The Department of Prints and Drawings, or The Cabinet of Prints and Drawings is one of the oldest departments in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. It is a unique collection of prints, drawings, illustrated books, posters, miscellaneous graphics and includes than 350,000 works in different schools and styles, dating from the 15th century to the present day.
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The history of the Cabinet began with in the walls of the Moscow Public and Rumyanzev Museum. The museum opened in 1861 and shortly afterwards Alexander II donated over 20000 engravings, etchings and woodcuts. Plates by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, Hendrick Goltzius, Rembrandt, José de Ribera, Marcantonio Raimondi, Salvator Rosa, Jacques Callot, William Hogarth, Gerard Edelinck and Robert Nanteuil formed the basis of this collection.
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In 1924 The Moscow Public and Rumyanzev Museum's collection was divided up and part of it came to the Museum of Fine Arts (renamed 'The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts' in 1937).
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Throughout the 20th century the Department added to its collection with many acquisitions from private individuals, state institutions and other museums. These include some of the most important works from the collections of such aristocratic families as Bariatinsky, Vazimsky, Sheremetevi and Dolgorukovi, along with significant unique private collections by D. Rovinskii, N. Mosolov, P. Ettinger, Basnins, and many others.
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In the 1930s the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings started to collect graphics by European and Russian artists. Some of them, such as I. Nivinsky, V. Favorsky and P. Pavlinov donated prints to this collection. The famous British artist Sir Frank Brangwyn, born in Belgium, presented the museum with a complete set of all his etchings and lithographs. Many pieces by Matisse and Picasso were also given to the museum.
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The Cabinet has always provided a space for public education and since its opening in 1865 there has been a Study Room for lectures and seminars on Graphics and Art History. Among the visitors to this Room have been many famous Russian artists, historians, architects and intelligentsia.
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Today the Cabinet has one of the greatest Graphic collections in Europe and only the State Hermitage has a larger collection in Russia. Computer Technology has opened a fresh chapter in the Cabinet's history and allows anybody with a passion for Art History to appreciate our collection.
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The museum's many treasures are displayed in special exhibitions and other works can be viewed in the Study Room by appointment.
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