Collection of Western European art of the XVI–XIX centuries from the Nnational fine arts museum of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Abstract

The collection of the National Fine Arts Museum of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a meaningful result of the hard work of many generations. The Museum's collections are of great historical and artistic interest and include a wide range of unique works, being an organic part of the world art Treasury. The significant moment in the history of Museum life in the Republic was the gratuitous transfer (gift) in 1962 of more than 250 works of Western European art of the 16th – 19th centuries from the family collection of the famous Yakut scientist, Doctor of Economics, Professor Mikhail Gabyshev (1902 – 1958). In the composition of the gift can be noted Italian masters – Niccolo Reniery (about 1590 – 1667), Giovanni Battista Pittoni (1687 – 1767), Dutch artists – Alexander Adriansen (1587 – 1661), Frederico de Mucheron (1633 – 1686), excellent portraits of the unknown Flemish master of the first quarter of the XVII century. On the basis of paintings from the collection of M.F. Gabyshev in 1970, in the former building of the Yakut district Treasury, built in 1909, a branch was opened – the Museum of West European Art, transformed in 1995 into the Gallery of Foreign Art named after Professor M.F. Gabyshev. The article deals with the principles and process of forming the assemblage of the famous collector.