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The State Tretyakov Gallery is a museum of Russian art.It is one of the largest museums in the world.

The Tretyakov Gallery was founded by Pavel Tretyakov(1832-1898) in the middle of the 19^th century. In 1856 Tretyakov bought his first two paintings: ”Temptation” by Shilder and “Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers” by Khudyakov. This year is considered to be the date of the foundation of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Pavel Tretyakov is an outstanding person in Russian culture. He was not only a collector, but a patron of the arts as well. He was interested in paintings, followed the development of art, believed in Russian artists and rejoiced at their success. Pavel Tretyakov decided to collect the most talented works of Russian realistic painters. The artists appreciated his attempt to turn his collection into a national gallery and helped him to do that. Pavel Tretyakov started with the pictures of his contemporaries and later began to collect pieces of ancient art as well. By the 1870s his collection contained more than fifty paintings. In 1881 the enlarged collection was opened for the public.

The canvases from the Tretyakov collection were exhibited not only in Russia but also abroad. So in 1862 three pictures from his collection were shown at the International Exhibition in London.

On September 18, 1892, Pavel Tretyakov presented his collection to the city of Moscow. Since that time the gallery has borne his name.

Pavel Tretyakov was a trustee of the gallery till his death. Then the management of the museum was given to the council appointed by the Moscow Duma. In 1913 Igor Grabar became the director of the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1901-1902 the gallery was reconstructed to Victor Vasnetsov`s design.

After the October revolution the collection was greatly enlarged by paintings from the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum, the Tsvetkov City Gallery, some nationalized private collections. Ancient icons collected by Ilya Ostroukhov were added to the stock. Later Ostroukhov became the director of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Nowadays the collection continues to expand. That is why it was necessary to reconstruct the gallery and to give it extra floor space. At the beginning of the 1980s the Tretyakov Gallery was closed for reconstruction work. Two more buildings were added to the gallery: the Depository and the Engineering Building. In 1994 the Tretyakov Gallery opened its doors for the public. Its interior is very beautiful. Several new halls have appeared. The conditions of painting storage have been greatly improved.

The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the largest research and cultural centres in Russia. Special conferences, lectures and excursions are arranged in the museum. It has its own restoration workshops, library and archives.

The Tretyakov Gallery possesses a very rich and fine collection of Russian art from the 12^th to the 20^th century. There are magnificent collections of icons, including an icon by Andrei Rublyov called “The Trinity”, paintings by famous Russian artists such as Fyodor Rokotov, Karl Bryullov, Alexander Ivanov, Ivan Kramskoy, Alexei Savrasov, Ilya Repin, Nikolay Ghe, Vasily Vereschagin, Vasily Surikov, Ivan Shishkin, Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Mikhail Nesterov and others, and a collection of Russian sculpture.

Let us speak about some artists and paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1863 fourteen painters –students of the Academy of Arts-refused to paint pictures on religious themes. They proclaimed a right to choose their own subjects for paintings. These artists, headed by Ivan Kramskoy, left the Academy. First they organized “a group of painters from St. Petersburg” and then, in 1870, they joined the artists from Moscow to form “The Travelling Exhibition Society” (the peredvizhiki).

The leader of the peredvizhniki , Ivan Kramskoy, was a talented portrait painter. There are several works in the gallery painted by Kramskoy, for example “The Portrait of Leo Tolstoy”. (Pavel Tretyakov wanted to have the portraits of the most famous Russian people in his gallery. That was why he commissioned the artists to paint their portraits.) This is one of the best portraits of the writer. We see a person of great intellect, a man who understands everything and who can create great works. Kramskoy depicted Tolstoy in the peasant’s dark blouse, but this is not important to us. It is the man himself, his inner world that is important and interesting. Tolstoy took Kramskoy as a prototype for the painter Mikhailov in his book “Anna Karenina”.

“The Portrait of Pavel Tretyakov “ is another important work of Ivan Kramskoy. The artist depicted the founder of the famous gallery, a real Russian patriot who devoted all his life to Russian art. He is a very handsome man, his face is full of dignity and noble feelings.

Russian national landscape painting has its origin in Alexei Savrasov`s works. In 1871 he presented his picture “The Rooks Have Come”. This work was greatly admired by the critics. Savrasov chose a very ordinary subject for his painting: it is an early spring day; the rooks are nesting in birch-trees; we can also see a small church with a bell-tower, a few houses and grey snow that has melted in some places. The sky is grey. We have a feeling that the landscape is filled with damp spring air. The picture is painted in light colours. Tretyakov liked this picture and bought it for his gallery.

We can also see landscapes by Isaac Levitan and Mikhail Nesterov, historical and folk subjects by Victor Vasnetsov and Philip Malyavin, portraits by Konstantin Somov and Valentin Serov (the latter was an outstanding artist, famous for his splendid gala portraits), etc.

The artists felt flattered if their pictures were chosen and bought by Pavel Tretyakov. After his death many painters presented their pictures to the gallery. Some of them painted great canvases specially for this museum. For example, Victor Vasnetsov painted a great canvas “The Warriors”.

We are proud of the Tretyakov Gallery, its superb paintings and talented artists.

6.1.3 Do you remember?

1 Who was the founder of the first gallery of Russian paintings in Moscow?

2 What is the date of its foundation?

3 How many paintings were there in the collection of Pavel Tretyakov by the 1870s?

4 When was the Tretyakov collection opened for the public?

5 When did Pavel Tretyakov present his collection to the city of Moscow?

6 Who was the first trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery?

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2079