New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow

The New Tretyakov Gallery is located at 10 Krymsky Val, near the Moskva River and the Krymsky Bridge. Together with the historic building in Lavrushinsky Lane, it forms a central part of the Tretyakov collection. While the historic building focuses primarily on Russian art from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century, the Krymsky Val location is devoted to the 20th and early 21st centuries. It is therefore important to check the location carefully when choosing which collection to visit.

As a modern location of the Tretyakov Gallery, the New Tretyakov showcases Russian art from the 20th century to the present day.

The present-day building of the New Tretyakov Gallery was designed as an exhibition venue for the USSR State Picture Gallery. In the 1920s and 1930s, plans for the site on Krymsky Val initially included parkland, exhibition facilities and an art palace. A later project for an academy was interrupted by the war and subsequently relocated to the Sparrow Hills.

In 1956, the construction of a new Tretyakov building was approved. In 1959, the newly established USSR State Picture Gallery was assigned the site. The design by Ivan Zholtovsky’s studio—with the involvement of Yuri Sheverdyaev, Nikolai Sukoyan and other architects—was approved in 1964. Construction began in 1965 and was completed in 1983. Today, the Tretyakov Gallery uses the building for 20th-century art and temporary exhibitions.

Looking at the works connects their depicted subjects with composition, color and the social roles a work of art can play.

The Socialist Realism that followed developed a state-supported visual language in which work, society and visions of the future played a central role. These works are both aesthetic records and sources for understanding the official ideals of the 20th century. In the postwar period, the so-called “Severe Style” shifted the tone: painting and sculpture often foregrounded the rigors of everyday life and the experience of building a new society. The visual language became more restrained and more focused on the people and working environments depicted.

The art scene of the second half of the century was more varied than any single official movement. Unofficial art emerged outside state-dominated exhibition systems and developed its own networks, themes and forms. Later galleries bring works from the 1960s to the 1980s into dialogue with new artistic positions from the end of the century. The gallery thus emphasizes that modern Russian art arose from diverse, sometimes competing movements.

The permanent display provides a chronological and thematic framework, while special exhibitions explore individual artists, media and historical contexts in greater depth. Works from recent acquisitions and donations add to the familiar core collection. The exhibition sequence may change, but the collection’s broad arc—from the early 20th century to the present—provides a consistent point of reference. The museum also offers talks, tours and hands-on activities for families, students and adults, all focusing on 20th- and 21st-century art.

These programs are particularly helpful because the art of the century cannot be summed up in a single style. A studio workshop might explore the structure of an avant-garde painting; a tour of unofficial art might address the conditions of its creation and alternative exhibition spaces. The galleries thus offer both an overview and opportunities to examine selected periods in greater detail.

Those wishing to compare different Moscow collections can find a wider selection in museums in Moscow. The Tretyakov Gallery encompasses historic and modern locations, while the Pushkin Museum offers a different focus, with antiquities and European art.

A visit can therefore be planned around particular periods: the New Tretyakov Gallery is the right destination for the upheavals, debates and experiments of modernism. The building provides space for the grand scale of this art and connects the museum visit with a distinctive chapter in Moscow’s architectural history. The current program changes, but the collection and the character of the location make clear what this museum represents within the Tretyakov Gallery.

Gorky Park is close to the museum on Krymsky Val. The Pushkin Museum complements the art scene with collections of antiquities and European art; Moscow parks combine a museum visit with riverside walking paths.