Description of the attraction
The National Art Gallery of Armenia is the main museum of fine arts in the country. The gallery is located in Yerevan on Republic Square and is part of the museum complex. The picture gallery is located on the upper floors of the building, the two lower floors of the building are reserved for the National History Museum of Armenia.
The reason for the creation of the gallery was the art department opened in 1921 at the State Museum. Throughout 1930 - 1950. the gallery fund was replenished with works from the State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Hermitage Museum and other museums. The collection was also replenished thanks to the purchases of the museum itself. In 1935 the art department received the status of a museum. In 1947 it was given the official name of the State Picture Gallery of Armenia. A year later, the building underwent a large-scale reconstruction. In 1978, the main building of the art gallery located on the city square of the Republic was supplemented with an eight-storey building intended for exhibitions.
In 1991, Armenia declared independence. In the same year, the State Picture Gallery was renamed the National Gallery of Armenia, after which restoration work began here. The gallery opened its doors in May 2004, showing visitors an updated exposition.
Today the fund of the Art Gallery has more than 20 thousand different works of art. Most of the collection of paintings in the gallery of Armenia is occupied by Armenian art. The classical period of Armenian art is represented by the works of I. Aivazovsky, A. Ovnatanyan, G. Bashinjaghyan and V. Surenyants, as well as the works of famous masters of the XX century. - E. Tadevosyan, G. Yakulov, M. Saryan, A. Gyurdzhyan, A. Kojoyan and many others. Particular attention is drawn to the collection of Russian art with icons of the 16th – 17th centuries, works by the most famous Russian masters of the 18th – 20th centuries. and others. Western European art is represented by works by Jan van Goyen, F. Guercino, E. Falcone, A. Monticelli, T. Russo and others. A separate hall of the National Art Gallery of Armenia is dedicated to the art of Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. The culture of the eastern countries - Iran, China and Japan is represented by valuable examples of decorative and applied art.
