Founded by patron and collector, Pavel Tretyakov, in the 19th Century, the State Tretyakov Gallery has grown exponentially to become one of Moscow's most important museums and an unparalleled treasury of Russian arts. No fewer than 130,000 works have been amassed in total, ranging from 11th Century to the 20th Century. The main gallery on per. Lavrushinsky, has 62 rooms full of evocative and beautiful oils by artists you've never heard before (and whose names you can't pronounce). Equally interesting are the exhibits in the new building at Krymskiy Val, where avant-garde art of the early 1900s is offset by some kitsch 'socialist-realism'.
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