KIEV SIGHTSEEING

Kiev is an ancient city and there are plenty of places of interest. It’s called the “mother of Russian cities” and its history dates back more than 1500 years. It goes without saying how meaningful and important for Ukraine’s history are monuments like Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the Golden Gate, St. Sophia Cathedral, St. Michael Cathedral of the Golden Domes, the National Opera House, Mariinsky Palace and many others. You can find a lot of information on the Internet about these main sights, but the place
I would like to present here on my web-site is the Kiev State Museum of Russian Art.

The Museum is located in the center of the city on Tereschenkivskaya Street, just opposite the Kiev State T. Shevchenko University, in the house that used to be a mansion of the Kiev connoisseur and patron of the arts Fedor Tereschenko. The brothers Fedor and Nicolas Tereschenko acquired the very best works from contemporary painters in Moscow and St Petersburg. The collection contains many works by members of the Society for Circulating Art Exhibitions (The Peredvizhniki). The main sources of additions to the Tereschenko collection were art auctions, exhibitions and direct purchases from the artists. The Tereshcenkos became real rivals to Moscow’s famous collector P. Tretyakov.

It’s well-known that P. Tretyakov donated his collection to the city of Moscow in 1892 and believed that the Tereschenkos would follow him, but the plans of the family were disrupted by the Great October Revolution. In 1917 the mansion was nationalized and the collection was transferred to the Kiev Russian Art Gallery. In 1922 the Kiev State Museum of Russian Art was opened in the converted mansion and the enlarged collection was returned to its previous place.

The Museum possesses outstanding Russian works of art, ranging from the 16th to the early 20th century. The collection contains the works of famous Russian artists such as Repin, Vereschagin, Vrubel, Tropinin, Borovikovskiy, Roerich, Perov, Kramskoy, Vasnetsov, Fedotov, Serov. The museum now boasts more than 12000 works including paintings, drawings, icons, sculptures, graphics, engravings, minor and applied arts, antique frames and furniture.

A visit to the Kiev State Museum of Russian Art is a definite must for anyone interested in Russian art and culture.

The Kiev State Museum
of Russian Art
is open daily, except on Wednesday and Thursday, from 10:00 to 18:00 hours and the box-office to 15:30. The museum is closed for maintenance on the last Monday of every month.

Museum address: Tereschenkovskaya, 9.
Metro "Lva Tolstogo Square" station.
Tel.: 234-6218, 234-61-07