Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (must see)

The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.

The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection of approximately 2,000 works (1,362 paintings, 526 drawings, and 9 sculptures) to the Russian nation.

The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.

The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from 'Theotokos of Vladimir' and Andrei Rublev's 'Trinity' to the monumental 'Composition VII' by Wassily Kandinsky and the 'Black Square' by Kazimir Malevich.

In 1985, the Tretyakov Gallery was administratively merged with a gallery of contemporary art, housed in a large modern building along the Garden Ring, immediately south of the Krymsky Bridge. The grounds of this branch of the museum contain a collection of Socialist Realism sculpture, including such highlights as Yevgeny Vuchetich's iconic statue 'Iron Felix' (which was removed from Lubyanka Square in 1991), the 'Swords Into Plowshares' sculpture representing a nude worker forging a plough out of a sword, and the 'Young Russia' monument. Nearby is Zurab Tsereteli's 86-meter-tall statue of Peter the Great, one of the tallest outdoor statues in the world.

Near the gallery of modern art there is a sculpture garden called "the graveyard of fallen monuments" that displays statues of the former Soviet Union that were relocated.

There are plans to demolish the gallery constructed in the late Soviet modernism style, though public opinion is strongly against this.

Why You Should Visit:
Huge and a joy to behold! It has a work from so many of the world's masters as well as being an absolute treasure trove of Russian works.

Tip:
Unless you're an admirer of royalty portraits, move at a faster pace through the first 15 halls and slow down at the 16th hall, where art begins to develop towards impressionism. Don't miss the sea scenery by Ayvazovski, or the countryside and forests by Shishkin, Repin, etc. From that point on, each hall leads to more modern, captivating art.