National Gallery of Armenia
Armenia's largest fine art museum, rising over Republic Square with more than 42,000 works.
The gallery grew out of the art section of the State Museum founded in 1921 and became an independent institution in 1935, taking its present name after independence. It shares the tall block on the north side of Republic Square with the History Museum of Armenia; the building follows Alexander Tamanian's square plan and was completed in 1977 under Mark Grigoryan, its upper storeys rising above the arcaded museum base and giving the square its closing vertical accent.
The collection runs to more than 42,000 items and is arranged over several floors, with Armenian painting and sculpture from the medieval period onwards, a Russian section and a room of Western European work. Hovhannes Aivazovsky, Martiros Saryan, Vardges Sureniants, Minas Avetisyan and Arshile Gorky are all represented, alongside pieces by Kandinsky, Chagall and others. Temporary exhibitions and retrospectives of Armenian artists run through the year on the lower floors.
Highlights
- Seascapes by Hovhannes Aivazovsky
- Armenian modern painting including Saryan and Avetisyan
- Russian and Western European rooms with Kandinsky and Chagall
- Tower block completed in 1977 on Republic Square
