Anyone can be a museum director, as demonstrated by Moscow businessman-turned-art-collector Igor Markin. His 700-plus-piece collection had outgrown his private properties, so he decided to start a museum where he could display his art and share it with the public. And so art4.ru (‘Art for Russia') was born. Nowadays it operates as more of a gallery, as much of the artwork is also for sale.
Art4.ru
Presnya
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.7 MILES
The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…
0.77 MILES
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0.87 MILES
At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination…
0.73 MILES
The apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is the kernel of not only Moscow, but of the whole country…
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Although Vladimir Ilych requested that he be buried beside his mum in St Petersburg, he still lies in state at the foot of the Kremlin wall, receiving…
1.83 MILES
Moscow's main city escape isn't your conventional expanse of nature preserved inside an urban jungle. It's not a fun fair either, though it used to be one…
0.8 MILES
Immediately outside the Kremlin’s northeastern wall is the celebrated Red Square, the 400m-by-150m area of cobblestones that is at the very heart of…
State Tretyakov Gallery Main Branch
1.36 MILES
The exotic boyar (high-ranking noble) castle on a little lane in Zamoskvorechie contains the main branch of the State Tretyakov Gallery, housing the world…
Nearby Presnya attractions
1. Church of the Lesser Ascension
0.07 MILES
Built in the early 17th century, the festive Church of the Lesser Ascension features whitewashed walls and primitively carved stone embellishments.
2. Moscow Museum of Modern Art Tverskoy
0.19 MILES
This small exhibition space, known as the ‘Zurab Gallery', was formerly the studio of sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. As such, the space has seen many talented…
0.19 MILES
This impressive museum on the Boulevard Ring holds three floors of exhibits spanning the Asian continent. Of particular interest is the 1st floor,…
0.2 MILES
Through the arch from Tverskaya ul, the rosy-pink, gold-domed Church of the Resurrection was one of the few churches to remain open throughout the Soviet…
5. Synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya
0.26 MILES
Built in 1883, the Synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya was the private place of worship of a prerevolutionary millionaire. Closed in the 1930s, the building…
0.26 MILES
Also known as the Gorky House-Museum, this fascinating 1906 art nouveau mansion was designed by architect Fyodor Shekhtel and gifted to celebrated author…
0.29 MILES
The 19th-century writer Nikolai Gogol spent his final tortured months here. The rooms – now a small but captivating museum – are arranged as they were…
8. Church of the Grand Ascension
0.29 MILES
In 1831 poet Alexander Pushkin married artist Natalia Goncharova in the elegant Church of the Grand Ascension, on the western side of pl Nikitskie Vorota…