Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

(Ben Green) #1

136 NORTH EASTERN EUROPE


Tretyakov Gallery y
Третьяковская галерея
Tretyakovskaya galereya


The gallery was founded in 1856 by Pavel Tretyakov, a wealthy


merchant, who presented it to the city in 1892. It continued to
expand after the Revolution as numerous private collections
were nationa lized. Today it has the largest collection of Russian
art in the world – with more than 100,000 works on display.
The building has a striking façade, with a bas-relief of St
George and the dragon at its centre. A new wing was added in



  1. Many of the early 20th-century works are now in the
    New Tretyakov Gallery, an annexe to the main building.


Portraits by Ivan Kramskoy

The Appearance of
Christ to the People
is by the 19th-century
Romantic artist,
Aleksandr Ivanov.

The Rooks Have
Come (1871)
This bleak winter scene by
Aleksey Savrasov contains
a message of hope – rooks
are taken by Russians as a
sign of the coming spring.


Portrait of Arseny
Tropinin, the Artist’s
Son (c. 1818)
This portrait is by Vasiliy
Tropinin, who was a serf for
47 years before gain ing free-
dom and finding success.


Stairs from
basement

Portraits by Ilya
Repin (1844–1930)

. Demon Seated (1890)
This is one of several innovative paintings by Mikhail Vrubel,
who adopted a new, strikingly modern style. They are
inspired by Mikhail Lermontov’s Symbolist poem, The Demon
(1839), with which Vrubel became obsessed.


Stairs down to
ground floor

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STAR EXHIBITS

. Demon Seated
. The Trinity


5

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp160–61 and pp162–3


First floor
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