‘What is a portrait? You have to attain not only an absolute physical likeness…but you need to express the inner world of the particular person you are painting.’ So Alexander Shilov described his life work as contemporary Russia’s most celebrated portrait painter in an interview posted on the gallery’s website. Known for his startling realism, the artist provides great insight into his subjects, with some high-level political figures among them.

Transportation

  • metro: Biblioteka imeni Lenina

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Vladimir I Statue

0.1 MILES

In 2016 Vladimir Putin unveiled a new monument dedicated to his namesake Vladimir I, ruler of Kyivan Rus from 980 to 1015. At 17m high, the massive statue…

2. Museum of Private Collections

0.13 MILES

Next door to the main building of the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, this smaller museum shows off art collections donated by private individuals, many of whom…

3. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

0.18 MILES

This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, split over three branches and showing off a broad selection of European works, including masterpieces from…

4. Borovitskaya Tower

0.2 MILES

Use the Kremlin entrance at Borovitskaya Tower if you intend to skip the churches and visit only the Armoury or Diamond Fund.

5. Glazunov Gallery

0.21 MILES

This elaborate Russian Empire–style mansion, opposite the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, houses a gallery dedicated to the work of Soviet and post-Soviet…

6. 19th & 20th Century Art Gallery

0.22 MILES

This branch of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts contains a famed assemblage of French Impressionist works, based on the collections of two well-known…

7. Diamond Fund Exhibition

0.22 MILES

If the Armoury hasn’t sated your lust for diamonds, there is more in the Diamond Fund Exhibition. The fund dates back to 1719, when Peter the Great…

8. Armoury

0.23 MILES

The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…

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