not known who this lady is, but a whole era sits in her,” some stated. In our time, Kramskoy's "Unknown" has become the embodiment of aristocracy and secular sophistication. Like a queen, she rises above the foggy white cold city, driving in an open carriage along the Anichkov Bridge. Her outfit - a Francis hat trimmed with elegant light feathers, Swedish gloves made of the finest leather, a Skobelev coat decorated with sable fur and blue satin ribbons, a clutch, a gold bracelet - all these are fashionable details of a women's costume of the 1880s. years, claiming expensive elegance. However, this did not mean belonging to the high society, rather the opposite - a code of unwritten rules excluded strict adherence to fashion in the highest circles of Russian society.

I.E. Repin. Autumn bouquet, 1892

In the picture, the artist captured his daughter, Vera Ilyinichna Repina. She collected the last autumn flowers while walking around Abramtsevo. The very heroine of the picture is full of vitality. She only stopped for a moment, turning her beautiful bright face towards the viewer. Vera's eyes narrowed slightly. It seems that she is about to smile, giving us the warmth of her soul. Against the backdrop of fading nature, the girl looks like a beautiful, fragrant flower, cheerful youth and beauty emanates from a strong and stately figure. The artist skillfully and truthfully portrayed her in full growth - radiating energy, optimism and health.

Repin wrote:

I begin the portrait of Vera, in the middle of a garden with a large bouquet of coarse autumn flowers, with a boutonniere of thin, graceful ones; in a beret, with an expression of a sense of life, youth, bliss.

Looking at this blooming girl, one believes in the eternal triumph of life, its infinity and renewal. Painting by I.E. Repin's "Autumn Bouquet" gives hope for the inevitable victory of good over evil, beauty over fading and the immortality of human talent.

In the legacy of Ilya Efimovich Repin, the portrait occupies a prominent place. Everything attracted the artist in his models - expressiveness of the face, poses, temperament, clothes ... And each work is distinguished by its vitality and versatility of characteristics. The artistic vigilance of the master made it possible not only to convey the features of the depicted person, but also to create a generalized image - an image of the time in which he lives.

Valentin Alexandrovich Serov. Girl with peaches, 1887.

Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov stayed for a long time in Abramtsevo, the estate of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov near Moscow. Here, in the dining room of the manor house, the famous painting “Girl with Peaches” was painted - a portrait of Vera Mamontova (1875–1907), the twelve-year-old daughter of a patron. This is one of the first works of impressionistic painting in Russia. Pure colors, a lively energetic stroke give birth to an image of youth, full of poetry and happiness. Unlike the French Impressionists, Serov does not dissolve the objective world in light and air, but takes care of conveying its materiality. This showed the artist's closeness to the realists, his predecessors and teachers - I.E. Repin and P.A. Chistyakov. He pays special attention to the girl's face, admiring the clarity and seriousness of his expression. Combining the portrait with the image of the interior, the artist created a new type of portrait-painting.

Valentin Serov spoke about the work on this picture:

All I wanted was freshness, that special freshness that you always feel in nature and you don't see in pictures. I wrote for more than a month and exhausted her, poor thing, to death, I really wanted to preserve the freshness of painting with complete completeness - that's how the old masters

Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. The Swan Princess, 1900.

The prototype of the image was the artist's wife Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela-Vrubel. The master was amazed by her stage performance of the role of the Swan Princess in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Nadezhda Ivanovna, a well-known singer and the artist's muse, brought the charm of feminine charm into the artist's inner world. The art of Vrubel and the work of Zabela were connected by invisible but strong threads. The Russian epic epic and national folklore traditions also served as a source of inspiration for Mikhail Alexandrovich. Based on legend, myth, epic, the artist did not illustrate them, but created his own poetic world, colorful and intense, full of triumphant beauty and at the same time disturbing mystery, the world of fairy-tale heroes with their earthly longing and human suffering.

In the very depths of our souls, the princess's wide-open charming "velvet" eyes peer into the depths of our souls. She seems to see everything. Therefore, perhaps, sable eyebrows are raised so sadly and slightly surprised, lips are closed. She seems to be bewitched. But you hear the beating of the heart of a Russian fairy tale, you are captivated by the gaze of the princess and are ready to look endlessly into her sad kind eyes, to admire her charming, sweet face, beautiful and mysterious. The play of emerald semi-precious stones on the kokoshnik of the princess, the position of the feathers on the wings, the artist conveyed with rhythmic strokes, strokes similar to a mosaic. This rhythm gives the image musicality. It is “heard” in the shimmer and play of airy, weightless colors in the foreground, in the finest gradations of gray-pink, in the truly intangible pictorial matter of the canvas, “transforming”, melting. All the languid, sad beauty of the image is expressed in this special pictorial matter.

... There is a princess beyond the sea,
What you can't take your eyes off:
During the day, the light of God eclipses,
Lights up the earth at night.
The moon shines under the scythe,
And in the forehead a star burns ...

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Ivan Shishkin, Konstantin Savitsky. Morning in a pine forest, 1889.

The picture is popular due to the entertaining plot. However, the true value of the work is the beautifully expressed state of nature. It is not a dense forest that is shown, but sunlight breaking through the columns of giants. You can feel the depth of the ravines, the power of centuries-old trees. And the sunlight, as it were, timidly looks into this dense forest. The frolicking bear cubs feel the approach of morning. We are observers of wildlife and its inhabitants.

The idea of ​​the picture was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky K.A. Bears wrote Savitsky in the picture itself. These bears, with some differences in posture and number (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches. The bears turned out so well for Savitsky that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. And when Tretyakov bought this painting, he removed Savitsky's signature, leaving the authorship to Shishkin.

Viktor Vasnetsov. Alyonushka, 1881.

The artist began work on the painting in 1880. At first he painted landscape sketches on the banks of the Vori in Abramtsevo, by the pond in Akhtyrka. Many sketches of this time have been preserved.

Painting "Alyonushka" V.M. Vasnetsova became one of his most touching and poetic creations. A girl sits on the shore of a dark pool, sadly bowing her head in her hands. Around her, yellowing birch trees shed their leaves into still water, behind her back, a spruce forest stood up like a dense wall.

The image of Alyonushka is both real and fabulous at the same time. The sad appearance and dilapidated, poor clothes of the young heroine recreate in memory the artist’s sketch from nature, made from an orphan peasant girl in the year the picture was painted. The vitality of the image is combined here with fabulously poetic symbolism. Above the head of Alyonushka, sitting on a gray cold stone, a thin branch with chirping swallows curved like an arch. According to the famous researcher of the Russian folk tale A.N. Afanasyev, whom Vasnetsov knew through the Abramtsevo circle, the swallow brings good news, consolation in misfortune. The dark forest, pool and loose hair were identified in ancient beliefs with misfortune, danger and heavy thoughts, and a birch growing near the water was a sign of healing.

Even if the artist did not put such detailed symbolism into the canvas, it does not give the impression of hopelessness, perhaps because we remember a fairy tale with a happy ending.

Vasnetsov himself spoke of his painting like this: “Alyonushka” seemed to have been living in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka when I met one simple-haired girl who struck my imagination. There was so much longing, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes ... Some kind of special Russian spirit emanated from her.

Critic I. E. Grabar called the painting one of the best paintings of the Russian school.

Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov. Rooks have arrived, 1871.

"The Rooks Have Arrived" is a famous painting by the Russian artist Alexei Savrasov, created in 1871. The painting is the most famous work of Savrasov, in fact, he remained "the artist of one picture."

The sketches for this painting were painted in the village of Molvitino (now Susanino) in the Kostroma province. The finalization of the painting took place in Moscow, in the artist's studio. At the end of 1871, the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived" first appeared before the public at the first exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. "Rooks" became a discovery in painting. The static landscapes of Kuindzhi and Shishkin immediately lost their innovative status.

The work was immediately bought by Pavel Tretyakov for his collection.

Konstantin Dmitrievich Flavitsky. Princess Tarakanova, 1864.

The fundamental basis for the creation of the picture was the story of Princess Tarakanova, an adventurer who posed as the daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and sister of Emelyan Pugachev. By order of Empress Catherine II, she was arrested and in May 1775 was taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress, subjected to a lengthy interrogation by Field Marshal Prince Golitsyn, during which she gave various testimonies. She died of consumption on December 4, 1775, hiding the secret of her birth even from the priest.

The painting was painted in 1864, and in the same year it was first exhibited at the Academy of Arts exhibition. V. V. Stasov, a well-known critic of that time, who highly appreciated the painting, called the painting by Flavitsky:

"a wonderful picture, the glory of our school, the most brilliant creation of Russian painting"

The painting was acquired by Pavel Tretyakov for his collection after the death of the artist.

The plot for the picture was the legend of the death of Tarakanova during the flood in St. Petersburg on September 21, 1777 (historical data indicate that she died two years earlier than this event). The canvas depicts a casemate of the Peter and Paul Fortress, behind the walls of which a flood is raging. A young woman stands on the bed, escaping from the water coming through the barred window. Wet rats get out of the water, creeping up to the feet of the prisoner.

For the painting "Princess Tarakanova" the artist Konstantin Flavitsky was awarded the title of professor of historical painting.

Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev. Unequal marriage, 1862.

The work was written in 1862, immediately after graduating from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The painting "Unequal Marriage" was delivered to the academic exhibition of 1863, with its general idea, strong expression, unusual size for an everyday plot and masterful execution, which immediately nominated the artist to one of the most prominent places among Russian painters. For her, the Academy awarded him the title of professor.

The plot of the picture is an unequal marriage of a young beautiful girl and a decrepit rich old man. There are indifferent faces around, only one young man with his arms crossed looks accusingly at the couple. It is believed that the artist portrayed himself in this person, as if expressing his protest.

Isaac Levitan. March, 1895.

The whole picture is filled with that special human joy that comes in the spring. The open door, the horse Dianka left at the porch speak of the invisible presence of people. Isaac Ilyich knew how to talk about a person through a landscape, he knew how to "seek and discover in nature - in the words of Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (1873-1954) - the beautiful sides of the human soul."

The canvas was painted in 1895 in the Tver province on the estate of acquaintances Turchaninov Gorki. Isaac Ilyich observed and wrote the first days of spring, and its swift approach made him hurry. In several sessions, without any etude preparation, the master painted his radiant March entirely from life. What is on the canvas? The backyards of an ordinary estate, warmed and illuminated by the sun, melting snow with blue shadows, thin branches of trees against the sky, a bright wall of the house ... So much spring melody in all this!

The revival of nature in this composition is revealed through the poetry of light, the dazzlingly bright March sun, and only then is reinforced by loosened snow. We used to call it “white”, but for the keen eye of a landscape painter, whiteness is created from many shades of color. The snow in Levitan's painting lives - breathes, shimmers, reflects the blue sky. The picturesque range with its color shades is built on an impressionistic combination of complementary colors. If the Impressionists dissolve color in light, then Levitan sought to preserve the color of the depicted object. Canvas March is written in bright, joyful colors. To an unpretentious, ordinary motive, drawn from village life, the author managed to give emotional richness, to charm the viewer with the immediacy of the transfer of lyrical feelings. By means of painting, not only visual, but also other sensations are caused. We hear all the rustles and sounds of nature: the rustle of tree branches, the singing of drops. Levitan created a landscape full of life, sun, filled with light and air.

Ivan Kramskoy. Christ in the Wilderness, 1872.

Conceived in 1868, the painting required several years of intense inner work. The completed work was immediately purchased directly from the artist's studio by Pavel Tretyakov. "In my opinion, this is the best picture in our school in recent times," he wrote.

Presented at the Second Traveling Exhibition, "Christ in the Wilderness" became a sensation. Heated discussions flared up in front of the picture, the audience was looking for some hidden meaning in this strong but hopelessly lonely figure, lost in a barren stone desert. Kramskoy succeeded in creating an image of exceptional expressiveness equal, perhaps, to the most tragic pages of the gospel story. The asceticism of color and pictorial techniques only enhances the focus on the moral side of the content of the work. The heavy spiritual experiences of Christ, perhaps for the first time in Russian fine art, make us think about the problem of personal choice. In this deep drama, the inadequacy of the expectation of Christ and human capabilities is already revealed from the very beginning.

“I see clearly that there is one moment in the life of every person, more or less created in the image and likeness of God, whether to take a ruble for the Lord God or not yield a single step to evil. We all know how such hesitation usually ends,” wrote the artist .

Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin. Bathing a red horse, 1912.

The most famous painting by the artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. Written in 1912, it became a milestone for the artist and brought him worldwide fame.

In 1912, Petrov-Vodkin lived in southern Russia, on an estate near Kamyshin. It was then that he made the first sketches for the picture. And also the first, unpreserved version of the canvas, known from black and white photography, was written. The picture was a work of everyday rather than symbolic, as happened with the second option, it depicted just a few boys with horses. This first version was destroyed by the author, probably shortly after his return to St. Petersburg.

Petrov-Vodkin painted the horse from a real stallion named Boy, who lived on the estate. To create the image of a teenager sitting on top of him, the artist used the features of his nephew Shura.

On a large, almost square canvas, a lake of cold bluish hues is depicted, which serves as a background for the semantic dominant of the work - a horse and a rider. The figure of a red stallion occupies the entire foreground of the picture almost completely. He is given so large that his ears, croup and legs below the knees are cut off by the frame of the picture. The rich scarlet color of the animal seems even brighter compared to the cool color of the landscape and the light body of the boy.

From the front leg of the horse entering the water, waves of a slightly greenish tint, compared to the rest of the surface of the lake, scatter. The whole canvas is an excellent illustration of the spherical perspective so beloved by Petrov-Vodkin: the lake is round, which is emphasized by a fragment of the shore in the upper right corner, the optical perception is slightly distorted.

In total, the picture shows 3 horses and 3 boys - one in the foreground is riding a red horse, the other two are behind him on the left and right sides. One leads a white horse by the bridle, the other, visible from the back, riding an orange one, rides deep into the picture. These three groups form a dynamic curve, emphasized by the same curve of the front leg of the red horse, the same curve of the boy rider's leg and the pattern of waves.

It is believed that the horse was originally bay (red), and that the master changed its color, having become acquainted with the color range of Novgorod icons, which he was shocked by.

From the very beginning, the painting caused numerous controversies, in which it was invariably mentioned that such horses did not exist. However, the artist claimed that he adopted this color from ancient Russian icon painters: for example, on the icon “The Miracle of the Archangel Michael”, the horse is depicted completely red. As in the icons, this picture does not show a mixture of colors, the colors are contrasting and, as it were, collide in confrontation.

The picture so impressed contemporaries with its monumentality and fatefulness that it was reflected in the work of many masters of brush and word. So Sergei Yesenin's lines were born:

“Now I have become more stingy in desires.
My life! Or you dreamed of me!
Like I'm a spring echoing early
Ride on a pink horse.

The red horse acts as the Destiny of Russia, which the fragile and young rider is unable to hold. According to another version, the Red Horse is Russia itself, identified with Blok's "steppe mare". In this case, it is impossible not to note the visionary gift of the artist, who symbolically predicted the “red” fate of Russia in the 20th century with his painting.

The fate of the picture was extraordinary.

The canvas was first shown at the World of Art exhibition in 1912 and was a resounding success.

In 1914 she was at the "Baltic Exhibition" in the city of Malmö (Sweden). For participation in this exhibition, K. Petrov-Vodkin was awarded a medal and a diploma by the Swedish king.

The outbreak of the First World War, then the revolution and civil war led to the fact that the painting remained in Sweden for a long time.

After the end of the Second World War and after stubborn and exhausting negotiations, finally, in 1950, the works of Petrov-Vodkin, including this canvas, were returned to their homeland.

The artist's widow donated the painting to the collection of the famous collector K. K. Basevich, who in 1961 presented it as a gift to the Tretyakov Gallery.

F. Malyavin. Whirlwind, 1906.

The painting "Whirlwind" - the pinnacle of the work of Philip Andreevich Malyavin - was conceived by him in 1905 (this year is dated a sketch for it from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery). The events of the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907 influenced the choice of subject and the pictorial and plastic manner of the huge monumental canvas. The scale of the canvas emphasizes the significance of the idea. The entire field of the picture is filled with a violent whirlwind of colors, skirts and shawls fluttering in a dance, among which the heated faces of peasant women flash. The prevailing red color, due to the expression of the brush and the intensity of the glow, loses its properties of designating the objective world, but acquires a symbolic meaning. It is associated with fire, fire, uncontrollable elements. This is a harbinger of a brewing popular revolt and, at the same time, the element of the Russian soul. The symbolic perception of color in Malyavin largely comes from the icon - as a child, he studied icon painting for several years at the Athos Monastery in Greece, where he was noticed by the sculptor V.A. Beklemishev and sent to the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.

Kazimir Malevich. Black Square, 1915.

The Black Square is the most famous work of Kazimir Malevich, created in 1915. It is a canvas measuring 79.5 by 79.5 centimeters, which depicts a black square on a white background.

The work was completed by Malevich in the summer and autumn of 1915. According to the artist, he painted it for several months.

The work was exhibited at the last futuristic exhibition "0.10", which opened in St. Petersburg on December 19, 1915. Among the thirty-nine paintings exhibited by Malevich in the most prominent place, in the so-called "red corner", where icons are usually hung, hung the "Black Square".

Subsequently, Malevich made several copies of the "Black Square" (according to some sources, seven). It is reliably known that in the period from 1915 to the early 1930s, Malevich created four versions of the "Black Square", which differ in pattern, texture and color. One of the "Squares", although dated by the author in 1913, is usually attributed to the turn of the 1920s-1930s. He also painted the paintings "Red Square" (two copies) and "White Square" ("Suprematist composition" - "White on white") - one.

There is a version that "Square" was written for the exhibition - because the huge hall had to be filled with something. This interpretation is based on a letter from one of the organizers of the exhibition to Malevich:

I have to write a lot now. The room is very large, and if we, 10 people, paint 25 paintings, then it will only just happen.

Initially, the famous Malevich square first appeared in the scenery for the opera Victory over the Sun as a plastic expression of the victory of active human creativity over the passive form of nature: a black square instead of a solar circle. It was the famous scenery for the fifth scene of the 1st act, which is a square within a square, divided into two areas: black and white. Then, from the scenery, this square migrated to an easel work.

The largest art critic at that time, the founder of the "World of Art" association, Alexander Benois, wrote immediately after the exhibition:

Undoubtedly, this is the icon that the futurists put in place of the Madonna.

At the landmark exhibition of 2004 in the Warsaw gallery "Zachenta" "Warsaw - Moscow, 1900-2000", where more than 300 paintings, sculptures, installations were exhibited (in particular, many paintings of the Russian avant-garde) "Square" from the Tretyakov Gallery was presented as the central exhibition exhibit. At the same time, it was posted in the "red corner", as in the exhibition "0.10".

Currently, there are four "Black Squares" in Russia: in Moscow and St. Petersburg, two "Squares" each: two in the Tretyakov Gallery, one in the Russian Museum and one in the Hermitage. One of the works belongs to the Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, who bought it from Inkombank in 2002 for 1 million US dollars (30 million rubles) and transferred this first of the existing versions of the canvas depicting the "Black Square" by the founder of Suprematism to the Hermitage for indefinite storage.

One of the Black Squares, painted in 1923, is part of a triptych that also includes the Black Cross and the Black Circle.

In 1893, a similar painting by Alphonse Allais was already exhibited, entitled "The Battle of the Negroes in a Deep Cave on a Dark Night."

Yuri Pimenov. New Moscow, 1937.

The painting is part of a series of works about Moscow, on which the artist has been working since the mid-1930s. The artist depicted Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya), located in the city center, not far from the Kremlin. The House of the Unions and the Moskva Hotel are visible. The plot of the picture - a woman driving a car - is a rather rare occurrence for those years. This image was perceived by contemporaries as a symbol of new life. The compositional solution is also unusual, when the image looks like a frame captured by a camera lens. Pimenov focuses the viewer's attention on the figure of a woman shown from the back, and, as it were, invites the viewer to look at the morning city through her eyes. This creates a feeling of joy, freshness and spring mood. All this is facilitated by the artist's impressionistic style of writing and the gentle coloring of the picture.