The highlight of this surprisingly impressive collection are the moving realist scenes of early 20th-century Vitsebsk street life painted by Yudel Pen, Marc Chagall's first art teacher. Of the 793 paintings Pen donated to the city before he died, only 200 have survived, most of them here. The museum's grand halls also feature Russian masters of the 19th century like Repin and Makovsky, plus plenty of local art spanning the years.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.48 MILES
The first museum on every itinerary should be the excellent Chagall Art Center, which was established in 1992 and has about 300 of Chagall's graphic works…
0.79 MILES
Across the town's river, a good 20-minute walk away from the Chagall Art Center, is the Marc Chagall House Museum, where the artist lived as a child for…
0.23 MILES
Vitsebsk's two most prominent churches command high ground in the Old Town above the spot where the tiny Visba River empties into the Dvina. The larger…
0.12 MILES
This twin-spired beauty is a 2009 reconstruction of an 18th-century baroque church and features gorgeous interior frescoes. It lies at the base of vul…
Nearby Belarus attractions
0.12 MILES
This twin-spired beauty is a 2009 reconstruction of an 18th-century baroque church and features gorgeous interior frescoes. It lies at the base of vul…
0.23 MILES
Vitsebsk's two most prominent churches command high ground in the Old Town above the spot where the tiny Visba River empties into the Dvina. The larger…
0.48 MILES
The first museum on every itinerary should be the excellent Chagall Art Center, which was established in 1992 and has about 300 of Chagall's graphic works…
0.79 MILES
Across the town's river, a good 20-minute walk away from the Chagall Art Center, is the Marc Chagall House Museum, where the artist lived as a child for…