Chuvash State Art Museum

Chuvash Republic
Cheboksary, Kalinina str., 60

the museum's collections now contain about 30 thousand works. Among them are masterpieces of Russian and Soviet art of authorship Tropinin, Korovin, Kuindzhi, Serebryakova, Feshin, Mittova. At the same time, the museum preserves original works of classics of Chuvash painting - Kokel, Spiridonov, Sverchkov, Tagaev-Surgan, Zaitsev, who depicted the life of the Chuvash people of the early 20th century and the changes that are taking place. in several halls you can get acquainted with the creative work of local masters of a later period.
Individual expositions are devoted to unique examples of national applied art.

In 1939, the Chuvash State Art Gallery was opened in Cheboksary. Its collection is based on about 300 works that were previously stored in the Department of fine Arts of the local Museum of local lore. In honor of this event, an exhibition was organized in the premises of the Vvedensky Cathedral. During the year, more than 700 works were added to the gallery's collections.
During the Great Patriotic War, the gallery's collection was kept in the Assumption Church, but temporary exhibitions of works by local artists and authors who were evacuated here were held in the cultural centers of the city. In 1944, the gallery acquired its own premises – it was given the former house of Bonet (Talantsevs), where it was located until 1972, when it moved to the former Efremov mansion – one of the most beautiful buildings in Cheboksary, built in the Art Nouveau style.
In the 1980s, thanks to numerous expeditions, the gallery began to form a collection of folk costumes.
in 1985, a new three-story building was built for the gallery, which will soon be renamed the chuvash state art museum. It was intended for the Sixth zonal exhibition "Big Volga", after which the permanent exhibition of Chuvash fine art was located here. the efremov mansion exhibits works of russian and western european art from the 17th and early 20th centuries.

Fyodor efremov, the Youngest son of a rich Merchant, built his mansion in order To please his young wife, a Beautiful southern woman. He ordered for the new house luxurious tiled stoves and fireplaces, stacked oak parquet, a grand staircase, stained glass windows.
The story of Efremov's acquaintance with his future wife is interesting. In 1908, he went to the south of the country on business and in a restaurant lost a huge amount of money at cards. The dancer of the restaurant revealed to him the intentions of the cheaters, and Fyodor fell in love with the beauty and brought her home. The parents were dissatisfied with this choice and suggested that their son leave his father's house.
Zonal exhibitions were first held in 1964, bringing together creative teams of Russia in 10 zones: the Soviet Far East, Socialist Siberia, the Socialist Urals, the Great Volga, the Soviet North, the Soviet South, the Center and Non-Chernozem Region, the Chernozem Region, Moscow and Leningrad. Then they were systematically held every few years and were considered important events of cultural life. "Big Volga" was organized in Kuibyshev, Volgograd, Ulyanovsk, Gorky, Kazan, Cheboksary – and again in Kazan. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and zonal exhibitions ceased.