National Museum of Art of Moldova
The country's main art collection, in a Bernardazzi-designed former girls' gymnasium and neighbouring villas.
Founded on 26 November 1939 by the sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală and the painter Auguste Baillayre, who became its first director, the National Museum of Art of Moldova grew out of an effort to keep Bessarabia's artistic heritage together. It is now the country's largest art collection, with tens of thousands of works in painting, sculpture, graphic art, decorative art and icons. The museum occupies a group of listed buildings on Strada 31 August 1989, the largest of which is the former girls' gymnasium founded by Princess Natalia Dadiani and designed by the architect Alexander Bernardazzi.
The permanent display moves from medieval Bessarabian icons and church silver through nineteenth-century Russian and Romanian painting to the Moldovan artists of the twentieth century, including Alexandru Plămădeală, Claudia Cobizev and Ada Zevin. Western European holdings include Flemish and Dutch painting and prints, among them works by Jacob Jordaens and Albrecht Dürer, and there is a notable group of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. A second department occupies the Herța House, an urban villa close to Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare, and temporary shows run throughout the year.
Highlights
- Former Dadiani girls' gymnasium designed by Alexander Bernardazzi
- Medieval Bessarabian icons and liturgical silver
- Flemish and Dutch works, including Jordaens and Dürer prints
- Japanese ukiyo-e prints by Hiroshige, Kunisada and Yoshitoshi
