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.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby 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…

3. Museum of Oriental Art

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,…

4. Church of the Resurrection

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…

6. Ryabushinsky Mansion

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…

7. Gogol House

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…