The foundation of the museum collection of unique and distinctive Palekh art was laid back in 1935 with the assistance of A.M. Gorky, who was interested in the folk crafts of Palekh.
The first exhibition in the new State Museum of Palekh Art featured more than 500 examples of lacquer miniature art donated by local artists and admirers of beauty. Two years later, the number of exhibits in the collection had tripled.
And that was only the beginning: it was decided that, in addition to exhibiting works by Palekh masters, it would be entirely appropriate to use this very popular museum to display painting - Russian and Western European. This is how works by great Italians, Flemings, Dutch, Germans, and other masters of the XVI-XIX centuries began to appear here.
The collections of the State Museum of Palekh Art also contain many church icons gathered from across Ivanovo Oblast. In the 1930s, thanks to the enthusiasm of the museum staff, a large number of priceless examples of old icon painting were preserved.
By visiting the museum, you will be able to see several thousand stunning lacquer miniatures from Palekh and Kholuy, icon-painting graphics, and more than one hundred Western European paintings.
