Description of the attraction
The Kirovograd Regional Art Museum placed its exposition in a building erected in the Art Nouveau style by order of the merchant I. Shpolyansky at the end of the 19th century. The question of creating an art museum in Elisavetgrad was raised by the local intelligentsia earlier, but the real work on its organization began only in the 21st year of the 20th century.
Five halls represent exhibits of Ukrainian and Russian art, which were donated to the museum by the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, and Kiev museums. Among them, there are also works by famous local artists. By 1926, the gallery's collection numbered one hundred and fifty exhibits, 26 of which are originals collected in the pre-revolutionary years and donated by art lovers.
During the Great Patriotic War, the museum was completely plundered. The resumption of the work of the picture gallery took place only twenty years after the end of the war. By that time, the gallery became part of the regional museum of local history. Then the picture gallery was located within the walls of the Holy Transfiguration Church.
After the return of the church to the parishioners, in 1991 the premises of the former passage, an architectural monument of 1887, were allocated for the gallery. The interior of this building had a high artistic value, representing one of the examples of the early Art Nouveau period. In 1993, by order of the President's representative, the Art Museum was founded on the basis of the gallery. After a long break associated with the repair and restoration of the building, in 2001 the museum was opened to visitors. Three of the five exhibition halls of the museum are stationary. They are dedicated to sacred art, Western European and Russian art of the 18th - early 20th centuries, and local artists. The exposition of the museum also presents a collection of decorative and applied art.
