Museum of Private collections Department of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

Idea to open such type of museum comes from Ilya Zilbershtain (1905-1988) famous Moscow collector, arts critic, literature critic, owner of big collection of Russian and west-European art.

Starting from the moment of museum opening it’s stocks have received about thirty collections and at the present time it is about seven thousands masterpieces of Russian and west-European art of ХIX-ХХth centuries: painting, graphic, sculpture, applied art and photography. Special attention is paid to the personality of collector and to his hobbies – it helps visitor to keep track of different stages of collecting like some kind of phenomenon.

Collections which come to museum are really various. It’s being separated by art types, there are some monographic, some thematic. For example, collection of Russian realistic painting of second half of ХIХth century from Vladimir Solovyov, Russian painting of ХIХ-ХХ centuries border from A. Ramm, animalistic small-size sculpture, art glass of Lemkuls’, collection of theatre-decoration graphics of the begging of ХХth century from Nikita and Nina Lobanovy-Rostovskie, graphics of Alexandre Benois from collection of Papkov. One of the museum’s founders Ilya Zilbershtain has gifted to the country more than two thousands masterpieces of art and graphics. Museum is offering to visitors collection created through the life of several generations of Russian families. Collections include not only masterpieces of arts but also memorial items showing collector’s personality (hall with painting and graphic items from collection of famous pianist Sviatoslav Richter, hall of Pasternak’s family, hall-studio of Dmitry Krasnopevcev; hall of painter Tatiana Mavrina containing Russian icons, life items).

One more component of exposition in Museum of Private collections is heritage of outstanding painters of ХХ century – Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, David Shterenbergh, Georgy and Orest Vereysky, Vladimir Weisbergh, Aleksander Tyshler.