Former estate of Prince Ivan Nikolaevich Trubetskoy (Moscow)

Russia / Moscow / Moscow / Bolshoy Znamensky pereulok, 8/12 building 1
 Classicism, interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage, nonresidential building, 18th century construction, object of cultural heritage of regional importance (Russia)

The Main house with a wing was constructed in the 1740s, and renovated or remodeled in the late 18th century, the 1850s, and again in 1907-1912 by Lev N. Kekushev.

The first time that a house is mentioned on a map is 1725 and then it belonged to Prince Shakhovsky. In the beginning of the 19th century the owner of the house was a rich landowner, the great grandfather of the writer Mikhail Lermontov, A. E. Stolipin, whose serf troop of actors was famous in Moscow. In 1801 he sold them to the imperial theater for 30 thousand rubles, after which on posters before their names appeared Mr. or Madam indicating that the actors had been given their freedom.

The house was sold to Prince Khovansky and in 1808 the house belonged to the family of Prince Ivan N. Trubetskoy.

In 1882 the old house was purchased by the merchant Ivan V. Shchukin, who in 1891 the house to his son, Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin on the occasion of the birth of his grandson.

Sergei I. Shchukin was a famous collector of French paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pictures by Monet, Gauguin, Picasso, Cezanne, van Gogh, Russo, Matisse. Matisse visited Moscow in 1911 to hang his work in this house which had become a museum in 1909.

In 1918 the gallery was privatized by the state and became known as the "first museum of new western art." Shchukin, who emigrated from Russia to Paris, reportedly did not demand the pictures, saying instead that "he collected them for his country and its people."
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Coordinates:   55°44'56"N   37°36'15"E
This article was last modified 13 years ago