In the Meshchansky District of Moscow, among modern panel apartment buildings and dense trees, stands a fairy-tale terem. This is the house museum of Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov – the great Russian painter and folklorist. The link provides interesting facts from the artist's biography:
The house was built in 1894 to Vasnetsov's designs and became one of the city's first architectural landmarks in the neo-Russian style. The terem's interior decoration was also kept in the traditions of ancient Russian architecture.
V.M. Vasnetsov House Museum. 1927.
Viktor Vasnetsov with his wife and children on the terrace of the house in Troitsky Lane. Moscow. 1897.
Viktor Mikhaylovich lived in the house with his wife and children. The ground floor of the house contained the living rooms, and the artist's studio was located on the second floor. The house has preserved its authentic historical interior. In the living room — the main room of the house — there is a large table with an antique tabletop bought by Vasnetsov himself in a curiosity shop. Around the table are chairs made by craftsmen from Abramtsevo. Another attraction of the living room is the wooden buffet-terem, made by the artist's brother and an outstanding woodcarver, Arkady Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov. A wooden spiral staircase leads from the living room to the studio.
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov in the studio of his house. 1912–1913.
The large, light studio became the realization of the artist's long-held dream. It was here that the paintings 'Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible' (1897) and 'The Bogatyrs' (1881–1898) were created. The entrance to the studio is guarded by a portrait of the angel of silence, drawn in charcoal on the wall to maintain quiet and calm. The house-museum houses such famous canvases by the artist as 'Baba Yaga', 'The Varangians', 'The Bogatyr's Leap', 'Nestor the Chronicler', 'The Frog Princess', 'The Fight of Dobrynya Nikitich with the Seven-Headed Dragon Gorynych', 'Portrait of M. V. Nesterov', 'The Flying Carpet', 'Archangel Michael Overthrows the Devil', 'Tsarevna Nesmeyana', 'Koschei the Deathless', 'Sivka-Burka', 'The Sleeping Princess'.
Living room
Dining room
After Viktor Vasnetsov's death in 1926, the artist's relatives decided to turn the house into a museum. The artist's son, Alexei Vasnetsov, wrote:
"Our house became empty — as if the soul had flown out of it — everything here was his, bore his imprint — it was terrifying to touch anything, to change anything. Our common decision was to preserve everything as it was — to arrange something like a house-museum..."
The creation of the museum was delayed due to bureaucratic problems. During the Great Patriotic War, Vasnetsov's relatives did everything possible to protect the house and the master's artistic legacy: they rolled up large canvases, stored smaller ones in boxes, and took turns standing guard outside, fearing bombings. In 1948 an exhibition dedicated to the centenary of Viktor Vasnetsov's birth opened. In 1950 the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued an order to organize a museum in the house. The house had seriously deteriorated during the war, so almost immediately after the order a major renovation of the house began, including restoration of the lost fence and terrace, and restoration of furniture and paintings. The artist's relatives donated the premises, property, and art collection to the state museum. Since 1986 the house museum has been part of the State Tretyakov Gallery.
