The State Art Museum (Minsk) first received visitors in early November 1939. It was called the Art Gallery until 1957.
How to collect exhibits?
Works of art for exhibits were delivered from the historical museums of the Byelorussian SSR. Several exhibits were brought from the Tretyakov Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hermitage. The art gallery was replenished with valuable objects of art from the devastated churches and churches of Belarus. The basis of the collection was paintings. In the year of opening, the Minsk Art Museum was replenished with works of art from Western Belarus. A large collection of portraits of the 16th-19th centuries, French tapestries of the 18th century, which belonged to the old Radziwill family from Nesvizh, was taken to the Minsk Art Gallery.
War years
At the beginning of World War II, the gallery exhibits there were more than 2700 units that were to be described and evaluated. All artistic and historical values were prepared for shipment to the rear, but before the arrival of the fascist army they did not manage to be taken out. By September 1941, most of the valuable exhibits were stolen by German invaders and transported to Germany. More than 200 exhibits of Russian and West European painting, 89 sculptures, about 1300 objects of Russian and West European porcelain, 60 icons, several hundred works of Belarusian artists of the 19th-20th centuries were irretrievably lost.
Post-war time
After the liberation, the Minsk Art Museum was housed in 4 rooms of the House of Trade Unions allocated as a museum. Those art objects that were given to exhibitions in different cities before the start of the war, and several paintings found in the city after being liberated from German occupiers took their place. The exhibits located in East Prussia were also returned.
Gallery staff made great efforts to search for and purchase works of art in the post-war period. In 1957, the gallery moved to a new two-story building on Kirov Street in Minsk, and since July 10 of the same year it was named the State Art Museum of the Belarusian Republic. Subsequently, the Moscow Museum of Oriental Art in 1960 presented paintings, a variety of porcelain and ceramics, and objects of applied art.
The development of the museum in 1990–2000.
In 1993, the museum became known as the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus. In 1999, he was allocated a building on Lenin Street, house 20 in Minsk, where he is currently located. It was built specifically for the museum. In 2007, a new museum-city building was prepared for exhibitions under a glass roof in the shape of a dome. In halls with a transparent ceiling, lightness and transparency are felt. The main entrance to the art museum from Lenin Street, decorated with columns and sculptures, looks monumental and solemn. In the lobby, wide, comfortable staircases lead to the second floor, to the open gallery and to the en suite rooms of the exhibition halls.
Exhibitions in the National Art Museum of Minsk
The variety of permanent exhibitions that can be viewed in the museum is amazing.
- The ancient art of the Belarusian people of the XII-XVIII centuries. contains 120 exhibits: icons, carving, weaving and art casting.
- An exhibition of Belarusian art of the 19th century acquaints visitors with a collection of works by artists of Poland: Ivan Khrutsky, Apollinaria Gorovsky.
- Belarusian art of the XX-XXI centuries. shown by 380 works of 193 artists.
- The exhibition in the art museum in Minsk, dedicated to Russian art of the 18th-20th centuries, presents 5,000 or more works by masters in sculpture, art graphics, painting, and decorative and applied art.
- Of particular interest are paintings by V. Pukirev, I. Aivazovsky, V. Tropinin, B. Kustodiev, I. Shishkin, I. Levitan, M. Vrubel, I. Shashkov.
- Exhibition of European Art of the 16th-20th Centuries acquaints with paintings and portraits of Italian artists, paintings on religious subjects of masters of the Netherlands.
- The exhibition of Flemish art shows the work of artists from Austria, England, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Poland.
- Also exhibited are sculptures of sculptors of Italy, porcelain from European manufactories of the 18th-20th centuries.
- Art objects of the eastern countries of the XV-XX centuries. were exhibited in the gallery since 1950, when the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China donated a collection of works of decorative art.
Art Museum of Minsk is currently
The Minsk Art Museum has become one of the major scientific and educational centers and is a source of cultural life throughout the republic. The branches, foundations, storerooms and expositions of the museum contain 30,000 works. The museum is actively involved in writing books and albums about art, has a rich library fund. Within its walls, a creative workshop for children has been operating for 20 years, an art platform has been operating for interesting meetings with representatives of art, literature and music. A variety of workshops are held. Excursions take place extraordinary, visitors will certainly expect pleasant and informative surprises.
The art cafe, which opened in 2013, hosts various exhibitions, performances by musicians, and film screenings about art. It is planned to open new pavilions, an art restaurant, a shop for selling souvenirs and paintings, a sculpture park.
Adjacent to the main building on Lenin Street. The total area of the art museum is almost 9 thousand square meters. m. In addition to exhibition halls, there are storage of works of art, workshops for restoration.
An integral part of the gallery are 200 people who work tirelessly in the field of art. The Minsk Art Museum is always open to visitors.