The museum was opened in 1960 on the basis of a part of the collection of the Karelian museum of Local Lore. It is located in the historical center of the city in the building of XVIII century.
The foundations of the collection are the works of Russian fine arts: iconography and the works of modern artists of Karelia. There are works by F. Rokotov, F. Shubin, I. Aivazovskiy, I. Shishkin, V. Polenov, I. Levitan in the museum. The canvases made by the Empress Maria Fedorovna, the mother of the last Russian emperor, are unique.
There are also the works of the authors of the late XX century in the museum. These are A. Rylov, P. Konchalovskiy, E. Moiseenko and M. Tsybasov, whose creative development was closely connected with Karelia during the prewar time.
The arts collection of Karelia also includes the works of V.Popov, G.Stronk, S.Juntunen, T.Jufa, A.Morozov and others.
The staff of the museum has gathered a unique collection of icons of XV-XIX centuries, national embroidery, wooden arts and so on. The number of units of issue is about 10 thousand.
Address: 8, Karl Marks Str.
Phone: (814-2) 78-37-13
Web: www.artmuseum.karelia.ru
