In 1774, the merchant Elisey Martynovich Tretyakov moved his family to the capital from Maloyaroslavets. His great-grandson is Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, born in Moscow on December 27, 1832. He continued the merchant family business and achieved success in this, but became famous throughout the world thanks to his passion for fine art and the creation of an extensive art gallery of Russian art.
Beginning of gathering
According to the assumption of the daughter of Tretyakov Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina, a decisive role in the life of her father, as a collector of paintings, was played by a trip to St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1852. There he enjoyed visiting theaters, but admired his Hermitage.
Pavel’s fascination with the visual arts grows stronger and grows to a penchant for collecting. At the Sukharevsky market, he buys prints and books. In 1854, he began to acquire paintings, information on the costs of which he carefully wrote down in his pocket book.
The collection of Russian painting, Pavel Mikhailovich begins with the paintings of his contemporaries. While in St. Petersburg, he orders paintings to several artists. In 1856, he acquired the work of Vasily Khudyakov, “A Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers”. This year is considered the founding year of the Tretyakov collection, and Khudyakov’s painting is still exhibited in the halls of the current State Tretyakov Gallery.
V. Khudyakov. Skirmish with Finnish smugglers. 1853
Collection replenishment
Developing collecting activities, Tretyakov seeks to establish and expand personal contacts: he enters into art societies, gets acquainted with painters, develops connections with collectors, communicates with art lovers, and studies the art market.
The collection is gradually updated. Pavel Mikhailovich acquires the works of Ivan Trutnev, Alexei Savrasov, Fedor Bruni, Konstantin Trutovsky and other Russian artists. By Russian, he means artists born in the Russian Empire. In addition, he shows an increased interest in Russian themes and motifs in works of art.
From 1860, paintings of leading artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg began to appear in his collection: N. Nevrev, V. Perov, V. Pukirev, K. Flavitsky and others. With each subsequent decade, the circle of authors of paintings that he acquires is expanding. In the 1870s, these were the canvases of the Wanderers: V. Perov, I. Kramskoy, A. Savrasov, A. Kuindzhi, I. Repin, V. Vasnetsov, V. Surikov, etc. There is a place for paintings by academic artists: K. Makovsky, V. Schwartz, I. Krachkovsky and others. Over time, it became prestigious for artists if their paintings fell into the collection of Tretyakov.
Towards the end of the 1860s and in the first half of the 1870s, Pavel Tretyakov set about creating a portrait gallery of "people dear to the nation" - prominent figures of Russian culture. The selection of persons takes place in two positions: the historical role of the individual and the artistic value of portraits. Thus, a portrait "gallery in the gallery." Pavel Mikhailovich during this period was the main customer of portraits, thereby stimulating the development of the portrait genre.
In addition to entrepreneurial activity and collecting, Pavel Tretyakov and his brother Sergei were actively involved in charity work. Pavel Mikhailovich said that "patronage is completely alien to me, " and considered his good deeds a civic duty. His modesty was so great that he was not even present at the celebrations for the transfer of his paintings to Moscow.
Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov
At the beginning of his collecting, Pavel Tretyakov did not use the concepts of “collection” or “collection” in relation to his paintings, but said so: “My paintings”.
He dreamed of creating an extensive public museum on the basis of his collection, the picturesque exhibits of which he had so far placed in his house in Lavrushinsky Lane. Tretyakov believed in the bright future of Russian art and associated its development with Moscow as a center of traditions and a city with great prospects. It was in Moscow that he wanted to create a national gallery with paintings by Russian artists.
At the age of 28 (1860), he draws up a will, in which he expresses his desire to create such a "repository of fine arts", to which everyone would have access.
On August 31, 1892, he made a statement to the authorities on the transfer to Moscow of paintings collected by him and his brother Sergei. A year later, on August 15, 1893, the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov opened for a wide range of visitors. Pavel Mikhailovich was appointed lifelong trustee of the gallery and continued to replenish its collection. His last gift is a sketch of Isaac Levitan for the painting "Above Eternal Peace".
I. Levitan. Above eternal peace. 1894
