Pavel Tretyakov and Vera Mamontova: the only love of the founder of the famous gallery. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, founder of the Tretyakov Gallery, died

Pavel Tretyakov, entrepreneur, founder, was born on December 27, 1832 Tretyakov Gallery.

Russian entrepreneur, philanthropist, collector of Russian works visual arts, founder of the Tretyakov Gallery Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was born on December 27 (15 according to the old style) December 1832 in Moscow into a merchant family.

He was educated at home and began a career in commerce, working with his father. Developing the family business, Pavel, together with his brother Sergei, built paper spinning factories that employed several thousand people. After the death of their father, in 1850, the brothers continued his business and moved from a variety of trade in shops (linen, bread, firewood) in the Old Gostiny Dvor to serious entrepreneurship.

In the 1850s, Pavel Tretyakov began amassing a collection of Russian art. Tretyakov acquired his first paintings in 1856 - these were the works “Temptation” by Nikolai Schilder and “Clash with Finnish Smugglers” by Vasily Khudyakov (this year is considered to be the year the Tretyakov Gallery was founded).

The material was prepared based on information open sources

Name: Pavel Tretiyakov

Age: 65 years old

Activity: entrepreneur, philanthropist, art collector

Family status: was married

Pavel Tretyakov: biography

The gallery created by Pavel Tretyakov remains one of the main symbols of Moscow today, and his charitable activities have become a real feat, thanks to which Russian art gained more than a dozen outstanding artists.

However, not everyone knows that in life the philanthropist was a very shy and modest person. Being one of the richest merchants of his time, who spent more than 1.5 million rubles on a collection of paintings, he wore a simple frock coat and drape overcoat, saved on household expenses and recognized only cigars as a luxury, and only one a day.

Childhood and youth

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was born on December 15 (27), 1832 in Moscow. He and his brother Sergei were heirs to their father’s business - Mikhail Zakharovich owned paper spinning factories and bequeathed to his sons to maintain and develop family enterprises.

According to tradition, Pavel was educated at home and youth was involved in the business: he performed menial work in shops, invited customers, and was in charge of purchasing. At the age of 15 he was already keeping books, and at 20 he became a full-fledged business manager.

Career

The brothers, remembering their father’s behests, were able not only to preserve family business, but also to develop it - soon, in addition to factories, they were already in charge of the trade of bread, firewood and linens in local shops, and in the mid-1860s they headed the Novo-Kostroma Linen Manufactory.

Under the leadership of the Tretyakovs, the factory began to quickly gain momentum, despite the economic crisis of 1880. Soon it took first place in terms of production volumes in Russia. The brothers opened a store in Moscow on Ilyinka, where they began to offer customers Russian and foreign-made fabrics - velvet, wool, linen, cambric, as well as scarves, tablecloths and blankets.

After this, Pavel and Sergey acquired two apartment buildings in Kostroma and Moscow, land plots in the Kostroma province. They usually divided all profits in half, but there was no strict division into “mine and yours” between them - the brothers wisely distributed capital based on marital status, needs and interests of everyone.

The Tretyakovs were lucky, but it would be unfair to say that they were simply lucky: both were known as honest, efficient and energetic people who did not spare themselves for the sake of what they loved. The Tretyakov entrepreneurs were impeccable partners and walked through life hand in hand, connected by true family love and strong friendship, which was preserved until the end of days.

“It doesn’t often happen that the names of two brothers are so closely connected with each other,” historian Pavel Buryshkin wrote about them.

Sergei and Pavel were also united by a passion for art: they went to theaters and concerts together, and famous meeting It would be more correct to call the paintings a gallery named after Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov.

Collection and patronage

Like most other representatives of the Moscow merchant class, the Tretyakovs considered charity a must. Trusteeship of schools and shelters, donating funds to the needs of society were part of their work. These views were based on Christian principles: sacrifice was a mission of gratitude to God for success in business and a means to overcome the “corrupting power” of money.

At the same time, the main form of assistance was “refusal by will”; during the life of the benefactor, large donations were rarely made - they preferred to invest the funds in circulation. In this regard, Pavel Tretyakov became an exception - he began investing as soon as he received such an opportunity, and from year to year the volume of his financial assistance only grew.

He started with guardianship educational institution for deaf and mute children, he did not refuse the non-public support of friends, neighbors, local churches - in a word, almost everyone who turned to him. In 1876, he agreed to partially pay for the research expedition of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay in the South Seas, and a few years later donated a large sum for the construction Orthodox church in Tokyo.

Even as a child, Pavel was fond of collecting small miniatures, engravings and lithographs, buying them at the market and in shops. This became the forerunner of the grandiose collection that he acquired, having received his own funds. Later, he set himself the task of creating a full-fledged collection of Russian paintings and making it public domain.

Interesting fact - preference domestic artists he gave not only out of patriotic feelings, but also because at first he had little understanding of art and believed that it was easier to work with his compatriots, but over time, a real artistic flair awoke in the patron, and he acquired a reputation as a recognized art connoisseur.

Tretyakov bought paintings at exhibitions in Russia and Western Europe, specially ordered portraits and landscapes of prominent contemporaries from artists (he addressed such requests to Perov), acquired ready-made collections and a series of paintings.

In 1874, Pavel Mikhailovich built a separate building for the gallery, and in 1888 he made visiting it free. In 1892, he officially donated both the premises and their contents to the city, and in his will he made a note that interest from his capital would be spent in the future on replenishing the collection. He continued to acquire new exhibits until the end of his life at his own expense.

The biography of Tretyakov, written by Lev Anisov, describes the episode of the donation of the gallery to Moscow. , having visited the industrialist’s house in Lavrushinsky Lane, asked to give him the painting “Boyaryna Morozova”, to which Pavel Mikhailovich replied that he could not do this, since from now on the entire collection belonged to the city. After this, the emperor took a step back and bowed deeply to him.

Pavel Mikhailovich was motivated exclusively by selfless motives. He did not receive any profit from the paintings and the gallery, and he could not stand praise addressed to him - praise seriously embarrassed him. It was rumored that when the critic Stasov wrote an enthusiastic article about the philanthropist, Tretyakov almost fell ill from frustration, and after donating the collection, he even left Moscow for a while, not wanting to listen to gratitude.

Despite his generosity, Pavel Mikhailovich was never a spendthrift. His passion for art did not prevent him from haggling for a long time, looking for an opportunity to buy cheaper and asking for a discount, which, however, was dictated not by greed, but by a simple calculation - the more profitable the purchase, the larger the collection will eventually become, because the money saved can be spent on another masterpiece.

He generally preferred to economize on himself and his family. The patron carefully recorded all expenses, including alms, and from the surviving records today one can judge the enormous scale of his charitable activities.

Personal life

The famous entrepreneur married late: his worries did not leave time for his personal life, and Tretyakov was not interested in love passions. During his protracted bachelor life, his friends nicknamed him Archimandrite. Only at the age of 33 did he marry Vera Mamontova, cousin fellow industrialist.

The bride did not shine with beauty, but she shared a passion for art, although she preferred music rather than painting. It was a union of love, not of convenience, and they living together In the end she turned out to be peaceful and happy. Until the end of their days, Pavel Mikhailovich and Vera Nikolaevna were inseparable - they went to concerts, did housework and sent each other tender letters from trips.

His wife bore him six children: sons Ivan and Mikhail, daughters Alexandra, Maria, Lyubov and Vera. Unfortunately, only girls survived to adulthood: Vanya died at age 8 from scarlet fever, and Misha was born sick and died soon after.

In 1892, Tretyakov buried his beloved brother Sergei. He was also a collector, although not as passionate, and they ordered in advance to merge the collections and transfer them to the city. His departure was sudden, and Pavel Mikhailovich greatly experienced the loss.

“He was a much better man than me,” he sighed.

Death

By the end of his life, Tretyakov acquired the title of Advisor to Commerce, a member of the Council of Trade and Manufactures and the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. IN last years he suffered from a stomach ulcer. The disease caused considerable suffering and caused death.

Pavel Mikhailovich prepared a will in advance, in which he left large sums a children's boarding school, a house with free apartments for widows of artists, the Moscow Conservatory, almshouses, and ordered scholarships and pensions for the workers of his factory. He did not bypass the household and did not forget to mention every servant in the house.

December 4, 1898 famous philanthropist died, bequeathing to his children good health and to take care of the gallery. His wife Vera left after him - after his death she lived only 3 months, her grave was next to her husband. Pavel Mikhailovich was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery next to his brother, and in 1948 the ashes of both Tretyakovs were transferred to Novodevichye.

Memory

• In Moscow, a monument to Tretyakov was erected in front of the gallery building.
• A street in Lipetsk bears the name of Pavel Mikhailovich.
• On the island New land there is a glacier named after a patron of the arts.
• Anna Fedorets wrote the book “Pavel Tretyakov”, describing his multifaceted personality with the help huge amount surviving documentary evidence.

Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov by Ilya Repin.

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

Biography of Tretyakov

Outstanding figure national culture Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1898) devoted his life to one idea, one goal - collecting works of the Russian school of painting, so that, in his own words, “what was acquired from society would also be returned to society (the people) in... useful institutions” .

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

With its almost half a century of collecting activity, support of the most talented and bright artists Tretyakov, no less than the ideologists of the “Itinerants” - Ivan Kramskoy or V.V. Stasov - influenced the formation artistic culture Russia second half of the 19th century 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 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 environment and remained a merchant until the end of his days: together with his brother, Sergei Mikhailovich, he owned a manufacturing factory 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.

Principles of collecting

It can be said 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 purchasing the first paintings, he wrote: “For me, who truly and ardently loves painting, there cannot be better wishes how to start a public repository accessible to all fine arts which will bring benefit to many and pleasure to all.”

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 was only vaguely looming in the shadow cast by the great artistic tradition West, the mighty ancient Russian art was half-forgotten, the works of Russian artists were scattered in private collections, at home and abroad, when there was no Repin, no Surikov, no Serov, no Levitan, those paintings of theirs, without which it is now impossible to imagine Russian art.

In Tretyakov’s character, cordial responsiveness and kindness were combined with exactingness, directness, and a strong 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; patronized the 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 quoted very reasonable prices, patiently bargained with the authors, sometimes refused too expensive works that he really wanted to buy - he saved the money for the same purpose: to collect as many works as possible, to represent the Russian school without 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 animated Tretyakov earned him deep respect and the love of artists.

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

Many years of friendly ties connected him with Kramskoy, Repin, Perov, Stasov, Yaroshenko, Maksimov, Polenov, Surikov, Pryanishnikov and others. His appearance is captured in a number of picturesque and sculptural works(S. Volnukhin “Portrait of P. M. Tretyakov”).

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

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

It was the works of the Itinerants that formed the precious core of his collection, and to this day 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, as nowhere else.

The implementation of Tretyakov’s idea of ​​​​creating portrait gallery figures of Russian culture.

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, painters (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 collection of the collector F. I. Pryanishnikov, a collection of paintings by Vereshchagin, such major works as “Morning” Streltsy execution" and "Boyaryna Morozova" by Surikov, "Religious procession in the Kursk province" and "Protodeacon" by Repin, etc. Tretyakov's house in Zamoskvorechye, "in Tolmachi", purchased in 1851, where the gallery was founded, gradually grew and was rebuilt along with growing collection and has been widely visited by the public since the 70s. 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 a wonderful collection French art his deceased brother, Sergei Mikhailovich (in 1925, these 84 paintings went to the Museum of New Western Art, now they are in State Hermitage And State Museum Fine Arts named after. A. S. Pushkin). In 1918, according to the nationalization decree 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. Artistic calendar. 1982"

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

Days and hours of operation: daily from 10:00 to 19:00, closed on Monday. The gallery, founded in 1856 by the merchant P.M. Tretyakov, gives a complete picture of the development of fine art in Russia, starting with Kievan Rus and ending contemporary art XX century. The Tretyakov Gallery offers sightseeing and thematic excursions.

artcontext.info

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

As a child, he received an excellent home education. Growing up, he helped his father in commercial matters. After his father’s death, his mother ran 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 business was a success. A lot of people worked in the factories, and 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. Where did his passion for collecting begin?

In 1854, he bought paintings from the Sukharevskaya Tower; his first acquisitions were canvases 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, also looked into workshops where he bought newly painted paintings. Tretyakov did a lot to support Russian artists.

Pavel Mikhailovich did not limit himself to single purchases. For example, I bought as many as 144 paintings and another 127 pencil drawings at once. He bought 102 sketches, and collections of his sketches were purchased from Viktor Vasnetsov.

The Tretyakov collection included best works the best Russian artists. , Perova - everything was collected into one large expensive collection.

In the 90s of the 19th century, Pavel Mikhailovich drew attention to ancient Russian painting. The collection begins to be replenished with icons. Brother Sergei shared his hobbies and also collected paintings, though 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 to all cities and towns Russian Empire, but also in Europe. Europeans who came to Russia wanted to see the amazing collection at all costs.

In the last summer month of 1892, Tretyakov donated his collection to his city - Moscow. Pavel Mikhailovich's collection included many paintings, icons and drawings. A year later, the opening of the “Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov” took place.

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.

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

Since the mid-1860s. The Tretyakovs owned the Novo-Kostroma linen manufactory. Despite the economic crises of the 1880s. it continued to steadily gain momentum and expand. TO end of the 19th century century, it took one of the first places in Russia in terms of the quality and quantity of goods produced. The Tretyakovs owned a store that was located in Moscow opposite the Exchange on Ilyinka Street - “a wide, shiny street of capitalists and bankers” in the Kitai-Gorodsky quarter, which several decades later became a “European-style quarter.” The store sold both Russian and foreign goods, mainly fabrics: silk, velvet, wool, cambric, linen, as well as scarves, table linen, blankets, etc. The Tretyakovs owned apartment buildings in Moscow and Kostroma, as well as large plots of land in the Kostroma province. Profits were divided equally, and then capital was distributed according to life tasks, character, temperament, chosen lifestyle, and family needs.

The Tretyakov brothers had many necessary qualities, instilled by the father, such as courage, prudence, flexibility, honesty, efficiency, thanks to which the family’s well-being increased. Luck was with them; their names appeared among prominent industrialists of the 1870-1890s. They were among the largest donors in Moscow and Russia.

When engaging in charity, the Moscow merchants followed the aphorism “wealth obliges”: wealth implied responsibility and demanded an account. The lining of this, believed V.P. Ryabushinsky, there was the ethics of Orthodoxy, the firm Christian faith of our fathers and grandfathers. Charity was seen as a kind of mission, as fulfilling an assigned duty. The “corrupting power” of money was directed to good causes. Over time, it becomes a class voluntary obligation, a feature of the commercial and industrial environment, an important sign of the times. Charitable institutions of the Moscow merchants included schools, gymnasiums, almshouses, houses of charity and free apartments, hospitals, as well as foundations that developed thanks to private donations. Monetary benefits under a spiritual will were traditional in nature. Donations large sums rarely done during the life of the donor. In this sense, the gift of P.M. Tretyakov is an exception. Many merchants were ardently and passionately engaged in “amateurism”, publishing, education, they collected paintings, books, manuscripts, objects folk life, devoted themselves to public service. Some of them became experts in their field and prominent figures Russian culture. It is enough to name the names of large merchant dynasties, with many of whom the Tretyakovs were related and related: the Mamontovs, Mazurins, Sapozhnikovs, Yakunchikovs, Alekseevs, Rukavishnikovs and their brainchildren - the Shchukin and Morozov museums of modern French painting, Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum, collection of SP icons. Ryabushinsky, Private opera SI. Mamontova, Art Theater K.S. Stanislavsky, etc.

Like many representatives of the third estate, the Tretyakovs were actively involved in charitable activities. P.M. In 1863, Tretyakov became a trustee at an “institution” for deaf-mute children (later the Arnold School for Deaf-Mute Children). He also donated his time to the benefit of the community, performing a number of duties in public organizations, which, according to him, did not bring “any particularly interesting benefits”, i.e. personal. And despite this, he is auditing the bank, because the bank “annually delivers up to 10 thousand rubles. in favor charitable institutions Moscow Merchant Society". Amounts of monetary donations to P.M. Tretyakov’s money grew year after year, with special care he entered them into annual reports (including assistance to friends, acquaintances, neighbors, children of employees, “for church” and much more - you can’t list everything), sometimes they covered the amounts spent on the purchase of paintings. He could not or did not want to refuse the requester and often acted as a benefactor in a variety of endeavors. Among his “irregular” and varied donations, I would like to name a fox, a gift to the Moscow Zoological Garden (made by the Tretyakov brothers in 1866), financial assistance in organizing the research expedition N.N. Miklouho-Maclay in the South Seas in 1876-1877, donation of money in the 1880s. for the construction of the Temple of the Resurrection in Tokyo (Japan) and much more.

The union of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov can rightfully be called ideal; this happens extremely rarely in history. It was no coincidence that the words from the will of the wise Mikhail Zakharovich about the need to adhere to one’s class, which meant, among other things, to adhere to family ties. This was seen as a guarantee of the success of any business. “It is not often that the names of two brothers are so closely connected with each other. During their lifetime, they were united by genuine family love and friendship. They live in eternity as the creators of the gallery named after Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov,” wrote the historian of the Moscow merchants P.A. Buryshkin. The Tretyakov brothers were impeccable business partners; they were connected not only by a common cause (about 200 letters from Sergei to Pavel are stored in the Tretyakov Gallery), closeness of interests, they managed to maintain respect and trust in each other until the end of their days. When the name of one of the brothers was heard, the other was invisibly present. Their lives were spent in constant mutual assistance, exchange of opinions and general classes, not only in entrepreneurial activity. Both loved music, enjoyed visiting theaters, concerts, and listening to opera. The Tretyakov brothers worked hard for the good of the fatherland. Having gone through life together, as they say, “hand in hand,” each of them left their mark on the history of Russian artistic culture and the history of Moscow.

CM. Tretyakov was more active than his older brother in the social and political life of the city, moved in government circles, participated as a member of the Moscow City Duma in many bills, and was the Moscow mayor (the organization of the Pushkin celebrations in Moscow in June 1880 occurred during this period). ) etc. He began collecting much later than his brother - in the early 1870s, and was mainly interested in modern Western painting, primarily French, which was highly valued more expensive than works Russian school. Sergei Mikhailovich’s collection, not so numerous, was located in a mansion on Prechistensky Boulevard and was open only to friends and “by recommendation.” Sergei Tretyakov created, in the words of I.E. Grabar, a “one-of-a-kind” gallery of Western European art, which has become a kind of place of pilgrimage for lovers of Western art. For myself, SM. Tretyakov bought paintings according to at will, and on the advice of his brother. Many works of the Russian school, purchased by SM. Tretyakov, during his lifetime were exhibited in the collection of P.M. Tretyakov in his house in Tolmachi. He helped form Pavel Mikhailovich’s collection, on his instructions he communicated with artists, looked for paintings, and reported the latest art news.

The brothers were familiarized with each other's wills. The issue of merging the collections and donating them to the city of Moscow was decided long before the actual transfer. Throughout their lives, the brothers supported each other. In 1892, after the death of his brother P.M. Tretyakov, having gone on a trip, writes to his wife: “Before... when I left, I renounced everything Moscow... I knew that no matter what happened in my absence from business, my brother would do it as I would have done it myself...” “A year later, ordering a portrait of Sergei Mikhailovich from I.E. Repin, he continues to experience the sudden death of his brother: “... he loved painting passionately and if he collected something other than Russian, it was because I collected it, but he left capital for acquisition at interest only Russians from him works of art. And he was a much better person than me.”

P.M. Tretyakov, unlike SM. Tretyakov, deliberately devoted himself to creating a museum of Russian art. His whole life became truly a service to a high purpose. At the time of his death, his collection, according to the 1898 catalog, numbered more than 3,300 works. The expanding collection required an increase in exhibition space: to residential building halls were added, the house was turned into a gallery, since 1874 it has been open to wide range acquaintances, since 1881 - for visiting public.

The core of the current collection of the Tretyakov Gallery is the collection collected by P.M. Tretyakov. The name of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov is firmly entrenched in the history of Russian artistic culture.

The list of articles, essays, books, and memoirs devoted to the collection and the life of the collector is impressive and serious. It seems that everything most important and significant has already been said, spoken, published, written. At the same time, the epistolary heritage of P.M. Tretyakov, memories of him and his time indicate that there is still room to expand our understanding of the collector who created the first publicly accessible gallery of Russian art, which was donated to his native city.

In the literature about the collector, in unpublished documents, many remarkable details are hidden, adding new shades and intonations to the already established image, implicit at the first contact with the huge material, but appearing more and more clearly with prolonged immersion in it. The life of this unusual person does not reveal itself immediately. It developed in three ways: creative biography- you can’t call it anything else - service to the established gallery, the path of an entrepreneur and philanthropist during the formation of industrial capitalism in Russia and private life person, loving husband and a caring father of a large family. With his life, P.M. Tretyakov expands our understanding of the era in which he lived, acted, made decisions, communicated, painting it with fresh colors and new halftones.

During the life of the collector, literally within a few decades private collection Pavel Tretyakov turned into largest museum Russian art. Sudden death younger brother Sergei accelerated the merger of the Tretyakov brothers’ collections and the transfer of the gallery into city ownership (1892). The elder brother Pavel became a trustee of the Moscow City Art Gallery of the brothers Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov, continuing to expand the collection until last days own life.

By the end of his life, Tretyakov held the title of Commerce Advisor, was a member of the Moscow branch of the Council of Trade and Manufactures, and also a full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (since 1893). He died on December 4, 1898 in Moscow. Last words his relatives were like: “Take care of the gallery and be healthy.” He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

After the death of P.M. The Tretyakov collection, donated to the city during the collector’s lifetime, continued to evoke the admiration and gratitude of his contemporaries and serve as an example for donors and donors. The first Council of the TG (1899-1913) included people close to Tretyakov - his daughter Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina and famous artists V.A. Serov and I.S. Ostroukhov. The latter was an artist and collector rolled into one. They sought to preserve the memory of the founder and, above all, the collection in the form the collector left it. Conducted by P.M. Tretyakov’s hanging of paintings remained untouched. At the same time, work was undertaken to reconstruct the premises, in 1902-1904. The facade was erected according to the design of V.M. Vasnetsov, who later became the symbol of the gallery, began collecting materials for the biography of P.M. Tretyakov and the planned memorial hall. Despite the last codicil to the will, made six months before his death, about the undesirability of replenishing the gallery with works the latest art However, the TG Council nevertheless decided to continue and expand the collection; newly acquired works were placed in specially designated rooms.

During the work of the second TG Council (1913-1917), headed by I.E. Grabar carried out a radical modernization of the gallery, changing its face. The exhibition organized by P.M. Tretyakov, no longer satisfied the new requirements of the museum business. Grabar carried out a number of reforms that transformed, as he put it, “a privately owned collection” into a European-style museum. He built a new exhibition in strict historical and artistic sequence, conducting a complete inventory of the collection and compiling the first scientific catalog. Grabar appreciated Tretyakov’s interest in Russian painting of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, but in to a greater extent to the icons that the latter collected “not according to subjects, but according to their artistic value" Collection ancient Russian art entered the gallery by will after the death of the collector: during his lifetime it was kept in the house of Pavel Mikhailovich. Grabar credited Tretyakov with “great artistic vigilance,” which allowed him to be “far ahead of his contemporaries.”

After the revolution, more serious changes awaited the gallery. By decree of 1918, the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov (since the 1880s, commonly called the Tretyakov Gallery) was renamed the State Tretyakov Gallery. The inscription on the famous facade continued to remind of the names of its founders. At the same time, the abbreviation that has become familiar today, the Tretyakov Gallery, arose, giving rise to memories of the post-revolutionary time.