Moscow Guide
The Beliy Gorod
The Gallery of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American Art
Address: Volhkana 14, across the road from the main Pushkin building
Opening time: Tues– Sun 10am–7pm, Thurs open til 9pm
Price: R250
In the early 1900s, the Moscow millionaires Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov bought scores of paintings by Picasso, Matisse and the French Impressionists, which now form the core of the modern European art collections of the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum. The latter's collection of French Impressionists is concentrated in a new Gallery of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American Art.
Fine works by Monet include Luncheon on the Grass, The Rocks of Belle-Ille, foggy views of the River Thames and Rouen Cathedral at Sunset (one of a series that captured the changing light on the cathedral's facade throughout the day). You can also see landscapes and Parisian street scenes by Pissarro; vivid pastels by Degas, such as Ballet Rehearsal and Dancers in Blue; and a Portrait of Yvette Guilbert by Toulouse-Lautrec, who often sketched this chanteuse at the Moulin Rouge. The museum's large collection of works by Renoir includes various portraits of actresses and a gorgeous plump nude known as "The Pearl", while small versions of The Burghers of Calais and The Kiss are numbered among its sculptures by Rodin.