Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov
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Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Третьяко́в; 27 December 1832 – 16 December 1898) was a Russian businessman, patron of
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, collector, and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
who gave his name to the
Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, ''Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya''; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered th ...
and
Tretyakov Drive Tretyakovsky Proyezd or Tretyakov Drive () is a short street with boutiques and shops with many luxury goods located in Kitai-gorod in Moscow and known as one of the most expensive shopping areas in the world. The mediaeval-looking archway ont ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. His brother Sergei Tretyakov was also a famous patron of art and a philanthropist.


Childhood

Together with other Moscow businessmen he acted as the founder of the Moscow merchant bank (becoming one of its heads), the Moscow commercial and industrial company, some other large firms. He amassed a considerable fortune (4.4 million
rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
), consisting of real estate (5 houses in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
), securities, money and bills.


Collecting art

Tretyakov started to collect art in 1854 at the age of 22; his first purchase was 10 canvases by Old
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
masters. He laid down for himself the aim of creating a Russian National Gallery. In his collection Tretyakov included the most valuable and remarkable products, first of all the contemporaries, from 1870 - mainly members of the society of circulating art exhibitions (''Tovarishchestvo peredvizhnyh hudozhestvennyh vystavok'' or
Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki ( rus, Передви́жники, , pʲɪrʲɪˈdvʲiʐnʲɪkʲɪ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restr ...
, Передвижники in Russian). He bought paintings at exhibitions and directly from artists' studios, sometimes he bought the whole series: in 1874 he acquired V.V. Vereschagin's "Turkestan series" (13 pictures, 133 figures and 81 studies), in 1880 - his "Indian series" (78 studies). In his collection there were over 80 studies by Alexander Ivanov. In 1885 Tretyakov bought 102 studies by V.D. Polenov painted by the artist during journeys across
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. He also acquired
Viktor Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (russian: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Васнецо́в; May 15 ( N.S.), 1848 – July 23, 1926) was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founde ...
’s collection of the sketches made during his work on
St Volodymyr's Cathedral St Volodymyr's Cathedral ( uk, Володимирський собор, russian: Владимирский собор) is a cathedral in the centre of Kyiv. It is one of the city's major landmarks and the mother cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodo ...
in
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. Tretyakov had the fullest collection of such artists as: V.G. Perov, I.N. Kramskoi,
Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...
,
Vasily Surikov Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (Russian: Василий Иванович Суриков; 24 January 1848 – 19 March 1916) was a Russian Realist history painter. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illus ...
, I.I. Levitan, and
Valentin Serov Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era. Life and work Youth and educ ...
. Aspiring to show the beginnings and development of the domestic school of art, Tretyakov began to acquire pictures by masters of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries and landmarks of Old Russian painting. He also conceived the creation of a "Russian
pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
" - a portrait gallery of famous Russians. He commissioned especially for it portraits of figures of domestic culture from leading masters of this genre - N.N. Ge, Kramskoi, N.V. Nevrev, Perov, Repin. In 1870-80 Tretyakov also began to collect illustrations (471 by 1893), and in 1890 he began to collect
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s. During his lifetime they were kept in his study and were not put on public display. He also had a small collection of
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
(9 sculptures by 1893). At first the gallery was located in Tretyakov's house in Lavrushenski pereulok. But as his collection expanded he decided to reconstruct his house to accommodate it. In 1870-1880 the house was reconstructed a number of times by the architect Kaminski. Tretyakov wanted to transfer the gallery to the city as discreetly as possible, without any fuss; he didn't want to be in the centre of general attention and an object of gratitude. But this was not possible and he was very dissatisfied. From 1881 his gallery became popular (by 1885 it was visited by about 30 thousand people). In 1892 Tretyakov inherited a collection of Western European painting from his brother and placed it in two halls of the western school. The collection in Tretyakov's gallery was equal in importance with the largest museums in Russia at that time, and became one of sights of
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. In August 1892 Tretyakov donated his collection and a private residence to Moscow. By then in the collection there were 1287 pictures and 518 graphics of the Russian school, 75 pictures and 8 figures of the West-European school, 15 sculptures and a collections of icons. On 15 August 1893 the official opening of a museum under the name "Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov City art gallery" (nowadays
Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, ''Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya''; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered th ...
) took place. By 1890 it was visited by up to 150 thousand people annually. Tretyakov continued to build up his collection, for example, in 1894 he donated a gallery of 30 pictures, 12 figures and a marble statue “The Christian martyrs“ works by M.M. Antokolski. He was also involved in studying the collection, and from 1893 he produced its catalogue.


Other work

Apart from engaging in collecting, Tretyakov was active in
charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...
. Charity for him was as natural as the creation of a national gallery. He was an honorary member of the Society of Collectors of the Applied Arts and of the Musical Society from the dates of their foundations. He granted large amounts of money to these organizations, supporting all their educational undertakings. He supported an initiative to help the families of soldiers who died during the
Crimean Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
and
Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...
. He established grants in commercial schools in Moscow and Alexandrovskoe. He never refused monetary help to artists and others, and carefully looked after the affairs of painters who without fear entrusted their savings to him. He repeatedly lent money to his counsellor and adviser I.N. Kramskoi, and to V.G. Khudyakov, K.A. Trutovski, M.K. Klodt. With his brother Sergey he supported the Moscow School for the Deaf, founded in 1860 by the artist Ivan Karlovich Arnold, and became its patron. In 1900 the school was renamed the Arnoldo-Tretyakov School.


Death and legacy

Pavel Tretyakov died in December 1898, and his funeral was held at the
Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi The Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi (russian: Храм Святителя Николая в Толмачах, translit=Khram Svyatityelya Nikolaya v Tolmachakh) is both a Russian Orthodox house church and museum that is part of the State Tret ...
where he was an active parishioner. He was buried in Danilov Cemetery, but in 1948 his remains were transferred to
Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...
. Tretyakov bequeathed half of his estate to charitable purposes. He provided for the financing of the gallery, and also for a shelter for the widows, juvenile children and unmarried daughters of artists who had died. In his will he also provided large sums for the school for the deaf. He bought a big stone house with a garden for the school. 150 boys and girls lived in this house. Here they were looked after till they reached the age of 16. Tretyakov selected the best teachers, and became acquainted with the methods of study. A
minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
3925 Tretʹyakov, discovered by
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
astronomer
Lyudmila Zhuravlyova Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Журавлёва, uk, Людмила Василівна Журавльова, Ljudmyla Vasylivna Žuravljova; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian ast ...
in 1977 is named after Pavel Tretyakov and his brother Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1824–1892). His daughter Vera married the pianist and composer
Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Зило́ти, ''Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti'', uk, Олександр Ілліч Зілоті; 9 October 1863 – 8 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, ...
. His other daughter, Lyubov, married the
maritime art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre part ...
ist,
Nikolay Gritsenko Nikolay Nikolayevich Gritsenko (Russian:Николай Николаевич Гриценко; 8 May 1856, Novokuznetsk - 8 December 1900, Menton, France) was a Russian painter who specialized in maritime art and seascapes. Biography His fathe ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tretyakov, Pavel Russian culture 1832 births 1898 deaths Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery 19th century in Moscow Philanthropists from the Russian Empire Russian art collectors Businesspeople from the Russian Empire 19th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire * Russian art patrons