May 22, 1856 is considered to be the day the State Tretyakov Gallery was founded - the largest national museum of Russian fine a

May 22, 1856 is considered to be the day the State Tretyakov Gallery was founded - the largest national museum of Russian fine art.

On this day, collector and textile manufacturer Pavel Tretyakov acquired the painting "Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers" by artist Vasily Khudyakov. This marked the first step by the 23-year-old entrepreneur towards realizing his dream of creating a museum of Russian national painting and sculpture.

Tretyakov dedicated over 40 years of his life to this endeavor. By collecting paintings for his gallery, Tretyakov relied solely on his own artistic taste and ability to distinguish genuine works of art from imitations.

Within just two to three years, the collection already included several dozen paintings not only by Tretyakov's contemporaries but also by artists of earlier years.

In 1881, the gallery was opened to the public. And in 1892, Tretyakov donated his collection to the city of Moscow. At that time, the collection consisted of 1287 paintings, 518 d...
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