Pushkin Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

Государственный музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
Established	1912 (1912)
Location	12, Volkhonka Street, Khamovniki, Moscow, Russia
Type	Art museum
Founder	Ivan Tsvetaev
Public transit access	Kropotkinskaya

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, also known as Russian: ГМИИ) is a very large art museum in Moscow, Russia. It focuses on European art. You can find it on Volkhonka Street, right across from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Since 1981, the museum has hosted a famous music festival. It is called Sviatoslav Richter's December Nights.

What's in a Name?

Even though it's called the Pushkin Museum, it's not directly linked to the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The museum was started in 1912 by a professor named Ivan Tsvetaev. He was the father of another poet, Marina Tsvetaeva.

Professor Tsvetaev convinced a rich person, Yuriy Nechaev-Maltsov, and an architect, Roman Klein, that Moscow really needed an art museum. The museum's name changed a few times. Finally, in 1937, it was named after Pushkin. This was to honor him 100 years after he passed away.

A Look at the Museum's Past

During the Bolshevik Revolution, many artworks by French Impressionist and modern artists were taken. They were shown in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Later, they were stored away privately. In 2019, some of these artworks were found again. Some even returned to the Pushkin Museum!

In 1981, the museum held a special art show called Moscow-Paris. In 2016, art experts made an exciting discovery. They found 59 Italian Renaissance sculptures in the Pushkin Museum. These sculptures had been missing from Berlin's collections since World War II.

In March 2022, some museum officials left their jobs.

The Museum Building

The main building of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts was designed by Roman Klein and Vladimir Shukhov. Building it took a long time, from 1898 to 1912. Ivan Rerberg was in charge of the building's structure for the first 12 years.

In 2008, President Dmitri A. Medvedev announced plans to fix up the museum. There were also plans for a big expansion. A famous architect named Norman Foster was involved in 2009. However, there were problems and disagreements. In 2013, Norman Foster's company left the project.

In 2014, a Russian architect named Yuri Grigoryan took over. His design includes new modern buildings. He also decided to save an old gas station from the 1930s. It will be kept inside a glass structure near the main museum building. This was done after groups wanted to save the old buildings.

What You Can See Inside

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts has a huge collection! It includes about 700,000 items. You can see paintings, sculptures, drawings, decorative art, photographs, and even ancient objects.

Paintings to Admire

André Derain's Le séchage des voiles (The Drying Sails), painted in 1905.

The oldest artworks in the museum are Byzantine art pieces. These include mosaics and icons. There is also a smaller collection of early Italian paintings. The hall for early Italian art opened on October 10, 1924.

Amazing Drawings and Prints

The museum's Department of Prints and Drawings started in 1924. It received many items from the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museum. In 1861, Emperor Alexander II gave a very special gift. He donated over 20,000 prints from the Hermitage to the museum.

Sculptures from Many Eras

The collection of Western European sculptures has more than 600 pieces. The museum has added to its collection over the years. Now, it owns artworks from the 6th to the 21st centuries. The first sculptures given to the museum came from Mikhail Schekin's collections. After the revolution, the museum received more sculptures from collections that became public.

Decorative Art Pieces

The museum's collection of decorative art from Europe has about 2,000 items. The oldest pieces are from the Middle Ages. This collection is very diverse, meaning it has many different kinds of objects.

Ancient Discoveries

A stone slab (stele) showing two ancient soldiers. It's from the 4th century BC.

The Museum of Fine Arts was first planned to be a museum of classical arts. Ancient objects were the most important part of its collection. The Department of Antiquity was one of its main scientific sections. The museum's founder, Ivan Tsvetaev, was an expert in ancient art.

Ancient Egypt

Most of the objects in Hall No. 1 have been on display since the museum opened in 1912. They come from the collection of Vladimir Golenishchev.

Other Ancient Civilizations

The museum also has real objects from Southwest Asia. These are based on the collection of Vladimir Golenishchev, who studied ancient cultures.

Greek and Roman Antiquity

The museum's collection of ancient Greek and Roman art has many real artifacts. There are over 1,000 ancient pots, small sculptures, and larger statues.

Tsvetaev's Cast Collection

The museum has a special collection of casts and copies of sculptures. These were common in European museums in the 1800s. Today, this collection is unique because it's so well-preserved. Tsvetaev wanted to show modern sculptures too. He planned to add casts of works by artists like Auguste Rodin.

Coins and Medals

Today, the museum's Numismatics Department has over 200,000 coins and medals. It also has 3,000 books about them. This collection started at Imperial Moscow University. In 1888, it was divided. This helped create the main coin collections in Moscow.

Since 1912, ancient and European coins from the university were moved to the museum. In 1945, the museum's coin collection became its own department. It includes ancient coins from Central Asia.

Museum Quarter Project

Work on the "Museum Quarter" for the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts began in the late 2000s. The main building of the museum will be renovated between 2019 and 2023.

Gallery

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  Eberswalde Hoard

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  Priam's Treasure

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  The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus

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  Fayum mummy portraits

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  Annunciation by Sandro Botticelli, around 1495-1498

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  Madonna and a Child by Lucas Cranach the Elder, around 1520

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  Apparition of the Sybil to the emperor Augustus by Paris Bordone, around 1550

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  Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther by Rembrandt, 1660

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  Death of Sophonisba by Giambattista Pittoni, early 1700s

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  Fastnacht (Mardi Gras) by Paul Cézanne, 1888

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  The Red Vineyard by Vincent van Gogh, 1888. This was the only painting he sold during his lifetime.

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  Yvette Guilbert by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894

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  Blue Dancers by Edgar Degas, 1897

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  Acrobat on a Ball by Pablo Picasso, 1905