The State Tretyakov Gallery?Why this museumRussian art of the 11th to early 20th century is nowhere else assembled so fully — only the Russian Museum compares. But the canon was formed here: Tretyakov bought from living artists what he himself thought mattered, and one man’s private judgement became what we now call the Russian school. Seeing the 19th century elsewhere means seeing fragments.
Getting there — partly. Tretyakovskaya has no lift. A bus to the “Tretyakov Gallery” stop or a taxi to Lavrushinsky is easier. Moscow metro stations almost never have lifts to the platform, except on the Big Circle line and the MCC. A wheelchair user is better served by the surface buses, which are low-floor across the centre.2–3 hours
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The largest collection of Russian art of the 11th to early 20th century. It began with Pavel Tretyakov, who bought his first paintings in 1856 and gave the collection to Moscow in 1892.
The building. Bought by the Tretyakov family in 1851; extensions of 1873–1904. The fairy-tale façade was drawn by Viktor Vasnetsov in 1902–1904.
Good to know. The gallery has three buildings: the historic one in Lavrushinsky, the New Tretyakov on Krymsky Val and the Kadashevskaya Embankment wing opened in 2024. Each needs its own ticket; a combined one exists.
Ivanov’s The Appearance of Christ Before the People in its own hall; Surikov’s Boyarynya Morozova and Morning of the Streltsy Execution; Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and His Son; Serov’s Girl with Peaches; Vasnetsov’s Bogatyrs; the icon halls. Rublev’s Trinity is no longer here: it was handed to the Church in 2023.
Hall 10 — Ivanov’s Appearance of Christ with its studies. Then halls 25–26: Boyarynya Morozova and Morning of the Streltsy Execution by Surikov, on to Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and Serov’s Girl with Peaches. Finish with the icons, halls 56–62.
| Mon | closed |
| Tue, Wed, Sun | 10:00–18:00 |
| Thu–Sat | 10:00–21:00 |
More than 150 sheets that almost never leave the store: pastel sheds under light and movement and is rarely shown. Halls 49–54.