The Tambov Regional Art Gallery is the largest art museum in the city of Tambov and the Tambov Oblast. The museum collections hold unique works of Russian and foreign art of the 16th–20th centuries. The art gallery occupies the building of the former Naryshkin Reading Room, built in 1892 by order of the chief chamberlain of the imperial court and philanthropist Emmanuil Dmitriyevich Naryshkin.
The collection was based on the works of art that used to belong to noble families, such as the Arapovs, Baratynskys, Boldyrevs, Naryshkins, and Stroganovs, and were nationalized after the revolution. The character and structure of the collections fully reflected both the taste of the former owners and some of the peculiarities of Russian art collecting. The gallery is famous for the unique works of Jan van Scorel and Pieter Nazon. The museum’s permanent exhibition presents paintings by many outstanding Russian and foreign artists of the 16th–20th centuries.
The collection was based on the works of art that used to belong to noble families, such as the Arapovs, Baratynskys, Boldyrevs, Naryshkins, and Stroganovs, and were nationalized after the revolution. The character and structure of the collections fully reflected both the taste of the former owners and some of the peculiarities of Russian art collecting. The gallery is famous for the unique works of Jan van Scorel and Pieter Nazon. The museum’s permanent exhibition presents paintings by many outstanding Russian and foreign artists of the 16th–20th centuries.
