In 1774, the merchant Elisey Martynovich Tretyakov moved his family to the capital from Maloyaroslavets. His great-grandson, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, was born in Moscow on December 27, 1832. He continued the merchant family business and achieved success in this, but became famous all over the world thanks to his passion for the visual arts and the creation of an extensive picture gallery of Russian art.
The beginning of gathering
According to the assumption of Tretyakov's daughter Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina, a trip to St. Petersburg in the fall of 1852 played a decisive role in her father's life as a collector of paintings. There he enjoyed visiting theaters, but the Hermitage delighted him.
Paul's passion for the visual arts grows stronger and grows to a penchant for collecting. At the Sukharev market, he buys prints and books. In 1854, he began to acquire paintings, information about the costs of which he carefully wrote down in his pocket book.
Collecting Russian painting Pavel Mikhailovich begins with the canvases of his contemporaries. While in St. Petersburg, he commissioned paintings to several artists. In 1856 he acquires the work of Vasily Khudyakov "Clash with Finnish Smugglers". This year is considered the year of the foundation of the Tretyakov collection, and Khudyakov's painting is still on display in the halls of the current State Tretyakov Gallery.
Collection replenishment
Developing his collecting activity, Tretyakov strives to establish and expand personal contacts: he enters art societies, gets acquainted with painters, develops contacts with collectors, communicates with art lovers, and studies the art market.
The collection is gradually expanding. Pavel Mikhailovich acquires works by Ivan Trutnev, Alexei Savrasov, Fyodor Bruni, Konstantin Trutovsky and other Russian artists. By Russians, he means artists born in the Russian Empire. In addition, he shows an increased interest in Russian themes and motives in works of art.
Since 1860, paintings by leading artists of Moscow and St. Petersburg began to appear in his collection: N. Nevrev, V. Perov, V. Pukirev, K. Flavitsky and others. With each subsequent decade, the circle of authors of paintings that he acquires expands. In the 1870s, these are the canvases of the Itinerants: V. Perov, I. Kramskoy, A. Savrasov, A. Kuindzhi, I. Repin, V. Vasnetsov, V. Surikov, etc. There is a place for paintings by academic artists: K. Makovsky, V. Schwartz, I. Krachkovsky and others. Over time, it became prestigious for artists if their paintings were included in the Tretyakov collection.
Towards the end of the 1860s and in the first half of the 1870s, Pavel Tretyakov began to create a portrait gallery of “persons dear to the nation” - outstanding figures of Russian culture. The selection of persons takes place in two positions: the historical role of the personality and the artistic value of the portraits. Thus, a portrait "gallery in a gallery" was formed. Pavel Mikhailovich during this period was the main customer of portraits, thereby he stimulated the development of the portrait genre.
In addition to entrepreneurial activity and collecting, Pavel Tretyakov and his brother Sergei were actively involved in charity work. Pavel Mikhailovich said that "patronage is completely alien to me," and considered his good deeds a civic duty. His modesty was so great that he was not even present at the celebrations for the transfer of his paintings to Moscow.
Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov
At the beginning of his collecting, Pavel Tretyakov did not use the concepts of "collection" or "collection" in relation to his paintings, and so he said: "My paintings."
He dreamed of creating an extensive public museum on the basis of his collection, the picturesque exhibits of which he placed so far in his house in Lavrushinsky Lane. Tretyakov believed in the bright future of Russian art and linked its development with Moscow as a center of traditions and a city with excellent prospects. It was in Moscow that he wanted to create a national gallery with paintings by Russian artists.
At the age of 28 (1860), he draws up a will, in which he expresses his desire to create such a "repository of the fine arts" to which everyone would have access.
On August 31, 1892, he applied to the authorities to transfer to Moscow the paintings collected by him and his brother Sergei. A year later, on August 15, 1893, the Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov opened to a wide range of visitors. Pavel Mikhailovich was appointed life-long trustee of the gallery and continued to expand its collection. His last gift is Isaac Levitan's sketch for the painting "Above Eternal Peace".
Family and personal life of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov
Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov comes from a merchant family. His father, Mikhail Zakharovich, owned shops in Kitai-Gorod. Mother, Alexandra Danilovna Borisova, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. They had two sons and three daughters. They all received a good education at home. From the age of 14, his father began to involve Pavel in trading activities. When Mikhail Zakharovich died, Pavel at the age of 18, as the eldest son, headed the family.
The heirs significantly expanded the father's business. However, the increased wealth did not make Paul a misfit. He was modest in everyday life, and preferred to spend "extra" funds on helping those in need.
Pavel Tretyakov married Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova for love in 1865. The wife gave birth to Pavel Mikhailovich six children - two boys and four girls: Vera (1866-1940), Alexandra (1867-1959), Love (1870-1928), Mikhail (1871-1912), Maria (1875-1952) and Ivan (1878-1887).
Unfortunately, Mikhail suffered from mental illness, and the younger Ivan died at an early age. The family was friendly, the parents loved and took care of each other. They got married when Pavel Mikhailovich was 33 years old and lived together for 33 years.
First he died. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov passed away on December 4, 1898, at 10 minutes 10 am. Vera Nikolaevna left after him a few months later. They rest in the necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent.
Daughters - Vera Pavlovna Ziloti and Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina, subsequently wrote books of memoirs about their father.
