The famous patron of arts and art connoisseur Pavel Tretyakov did much more for Moscow than the vast majority of other residents of the capital. It was he who at his own expense founded the famous Tretyakov Gallery, which is now one of the most famous museums in the world. It is visited by millions of tourists, and in it you can see truly priceless works of art.
The founder of the Tretyakov Gallery was from a merchant family, and not from a noble family. Education Pavel Mikhailovich received at home, as was the case in those years in wealthy families. Having inherited his father’s factory, Pavel Tretyakov together with his brother became one of the richest citizens of the Russian Empire. After himself, he left a legacy estimated at 3.8 million rubles. In that era, it was just an astronomical figure.
About 200 thousand people worked at the pulp mill Pavel Tretyakov. Pavel Tretyakov began collecting a collection of paintings when he was about 25 years old. And from the very beginning he intended to donate it to Moscow. Particularly highly, Pavel Tretyakov assessed the work of the artist Vasily Perov. He not only bought his paintings and ordered new ones, but also organized posthumous exhibitions of his works after the death of the latter. His wife was a cousin Savva Mamontov, another well-known patron of the arts. Pavel Tretyakov built a separate building for his art gallery. 7 years after the completion of construction, she opened the door for everyone.
After he officially presented the gallery to the city government, Tretyakov himself was appointed as its lifelong supervisor and trustee. The last words uttered by Pavel Tretyakov before his death were “take care of the gallery and be healthy”. For his invaluable contribution he received the title of Honorary Citizen of Moscow.
Initially, Pavel Tretyakov planned to exhibit only Russian artists in the gallery, but as time went on, paintings by foreign painters appeared there. At the time of the transfer of Tretyakov’s gallery to Moscow, there were about 2,000 works of art in it. Until the end of his life, Pavel Tretyakov annually replenished the gallery’s collection with dozens of paintings, acquiring them at his own expense. In addition, the philanthropist sponsored art schools in which everyone could study for free. He also organized a school for the deaf and dumb in the Don province.
