Smirnov’s Museum

About us

Open daily except on Saturday and Sunday: 11.00-18.00
In 1975 the Museum of Art was opened in the house of A. O. Smirnova-Rosset who was the maid of honor of the Empress Maria Feodorovna. A. O. Smirnova-Rosset was well in with Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Zhukovsky, Krylov, Turgenev, Shchepkin and composer Mikhail Glinka, P. Merimee, F. Liszt, Alexandre Dumas and A. Mickiewicz. She was constantly surrounded by many great poets and painters, writers and composers of the XIX century's Russia. Originally the museum was known as the House of literary links and Pushkin's memorial due to the efforts of the latter Smirnov who was the famous philologist. In 2010 its status of the public organization was changed to the level of State Museum. The museum is situated in a mansion designed by the German architect O. Simson.

The collection includes plenty of family treasures like Russian and Western European decorative arts of XVIII-XX centuries. But first of all, this is a museum of Pushkin's age. It has a collection of paintings and drawings, sculptures and lithographs, literary manuscripts and documents, photographs and antique editions. Among the paintings there are works of V. K. Winterhalter, Ivan Aivazovsky, F. Kruger and other artists. The museum has many valuable items of art furniture. Among the exhibits you can see the Pushkin's gentleman of the monarch hat, carved dressing table made by Peter the Great as well as his crucifix and a compass, a silver snuffbox of Catherine the Great. The piano that was played by Tchaikovsky is extant item as well.

Also museum has a collection of personal belongings of many intellectual personalities of Georgia and Russia who repeatedly visited this house as the guests. Among the personalities there are G. Orbeliani, I. Chavchavadze, A. Tsereteli, D. Eristavi, P. Tchaikovsky, V. Veresayev, G. and T. Tabidze, G. Leonidze, N. Dumbadze, B. Okudzhava, V. Solouhin, B. Akhmadulina, A. Voznesensky.