Who was Pavel Tretyakov, the founder of the gallery. Patron Pavel Tretyakov

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov. Born December 15 (27), 1832 in Moscow - died December 4 (16), 1898 in Moscow. Russian businessman, philanthropist, collector of works of Russian fine art. Founder of the Tretyakov Gallery. Honorary citizen of Moscow (1896).

Pavel Tretyakov was born on December 15 (27 according to the new style) December 1832 in Moscow into a merchant family.

Father - Mikhail Zakharovich Tretyakov, had small shops in Gostiny Dvor, owned a paper-dyeing and finishing factory.

Mother - Alexandra Danilovna Tretyakova, daughter of a merchant.

Younger brother - Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov (January 19 (31), 1834, Moscow - July 25 (August 6), 1892, Peterhof), entrepreneur, philanthropist, collector, real state councilor, one of the founders of the Tretyakov Gallery.

There were twelve children in the family, Pavel was the eldest.

Pavel and Sergey were of good weather, so from childhood they always did everything together, they were very friends. At the same time, they had different characters and temperaments: Pavel was laconic, reserved and concentrated, while Sergei was usually cheerful and even looked frivolous. The brothers received their education with the help of home educators, who were hired by their father. When the boys grew up, their father began to involve them in work in his shops: Pavel and Sergei followed the orders of the clerk, called in customers, and did the cleaning.

In 1848, four children in the Tretyakov family died of scarlet fever, which affected their father's health. Mikhail Tretyakov, shortly before his death, made a will, according to which all "acquired capital" passed to his wife Alexandra Danilovna. At the same time, Mikhail Zakharovich noted his sons as a separate item: “To bring up and decently educate sons until they reach maturity. If my wife notices that the sons will take money not for a good deed, but for some kind of weakness or debauchery, then I give full will to prohibit the issuance of money until a formal division.

In 1851, the large Tretyakov family moved into a two-story Zamoskvoretsky house with an outbuilding, a kitchen, a laundry room, a stable, and a carriage house. The first floor was given to Pavel, Sergei and their sister Elizabeth. On the second settled Alexandra Danilovna with her younger children.

A few years later, Pavel and Sergey received from their mother all the rights to manage their affairs and, taking their son-in-law as a partner, founded the company "Shop of linen, paper, woolen goods, Russian and foreign Trade houses of P. and S. of the Tretyakov brothers and V. Konshin in Moscow ". In the new company, each of the owners was responsible for his site: Vladimir Dmitrievich worked directly in the store, Sergey oversaw foreign trade operations, Pavel kept all the accounting.

Things were going well, in 1866 the brothers opened a paper-spinning and weaving manufactory in Kostroma, which employed several thousand people.

Foundation of the Tretyakov Gallery

In the autumn of 1852, Pavel Tretyakov visited St. Petersburg. For more than two weeks he went to theaters, exhibitions, wandered in the halls of the Hermitage, the Rumyantsev Museum, the Academy of Arts. He wrote to his mother: “I saw several thousand pictures! Pictures of great artists ... Raphael, Rubens, Vanderwerf, Poussin, Murill, S. Roses and so on. and so on. I saw countless statues and busts! I saw hundreds of tables, vases, other sculptural things made of such stones, which I had not even had a clue about before.

After this trip, he became interested in collecting paintings - the desire to collect paintings by Russian artists became the meaning of his life.

In the 1850s, Pavel Tretyakov began amassing a collection of Russian art, which he intended almost from the start to donate to the city. He acquired his first paintings on June 4, 1856, these were the works "Temptation" and "Clash with Finnish smugglers". These were the first canvases of the future famous.

Further, the collection was replenished with paintings by I. P. Trutnev, A. K. Savrasov, K. A. Trutovsky, F. A. Bruni, L. F. Lagorio and other masters. Already in 1860, the philanthropist made a will, which stated: “For me, who truly and ardently love painting, there can be no better desire than to lay the foundation for a public, accessible repository of fine arts, bringing benefit to many, all pleasure”.

In the 1860s, Tretyakov acquired the paintings "Halt of Prisoners" by V. I. Jacobi, "Last Spring" by M. P. Klodt, "Grandmother's Tales" by V. M. Maksimov and others. Pavel Mikhailovich highly appreciated the work of V. G. Perov, to whom he wrote in October 1860: “Take care of yourself for the service of art and for your friends.” In the 1860s, such works by Perov as "Rural Procession at Easter", "Troika" and "Amateur" were acquired. In the future, Tretyakov continued to acquire paintings by Perov, commissioned portraits of him, and actively participated in organizing a posthumous exhibition of the artist's works.

In 1864, a painting appeared in the collection, painted on the theme of Russian history - “Princess Tarakanova” by K. D. Flavitsky. At the end of the 1860s, Pavel Mikhailovich commissioned F. A. Bronnikov to paint the painting “The Hymn of the Pythagoreans to the Rising Sun”.

On industrial matters, Pavel Tretyakov often traveled abroad, where he got acquainted not only with technical innovations, but also with painting. In Germany, France, Italy, England, Austria, he visited exhibitions and museums.

Also, artists dedicated him to the subtleties of fine art. In the St. Petersburg workshops, the collector learned the technology of painting, knew how to cover the paintings with varnish or, without the help of a restorer, remove damage on the canvas. Ivan Kramskoy recalled: "His manner in the studio and at exhibitions is the greatest modesty and silence."

In 1874, Tretyakov built a building for the collected collection - a gallery, which in 1881 was opened to the public.

A large number of paintings in his collection came from the Wanderers. These are: "The Rooks Have Arrived" by Savrasov and "Morning of the Streltsy Execution" by Surikov, "Christ in the Desert" by Kramskoy and "Birch Grove" by Kuindzhi. And many hundreds more works. Pavel Tretyakov bought entire collections of paintings from artists. For example, from Vasily Vereshchagin in 1874, he immediately acquired 144 paintings and sketches, as well as 127 pencil drawings. The collection was immediately replenished with 80 works by Alexander Ivanov. Became part of the collection and picturesque impressions of Vasily Polenov's trip to the Middle East - 102 studies. Paintings by artists of the 18th - early 19th centuries Tretyakov collected from antique shops and private shops.

Pavel Tretyakov - portrait by Ilya Repin

On August 31, 1892, Pavel Mikhailovich wrote a statement to the Moscow City Duma about his decision to transfer his entire collection and the collection of his late brother Sergei Mikhailovich, together with the gallery building, to the city. “Wishing to contribute to the establishment of useful institutions in the city dear to me, to promote the flourishing of the arts in Russia and at the same time preserve for eternity the collection I have collected”- wrote Pavel Tretyakov.

In 1893, this institution was named the "City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov." Pavel Tretyakov was appointed lifelong trustee of the gallery and received the title of Honorary Citizen of Moscow. Shareholder of the Moscow merchant bank.

After the opening of the gallery, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, he intended to welcome the nobility to Tretyakov, but Pavel Mikhailovich refused: "I was born a merchant, and I will die a merchant."

Tretyakov's latest acquisition for his gallery is Levitan's sketch for the painting "Above Eternal Peace".

By the end of his life, Tretyakov received the title of commerce adviser, was a member of the Moscow branch of the Council of Trade and Manufactories, and since 1893 - a full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Together with his brother, he owned several tenement houses in Moscow, including: Tretyakov Tenement House (Kuznetsky Most Street, 13/9 - Rozhdestvenka Street, 9/13); Profitable house of the Tretyakovs (Kuznetsky Most Street, 9/10 - Neglinnaya Street, 10/9).

Pavel Tretyakov's fortune at the time of his death was estimated at 3.8 million rubles.

He died on December 4 (16), 1898. The last words to his relatives were: "Take care of the gallery and be healthy."

He was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery in Moscow next to his parents and brother Sergei, who died in 1892. In 1948, the ashes of the Tretyakov brothers were reburied at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

In Moscow, in front of the building of the Tretyakov Gallery, a monument was erected to Pavel Tretyakov.

On the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Matochkin Shar Strait there is the Tretyakov Glacier.

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (documentary)

Personal life of Pavel Tretyakov:

Wife - Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova, cousin of Savva Mamontov. They married in August 1865. According to Tretyakov's contemporaries, their marriage was harmonious and happy.

The marriage produced six children:

Faith (1866-1940);
Alexandra (1867-1959);
Love (1870-1928);
Mikhail (1871-1912);
Maria (1875-1952);
Ivan (1878-1887).

The eldest son Michael was born sick and weak-minded. The youngest son Ivan died early (from scarlet fever complicated by meningitis), which was a heavy blow for Pavel Tretyakov.

Daughter Vera Tretyakova, who left memories, wrote about the atmosphere that reigned in the family: “If childhood can really be happy, then my childhood was like that. That trust, that harmony between beloved people who loved us and cared for us, was, it seems to me, the most valuable and joyful.

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was a parishioner of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Tolmachi.

The family had a house in Lavrushinsky Lane.

One of the notable events of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Tretyakov Gallery was the arrival in Moscow of the descendants of P.M. Tretyakov living in the USA. Thanks to the efforts of the staff and management of the gallery, who tracked down the Siloti family and made her visit to Russia a reality, for the first time there was a meeting of those who belong to the once numerous family that lived in the Tretyakov house in Tolmachi.

Tretyakov family.
From left to right: Vera, Vanya, Vera Nikolaevna, Masha and Misha, Maria Ivanovna, Pavel Mikhailovich, Sasha and Lyuba.
Moscow. 1884

“If childhood can really be happy, then my childhood was. That trust, that harmony between loved ones who loved us and cared for us, was, it seems to me, the most valuable and joyful, ”Vera Pavlovna Ziloti, the eldest daughter of Pavel Mikhailovich and Vera Nikolaevna Tretyakov, wrote in her memoirs about the atmosphere that prevailed in their home. This atmosphere of love, mutual respect, harmony has been the cornerstone of the existence of the family for more than one generation. Everyone who knew Pavel Mikhailovich recalled his trusting relationship with “mother,” as he called her until the end of his life, Alexandra Danilovna, his friendship with his brother Sergei Mikhailovich, the attention and care that Tretyakov showed to numerous close and distant relatives.

In 1865, Pavel Mikhailovich married Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova, who came from a large merchant family. This marriage was not only successful, it can be called ideal. Vera Nikolaevna fully shared her husband's views and convictions, and, above all, in what concerned the main goal of his life - the creation of a museum of Russian fine arts. Being the mother of six children, the mistress of a large house, where there were constantly many guests, Vera Nikolaevna found time and energy for charitable work: from October 1867, at the suggestion of the City Duma, she became a trustee of the newly opened Pyatnitsky City Primary Women's School, and then Member of the Board of Trustees of the Arnold School for the Deaf and Dumb Children. She took an active part in the life of schools and introduced her daughters to this, as V.P. Siloti: “We attended all the exams, at the annual Christmas tree, played games with the children. Everyone was known by name, they knew the fate of each girl. And they were there. In my life it was like this before my marriage and departure abroad. My sisters, who lived in Moscow, subsequently stood close to the school.

It united the Tretyakov family and love for art. Visiting theaters, especially operas, concerts, museums in Moscow and while traveling in Russia and Europe was an integral part of their lives. Possessing a delicate taste and an undoubted musical talent, Vera Nikolaevna, who herself was seriously involved in music, strove to convey her attitude towards art and children. “Vera Nikolaevna played at home every day in the morning. I well remember a clear morning: I sit on the parquet warm from the sun in the living room and play puppet theater. And nearby, in the hall, connected to the living room by an arch, a mother plays. What things she played, I learned much later, but I knew these things and could not remember myself without them. She played nocturnes by Field, etudes by Henselt and Chopin. Chopin without end.

Similarly, I do not remember myself without pictures on the walls. They have always been,” A.P. wrote in her book “Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov in Life and Art”. Botkin.

As a memento for the children, Vera Nikolaevna kept a diary in which she wrote down not only funny stories from their lives, but also her thoughts about their development. In the preface addressed to her daughter Alexandra, she wrote: “Wishing to give myself the pleasure of experiencing with you every hour of your life, I decided to write down especially pleasant moments, the manifestation of a special attachment in you to something, also the gradual development of spiritual life in you, I thought to make it pleasant for you and leave a memory for yourself and your father as people who care to make real people out of you. This desire was so sincere and strong that it would be impossible to doubt at least half for the good influence of all undertakings.

Addressing Vera, the eldest daughter, Vera Nikolaevna wrote: “Feeling that music ennobles a person, makes him happy, as I saw it on myself and on Aunt Zina (Zinaida Nikolaevna Yakunchikova, Vera Nikolaevna’s elder sister. - E.Kh.), I have decided to convey this art to you as best as possible.

Your father also loved and understood music, yet he was more attached to painting and served this art with complete devotion, buying the best works of the old and newest schools. ... Many consoled me that for the first age of a child, it would be impossible to wish for a better environment than yours. Due to the impression of the eye, you had to think, and the music developed other sides in you, more spiritual, sensitive.

In such an environment, the children of the Tretyakovs grew up - Vera (b. 1866), Alexandra (b. 1867), Lyubov (b. 1870), Mikhail (b. 1871), Maria (b. 1875) and Ivan (b. 1878). And I think that it was the special spiritual atmosphere of this family that always helped to withstand the trials that fell to its lot.

Pavel Mikhailovich and Vera Nikolaevna had to endure two of the most tragic experiences for parents - the incurable illness of their son Mikhail, who was born with a mental defect, and the sudden death from scarlet fever of eight-year-old Vanya, everyone's favorite, an extremely sensitive and gifted child.

Soon after Vanya's death, the eldest daughter of the Tretyakovs, Vera, married the musician Alexander Siloti, who played a significant role in the history of Russian culture. An outstanding pianist, favorite student of N.G. Rubinstein and F. Liszt, cousin and teacher of S.V. Rachmaninov, a close friend of P.I. Tchaikovsky, Siloti was a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory, then chief conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, but he became most famous as an organizer and participant in the famous A. Siloti Concerts. In these concerts, which took place until 1917 in St. Petersburg, where the Siloti family lived since 1903, the largest musicians of the world took part.

Vera Pavlovna to a certain extent repeated the character and fate of her mother - she was also a person of broad cultural interests, a talented musician, her marriage was just as successful and long, she also had six children, she also had to endure the illness and death of her seven-year-old son. But she, like the other two daughters of the Tretyakovs - Lyubov and Maria, had to endure something that their parents could never even imagine - the loss of their homeland and ties with their relatives. In 1919, when a real threat to life arose
Alexander Ilyich, the Siloti family was forced to go abroad, first to Finland, then to Germany, and in 1922 to the USA. “One hundred percent “Moskovka”, as she called herself, Vera Pavlovna died in 1940 in New York, where, shortly before her death, she wrote a wonderful book of memoirs “In the Tretyakov House”, published in America in 1954, and in Russia only in 1998th.

The next, in 1920, Maria Pavlovna left Russia with her family. Her husband, Alexander Sergeevich Botkin, a hereditary doctor, naval officer, participant in many expeditions, who during the First World War held the honorary position of Military Mediator in Finland, took the side of the White movement during the Civil War. From the Crimea, the Botkins left for Italy and since 1923 settled in San Remo, where Lyubov Pavlovna lived with them.

The family life of Lyubov Pavlovna was not as successful as that of her sisters. Her first husband is marine painter Nikolai Nikolaevich Gritsenko, a student of A.P. Bogolyubov, died six years later of tuberculosis. The second marriage, with the artist Lev Bakst, quickly broke up, although it was Bakst, who had lived in Paris since 1910, who was the initiator and organizer of the departure from Russia in 1922 of Lyubov Pavlovna and their son Andrei, who also later became an artist.

Thus, the only one of the children of the Tretyakovs in Russia after the revolution was Alexandra Pavlovna. Perhaps this had its own pattern: by nature, she most of all resembled her father, she had the same external restraint, which later A.N. Benois defined the expression "silent monumentality", prudence, depth and at the same time, as her mother noted, a special sensitivity "to everything good and great." Not without reason, in one of his letters, Pavel Mikhailovich called her "my most beloved girl."

The father's collection was an integral part of life for Alexandra Pavlovna. When the first brick was laid in the courtyard of the Tretyakov House for the construction of a new gallery building, she was five years old. Before her eyes, a gallery was being built, paintings were being hung, and free access was opened for visitors.

The decision of Pavel Mikhailovich to donate his collection to the city of Moscow in 1892 was not a surprise for Alexandra Pavlovna, as well as for the whole family. She had no regrets - truly her father's daughter, she was also convinced that this collection is a national treasure. The gallery still remained a home for Alexandra Pavlovna, although by this time she was already married to Sergei Sergeevich Botkin and lived in St. Petersburg.

When, after the death of P.M. Tretyakov in 1898, the question was decided who, according to the will expressed in his will, would enter from the family into the Gallery Council, I.S. Ostroukhov wrote to I.E. Repin: "We all hope that the family will choose either Alexandra Pavlovna or Sergei Sergeevich, which is the same thing." To which Repin replied: “It cannot be bypassed in any way. The closest heiress of Pavel Mikhailovich, most familiar with the sympathies and plans of the late father. Although still young, but smart, energetic person, with great love and understanding of art as she grew up in this gallery.

Alexandra Pavlovna worked actively on the Gallery Council for twelve years, after which Vera Pavlovna replaced her. Among its tasks, the Council considered the creation of a memorial room and an extensive biography of P.M. Tretyakov. Alexandra Pavlovna took an active part in the collection of archival materials for the implementation of this. She was also engaged in the selection of works for the gallery at various exhibitions and in the workshops of artists.

More than other daughters, Alexandra Pavlovna inherited from her father an attraction to collecting works of art. A definite impetus to the development of this attraction was her marriage to Sergei Sergeevich Botkin. Following in the footsteps of his father, Sergei Petrovich Botkin, he became a famous physician, professor at the Military Medical Academy. In the Botkin family, love for art and a passion for collecting were a family trait. Uncle Sergei Sergeevich, Mikhail Petrovich Botkin, was a famous painter; another uncle, Dmitry Petrovich, had one of the finest collections of Western art in Russia; major collectors were his cousins ​​- Peter and Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin.

Sergei Sergeevich collected works of Russian art, mainly drawings by Russian artists. In 1901, the Novoye Vremya magazine called his collection so rich and rare, "which, perhaps, even the Tretyakov Gallery can envy." Of course, Alexandra Pavlovna also participated in replenishing this collection.

The Botkins' house in St. Petersburg was as cozy and hospitable as the Tretyakovs' house in Moscow. And as once in the Tretyakov family, artists, musicians, artists constantly visited the Botkins' house. Following family traditions, Sergei Sergeevich and Alexandra Pavlovna constantly provided financial assistance to the artists. When the World of Art magazine was on the verge of closing due to lack of funds, the Botkins supported it financially, and this was done, according to D. Filosofov, "without noise, somehow imperceptibly and modestly."

The sudden death of Sergei Sergeevich in January 1910 was a terrible shock not only for the family, but also for all friends and acquaintances. After the death of her husband, the fate of the collection became the subject of special concern for Alexandra Pavlovna. In 1912, she began to work on the preparation of the publication of an illustrated catalog, but the outbreak of the First World War and the ensuing revolution prevented the implementation of her plan. A week before the October coup, Alexandra Pavlovna, on the advice of P.I. Neradovsky, gave the collection for temporary storage to the Russian Museum, where it remains to this day.

The Botkins' house in St. Petersburg was nationalized and transferred to communal apartments. Alexandra Pavlovna returned to Moscow, where her eldest daughter Shura lived, who became the wife of the artist of the Moscow Art Theater K.P. Khokhlova. By a strange intersection of fates, Konstantin Pavlovich's father, Pavel Ivanovich Khokhlov, was once an employee in P.M. Tretyakov, V.P. recalls him in his book. Siloti.

In the early twenties, Alexandra Pavlovna, like most people of her circle, had to endure many hardships of that time - deprivation of rights, compaction, lack of funds, a half-starved existence in an overcrowded communal apartment and, most importantly, parting with loved ones - those who left, were arrested, shot, disappeared forever.

But, despite everything experienced, Alexandra Pavlovna never complained. She helped her daughters - Alexandra, who became a film actress, and Anastasia, who worked in the theater museum in Leningrad, raised her grandson, returned to the gallery again, where she was a member of the academic council for many years, and in 1937 began working on a book about the history of the creation of the Tretyakov Gallery. This book, the first edition of which was published in 1951, and now the sixth edition is being prepared, Alexandra Pavlovna dedicated to the memory of her father, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.

Pavel Tretyakov has been collecting paintings for over 40 years. Thanks to his support, venerable artists and those who had just begun to master the basics of painting created. He collected one of the largest collections of Russian art and a whole gallery of lifetime portraits of his prominent contemporaries.

New Formation Merchant

Pavel Tretyakov was born in 1832 in the old merchant district of Moscow - Zamoskvorechye. His maternal grandfather exported lard to England. The father's family, who moved to the Mother See in 1774 from Maloyaroslavets, traded in linen products. Father Mikhail Tretyakov was a man of strict patriarchal views. Children - after epidemics of scarlet fever out of eleven survived five - received home education. The lessons were held in the presence of the head of the family, who controlled literally every step of the household.

The eldest son, Pavel Tretyakov, and the second in seniority, Sergei, were introduced to the family trade from an early age. Silent and thoughtful, a lover of books and popular prints, at the age of 15 he was accounting. In 1850, when his father died, the eldest son took over the business. Trade expanded and flourished. If Mikhail Tretyakov owned five shops, then his sons became real industrialists. After 16 years, on shares with two more merchants, Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov opened a linen manufactory equipped with the latest technology in Kostroma.

Pavel Tretyakov with his wife Vera Nikolaevna (nee Mamontova). 1880s Photo: wikimedia.org

Family of Pavel Tretyakov. 1884 Photo: tretyakovgallery.ru

Pavel Tretyakov with granddaughters. 1893 Photo: tphv-history.ru

The Russian merchants of the second half of the 19th century were no longer a closed estate, honoring only Domostroy and Holy Scripture. Wealthy merchants approached artists, artists, scientists, took an active part in socially useful undertakings. Kozma Soldatenkov published scientific literature, collected paintings, bequeathed funds for the construction of a hospital for the poor in Moscow. The merchant Vasily Kokorev opened the first public art gallery in Moscow in 1862. Supported people of art and Savva Mamontov. Pavel Tretyakov married his cousin Vera Mamontova in 1865.

Tretyakov invested money not only in enterprises that promised material benefits. In 1869, he headed the Society for the Deaf and Dumb Trustees and became the main benefactor of the Arnold School for Deaf and Dumb Children. Later he opened a clinic for seriously ill patients, where a psychiatric department worked. Probably, a personal tragedy prompted him to take this step: in 1871, a terminally ill son was born to Tretyakov. The merchant helped many educational institutions, contributed to the financing of the expedition of Nikolai Miklukho-Maclay to New Guinea. At the same time, he believed that he was fulfilling his civic duty in this way: “I am not a philanthropist, and philanthropy is completely alien to me”.

Painting Collector

In 1854, Tretyakov purchased nine paintings by Dutch artists, but soon turned his attention to Russian painting. The 1850s-60s were a time of stormy controversy between Westernizers and Slavophiles. Visual arts are not left out of the discussion. There were opinions that Russian artists were not able to create something original, beyond the limits of local color, therefore their fate was to imitate Western European masters. Pavel Tretyakov thought otherwise.

Artists needed commissions, and the general public needed a closer acquaintance with their work. In 1856, Tretyakov bought the works of Nikolai Schilder "Temptation" and Vasily Khudyakov's "Clash with Finnish smugglers". These acquisitions marked the beginning of the gallery. Tretyakov's approach was fundamentally different from that of other collectors. First, he planned to make the gallery public. Secondly, when buying paintings, I was guided not so much by personal tastes as by the idea of ​​a complete and objective coverage of the domestic artistic process.

The collector was painfully worried when the desired painting went into the wrong hands. Hunting for the best works, Tretyakov more than once crossed the path of representatives of the royal family. Once Alexander III came to the exhibition of the Wanderers. Having expressed his intention to buy the painting, the sovereign found out that it had already been acquired by Tretyakov. He laid eyes on another, on the third - all were sold to the same collector. In order not to repeat the embarrassment, the organizers decided not to sell anything until the exhibition was visited by Their Imperial Majesties. But Tretyakov found a way out: he began to buy the works he liked before the exhibition. At the vernissage they hung with signs saying "Tretyakov's property." In 1874, Vasily Vereshchagin put up for sale his Turkestan Series. It was assumed that the sovereign would acquire the series, but he refused because of the colossal price. Tretyakov bought the work for 92 thousand rubles.

Vasily Khudyakov. Skirmish with Finnish smugglers. 1853. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Konstantin Flavitsky. Princess Tarakanova. 1864. State Tretyakov Gallery

Nicholas Schilder. Temptation. Year unknown. State Tretyakov Gallery

To replenish the collection of the Moscow collector was a great honor for the artists. For the sake of this, they often conceded in price, although they grumbled that "Pavel Mikhalych tight-fisted". Konstantin Flavitsky did not want to throw off a single ruble for "Princess Tarakanova". Tretyakov was patient. After the death of the artist, he bought the painting from relatives - for four thousand rubles instead of five. The famous Troika by Vasily Perov was sold for only 50 silver rubles. But the unfinished canvas “Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith” Tretyakov purchased from the heirs of Perov for seven thousand. So he not only replenished the collection, but also supported the family of a deceased friend.

In 1869, Tretyakov began to collect a gallery of portraits of prominent people. Ivan Kramskoy painted Alexander Griboyedov from a watercolor drawing by Pyotr Karatygin. Ilya Repin created a portrait of Mikhail Glinka, focusing on the stories of the composer's sister. From the widow of the poet Nestor Kukolnik they bought his portrait by Karl Bryullov, from the artist Fyodor Moller - a portrait of Nikolai Gogol painted by him during his lifetime. It was more difficult with living geniuses, they sometimes refused to pose. The most intractable was Leo Tolstoy. He yielded to Kramskoy only on the condition that the artist paint two portraits and Tolstoy choose one of them for his family. As a result, the writer left himself a weaker job, obeying the unspoken law: all the best goes to the gallery!

City Art Gallery of the Tretyakov Brothers

The writer Lev Anisov retold the legend about how Alexander III visited the Tretyakov house in Lavrushinsky Lane:

“In the Surikov hall, the conversation turned to Boyaryna Morozova. The sovereign asked to give up the painting for his museum. Pavel Mikhailovich replied that it no longer belonged to him, for he was transferring the gallery to the city. Then Alexander III retreated somewhat from Tretyakov and bowed low to him.

In 1873, the State Tretyakov Gallery was added to the house. Photo: svopi.ru

State Tretyakov Gallery. Photo: inlife.bg

In August 1893, the now City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov opened. About 700 people visited it on the opening day. 1276 paintings and 470 drawings were exhibited in the halls. Among them were the works of artists of the 18th - first half of the 19th century: Dmitry Levitsky, Fyodor Rokotov, Vladimir Borovikovsky, Vasily Tropinin, Alexei Venetsianov, Karl Bryullov.

Until the end of his life, Pavel Tretyakov remained a trustee of the gallery, buying paintings for her, working on catalogs, expanding the area in 1897-1898. In recent years, the collector's health problems have worsened. In December 1898, Pavel Tretyakov died. According to his will, more than 60 icons were transferred to the museum, which the collector collected for almost 10 years. They formed the basis of the future collection of ancient Russian painting

Before you is the biography of the brilliant man Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery. He was born into a wealthy family on December 27, 1832, belonged to a merchant family.

As a child, he received an excellent home education. Growing up, he helped his father in commercial matters. After the death of his father, his mother led the family business, and when she died, Pavel took the initiative into his own hands.

With his brother Sergei, he built several factories in the Kostroma province. The case was a success. A lot of people worked at the factories, the enterprise was profitable.

In 1865, Tretyakov married Vera Mamontova. Vera loved music and, like her husband, was keenly interested in art.

Pavel Mikhailovich is known to us primarily as the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery. Where did his passion for collecting begin?

In 1854, he bought paintings from the Sukharevskaya Tower, his first acquisitions were canvases by Dutch artists. A few years later, Tretyakov acquired paintings by Khudyakov and Schilder. The paintings of these artists became the basis for a future outstanding collection.

In 1860, Pavel Tretyakov formulated the idea of ​​creating a Russian national art gallery. He collected mainly works of his contemporaries, acquired paintings at art exhibitions, and looked into workshops, where he bought freshly painted paintings. Tretyakov did a lot to support Russian artists.

Pavel Mikhailovich was not limited to single purchases. From Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, for example, I bought as many as 144 paintings at once and another 127 drawings written in pencil. I bought 102 sketches from Vasily Polenov, and collections of his sketches were bought from Viktor Vasnetsov.

The Tretyakov collection featured the best works of the best Russian artists. Paintings by Repin, Perov, Kramskoy, Levitan, Surikov, Serov - everything was collected in one big expensive collection.

In the 90s of the 19th century, Pavel Mikhailovich drew attention to ancient Russian painting. Icons begin to replenish the collection. Brother Sergei shared his passion and also collected paintings, albeit by European artists. In 1892, Sergei died, and he bequeathed his collection to Pavel.

Thus, the Tretyakov Gallery was replenished with halls of artists of the Western school. The collection became more and more significant. The fame of her spread not only throughout all the cities and towns of the Russian Empire, but also in Europe. Europeans who came to Russia, by all means wanted to see an amazing collection.

In the last summer month of 1892, Tretyakov donated his collection to his city, Moscow. In the collection of Pavel Mikhailovich, there were many paintings, icons and drawings. A year later, the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov was opened.

After the collection of paintings became state-owned, he did not give up his favorite business, continuing to buy paintings and help artists in every possible way, year after year, replenishing his museum with new works of Russian art.

The philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov left a huge mark on Russian history, having collected a magnificent collection of paintings. He helped artists find the application of their talent in life. The fate of many talented painters was not easy, and Pavel Mikhailovich managed to make it a little better. Pavel Tretyakov died at the end of 1898 and was buried in Moscow.

Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov by Ilya Repin.

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov is a Russian businessman, philanthropist, collector, collector of works of Russian fine art. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov is the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Biography Tretyakov

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1898), an outstanding figure in Russian culture, devoted his life to one idea, one goal - to collect works of the Russian school of painting, so that, in his own words, “acquired from society would also return to society (people) in .. .useful institutions".

And he really created such a useful institution - the first Russian public museum, in which national painting appeared not in disparate artistic phenomena, but as something unified and integral.

With his almost half a century of collecting activity, the support of the most talented and brilliant artists, Tretyakov, no less than the ideologists of the "Wanderers" - Ivan Kramskoy or V.V. Stasov - influenced the formation of the artistic culture of Russia in the second half of the 19th century and helped it flourish.

Monument to Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov near the Tretyakov Gallery. (sculptor - A.P. Kibalnikov)

Traditions of collecting in Russia

By this time, collecting in Russia had ceased to be a purely noble occupation. The initiative, as in many other areas, here passes to the enlightened circles of the merchants and the intelligentsia.

The collections were collected by the Botkin brothers, K. T. Soldatenkov, F. I. Pryanitnikov, V. A. Kokorev, G. I. Khludov, I. I. Chetverikov, M. M. Zaitsevsky, V. S. Lepeshkin, P. Obraztsov , later - the Shchukin brothers, I. A. Morozov, S. I. Mamontov and others.

Tretyakov, like them, came from a merchant background and remained a merchant until the end of his days: together with his brother, Sergei Mikhailovich, he owned a manufactory in Kostroma, and this gave him the means for the true work of his life - collecting.

Portrait of Tretyakov by Ilya Repin.

Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich Portrait of P. Tretyakov.

Collecting Principles

We can say that from the very beginning of collecting Tretyakov had a clear idea of ​​the purpose of his work. In his will, drawn up in 1860, just four years after the purchase of the first paintings, he wrote: “For me, who truly and ardently love painting, there can be no better desire than to start a public, accessible repository of fine arts that will benefit many everyone's pleasure."

Tretyakov's conviction, his faith in his work seem surprising if we remember that he laid the foundations of the gallery at a time when the Russian school of painting, as an original and significant phenomenon, only loomed dimly in the shadow cast by the great artistic tradition of the West, the mighty ancient Russian art was half-forgotten, the works of Russian artists are scattered in private collections, at home and abroad, when there was still no Repin, no Surikov, no Serov, no Levitan, those of their paintings, without which it is now impossible to imagine Russian art.

In Tretyakov's character, cordial responsiveness and kindness were combined with exactingness, directness, and firm business acumen. For decades, he financially supported artists, helped Kramskoy, Perov, F. Vasiliev and so many others that it is even difficult to list them; he patronized a school for the deaf and dumb, was the organizer of a shelter for widows and orphans of poor artists.

At the same time, when buying paintings, he called very reasonable prices, patiently bargained with the authors, sometimes refused too expensive works that he really wanted to buy - he saved money all for the same purpose: to collect as many works as possible, to present the Russian school only in its best manifestations, but also with all possible completeness.

Sensitivity to art, constant sincerity, readiness to provide material and moral support, and most importantly, the high goal that inspired Tretyakov earned him deep respect and love from artists.

Everything that was most honest and advanced in the art of that time was drawn to Tretyakov and helped him. Some tacit agreement of artists to grant the right of first choice to Tretyakov put him out of competition with other collectors.

Many years of friendly ties connected him with Kramskoy, Repin, Perov, Stasov, Yaroshenko, Maximov, Polenov, Surikov, Pryanishnikov and others. His appearance is captured in a number of paintings and sculptures (S. Volnukhin "Portrait of P. M. Tretyakov").

Volnukhin Sergey Mikhailovich.
Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov.
1899. Bronze.

He singled out in contemporary art the most lively and fruitful stream - the Wanderers, with their fighting, democratic spirit, passionate commitment to truth and deep sympathy for the oppressed.

It was the works of the Wanderers that made up the precious core of his collection, and so far the completeness and quality of this part of the gallery's collections remain unsurpassed. This heroic period of Russian art can be understood, felt and studied in Moscow, in the Tretyakov Gallery, like nowhere else.

The implementation of Tretyakov's idea of ​​creating a portrait gallery of figures of Russian culture was of great patriotic and artistic significance.

An extensive gallery of portraits and self-portraits was commissioned by Kramskoy, Perov, Repin, Serov and other painters and preserved for posterity the images of "persons dear to the nation, its best sons", in the words of I. E. Repin, - outstanding scientists, writers, musicians, actors, artists (Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Herzen, Nekrasov, Goncharov, Tchaikovsky and others).

Monument to Tretyakov near the Tretyakov Gallery. (sculptor - A.P. Kibalnikov)

Events in the fate of the gallery were the acquisition of A. Ivanov's sketches for the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People", the collections of the collector F. I. Pryanishnikov, the collection of paintings by Vereshchagin, such capital works as "Morning of the Streltsy Execution" and "Boyar Morozova" by Surikov, "The Religious Procession in the Kursk province” and “Protodeacon” by Repin and others. Tretyakov’s house in Zamoskvorechye, “in Tolmachi”, bought in 1851, where the gallery was founded, gradually grew and was rebuilt along with the growth of the collection and was widely visited since the 70s the public. Both Tretyakov's house and priceless art collections were donated by Tretyakov to the city of Moscow in 1892 as a public museum. The collection also included an excellent collection of French art by his deceased brother, Sergei Mikhailovich (in 1925, these 84 paintings were transferred to the Museum of New Western Art, now they are in the State Hermitage Museum and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). In 1918, according to the decree on nationalization signed by V. I. Lenin, the gallery received its current name "State Tretyakov Gallery", which immortalized the name of its founder.

His life's work is a real feat, and he himself deserves gratitude, memory and respect as a national hero.

Article from the book "One Hundred Memorable Dates. Art Calendar. 1982"

Additional Information:
All-Russian Museum Association "State Tretyakov Gallery"
Moscow, Lavrushinsky per., 10
230-77-88, 951-13-62
(m. Tretyakovskaya) 953-52-23
Krymsky Val, 10 (m. Oktyabrskaya): 238-13-78

Days and hours of work: daily from 10:00 to 19:00, day off - Monday. The gallery, founded in 1856 by the merchant P.M. Tretyakov, gives a complete picture of the development of fine arts in Russia, from Kievan Rus to contemporary art of the 20th century. The Tretyakov Gallery offers sightseeing and thematic tours.

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