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Almost each tourist going to Moscow knows which places wants to see. But there are a lot of other museums in the city that are worth to visit. I've decided to expand the common Moscow museum list in this post. Of course all of added museums are fabulous but for some reason the tourists mostly don't get to them.
The Kremlin Museums
The museums of Moscow Kremlin keep the impressive collections of royal family treasures. Here are jewelry, armory, dresses and other exhibits.
Russian tsars used to live, dance, entertain and take powerful decisions in the halls of the Kremlin Palace. The part of its interior has been preserved. The Kremlin Museums are definitely the first places to see in Moscow.
The State Tretyakov Gallery is the most impressive collection of Russian fine art and one of the greatest museums in the world. It is located in Zamoskvorechye, one of the oldest directs of the city not far from the Moscow Kremlin.
The collection consists entirely all of Russian art and artists who have made а contribution to the history of Russian art or been closely connected with it. It contains more than 150 000 works of painting, sculpture and graphics, created throughout the centuries by successive generations of Russian artists.
Bakst (Rozenberg), Lev Samoylovich, Salome (the fragment). Costume sketch for O.Wilde's play "Salome", 1908. Paper, graphite pencil, gouache, whitewash, Indian ink, 46,5 х 29,9
Art works dating from the 11th to the early 20th century are shown in Gallery's historic building on Lavrushinskiy lane. New building of the Tretyakov Gallery at Krymskiy Val houses a unique museum exhibition of national 20th century art.
New Tretyakov Gallery
New building of the Tretyakov Gallery at Krymskiy Val houses a unique museum exhibition of national 20th century art.
It's opened by the works of Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova, the artists of the association "Bubnovy Valet", whose creativity marks the beginning of the new Avant-Garde movement in Russia. The world known artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, artists of neoclassicism and constructivism of the 1920th are also well represented.
Y. Pimenov, "New Moscow", 1937
The art works featuring "social realism" – an official style of totalitarian era in 1930-50s - are widely shown in the Gallery. Objects, installations, photographs, conceptual art created since 1950 up to now, are also represented as alternative directions of the Soviet art evolution. Also there are contemporary art works in the gallery collection.
K. Petrov-Vodkin, "Near the Lenin's Coffin", 1924
Pushkin Museum of Fine Art
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is one of the greatest collection in Russia and in the world. It was founded in 1898th at the time of Russian Empire. The first director of Museum was Ivan Tsvetaev. He was the father of russian poet of Silver Age Marina Tsvetaeva.
Originally 40 commersants gave their money to construct the museum’s building and to support its working. It was private project. But the museum was patroned by the member of royal family. And that fact gave the weight to the beginning. Quickly the museum formed the impressive collection.
Constructing the museum
At soviet times the museum became one of new state institutions. Before WW II it received the name of Alexander Pushkin. By the way Marina Tsvetaeva honoured Pushkin as her favorite poet and dedicated to him some of her poems.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts now
Next door to the Pushkin museum there is the Museum of Private Collections. It's formed of the art collections donated by private person. It includes exhibits of 20th-century masters like Alexander Rodchenko and Barbara Stepanova.
After Stalin’s death the museum began the international activity. Nowadays it keep more than 560 000 art works - paintings, photographs, sculptures, graphics, archaeologicals and so on. The museum display the permanent collection and regularly organize scale international art exhibitions.
State Museum of Oriental Arts
The collection of museum of oriental arts includes the unique art works from China, Korea, Japan, India and countries of Middle and South-East Asia.
Art work from Iran
This museum is especially interesting for its keepings of art works from former Soviet republics, northern countries. Also it has the impressive collection of Roerich works.
Art Work from Middle Asia
Roerich
Niko Pirosmani (Georgia)
Contemporary History Museum
It was founded as Revolution Museum and was keeping the evidences of Soviet epoch. Then, in nineties it was renamed into Contemporary History Museum. There are a lot of posters (propaganda and advertising as well). Also the museum organize the exhibitions dedicated to the new power or general thematic projects.
One of the most impressive exhibit is a project of the giant Soviets Palace (Dvorets Sovietov) that Stalin was going to build instead of the blown-up and now rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Glinka Museum of Musical Culture
If you love music you'll be impressed by the collection of Glinka Museum of Musical Culture. It keeps a lot of musical instruments from almost from all over the world, audio, video, rare musical parties. I remember my first excite when I've been allowed to take a couple of chords on an old harpsichord. The museum has the organ hall.
Mayakovsky Museum
This museum is founded in the building on Lubyaka Square. Here in the small communal room used to live and work Vladimir Mayakovsky, one of most powerful Russian futurist poets of 20th centure. Here he shot himself in 1930. Now this museum is also a monument of soviet post-modern.
