The State Russian Museum treasures the largest collection of Russian art no other museum in the world can boast of. Over 400,000 exhibits present history of Russian fine art from the ancient icons to the 20th century avant-garde, covering all the stages, schools and genres.
The Museum was founded in 1895 at the decree of Tsar Nicholas II who thus wanted to honor the memory of his father Alexander III. The basis of the museum collection was formed with the works of Russian art from the Hermitage, the Museum of the Academy of Arts, the Winter Palace, the Gatchina Palace, and from private collections donated to the museum. Three years later, on March 7, 1898, the first ever state museum of Russian fine art opened its doors.
In the post-revolutionary years the collection of the museum grew considerably due to numerous expropriated private collections that treasured the masterpieces of Russian art. In that time the retrospective part of the collection, presenting the stages of Russian art in the course of more than a thousand years, was formed. In the Soviet period the museum got interested in modern art and started collecting works of the outstanding artists of the 20th century.
The permanent exhibition of the State Russian Museum presents the works of Russian and Soviet artists and covers the period from the 11th century till nowadays. Along with paintings, the museum boasts unique collections of works of folk art, decorative and applied art, and numismatics.
The Russian museum holds really unique collection of icons of 12 - 17th centuries, treasuring the works by such masters as Andrey Rublev, Dionisy, Simon Ushakov and others. The collection of 18 - beginning of the 19th century paintings includes the works by the first secular artists of Petrine period - Ivan Nikitin, Andrey Matveev; portraits by Fedor Rokotov, Dmitry Levitsky, Orest Kiprensky; canvases by Aleksey Venitzianov, Karl Briullov, Alexander Ivanov, Pavel Fedotov. The works by "Itinerants", Ilya Repin, Vasiliy Surikov, Ivan Aivazovsky, Victor Vasnetzov, Vasiliy Polenov represents Russian fine art of the second part of the 19th century. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century Russian art was enriched with the works by such artists as Isaak Levitan, Valentin Serov, Michail Vrubel, Konstantin Korovin. The Russian museum treasures wonderful paintings by outstanding artists of Silver Age and Russian avant-garde - visitors can admire works by bright representatives of famous art association as "World of Art", "Blue Rose" and "Jack of Diamonds" as well as works by Vasiliy Kandinsky, Mark Shagal and Pavel Filonov. The Soviet Art is represented with the paintings by Arkady Rylov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Vera Muchina, Petr Konchalovsky, Arkady Plastov and many others.
The extensive museum collection is housed in four splendid palaces in the center of Saint Petersburg - the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Stroganov Palace, Marble Palace and Saint Michael's Castle. The Mikhailovsky Palace, the main museum building where the central exposition and the basis of the museum collection are located, was built to the design of outstanding architect Carlo Rossi. Majestic and ornamentally rich main facade in the late Empire style is decorated with eight-columned portico. Bronze lions adorn the both sides of the wide marble stairs. The exterior of the Mikhailovsky Palace, unlike its classical interiors, has been preserved to its original design of Carlo Rossi. The majority of the palace's rooms and halls have been adjusted to the museum's needs thus only the front staircase and the white-pillared hall have remained unchanged.