With the name of the great Russian poet, a unique collection of artistic values in the historical center of Moscow turned out to be connected to a greater extent by chance. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts has one of the most significant collections of works of Western European art from antiquity to the twentieth century in the world, but everyone is used to the name of the poet for a long time, and it does not cause objections. Russian culture and art are represented in completely different museums.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. How was it created?
The person to whom we owe the very fact of the existence of this museum was called Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev. The idea of creating such an institution in Moscow has long been circulated in the circles of the aristocracy and the enlightened Russian intelligentsia. But the distance between the idea and its embodiment seemed insurmountable to many. To do this was destined historian and art theorist I.V. Tsvetaev. He put all his life on this.
Such a grandiose plan could not be realized without the equally grandiose financial costs. In order for the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art to exist in the form in which it is known to us today, two factors had to merge together - the financial power of the Russian business, which was gaining momentum at the beginning of the century, and the talent of architects and builders. The honored professor of Moscow University and the doctor of Roman literature Tsvetaev succeeded in bringing merchants and industrialists together with architects, artists and builders. I had to overcome many difficulties, both financial and technical. The construction, unique in scale and complexity, stretched for 14 years. I.V. Tsvetaev was the first director of the museum. He died shortly after its discovery.
How the collection was formed
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, while still under construction, was equipped with plaster copies of antique sculptures and architectural fragments. They were carried out according to casts from the originals from the famous museums of the world. The art collection was formed from various sources throughout the twentieth century. Part of the funds was transferred during the Soviet era from the Hermitage. But the pride of the collection is the canvases of the French impressionists and post-impressionists from the collections of Schukin and Morozov. This collection has become one of the most representative in the whole world.
But not only its main exposition is famous for the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Exchange exhibitions with leading museum centers around the world are held here regularly. Each time they become significant cultural events in the life of Moscow. A common sign of this place was the "tail" of the line. People stand in it for tickets to the museum.
Metro "Kropotkinskaya", Volkhonka street, 12 - even those who get to Moscow for the first time, this address is well known. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is a must-see. Often people travel from far away to Moscow for the sake of just visiting here.