At last Tretyakov opens

By Chris Graeme

Left: Andrei Rublyov's icon "The Trinity" Right: Kasimir Malevich's "Haymaking"

Finally, after being closed for ten years for reconstruction, Russia's most important art gallery has reopened.

The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow houses the best collection of Russian painting, from 13th century icons to early 20th century avant-garde, in the world.

And the frustrating wait has certainly proved worth it. The new buildings and reconstructed existing ones have been transformed into what can only be described as a palace.

The entrance hall is clad from top to bottom in marble of various shades while modern but stylish chandeliers bathe visitors in a spray of golden light.

The 56 or so galleries have been gutted and redone with inlaid polished wooden floors, which explains why visitors have to go through the torturous procedure of skating along in ill-fitting felt slippers to prevent the floors being damaged.

So what have we been missing out on for so long? If you visit this museum you'll need at least half a day. It's simply vast.

The Tretyakov Gallery collection now boasts more than 100,000 works and is divided into several historical sections: old Russian art of the 11th to 17th centuries which includes icons, sculptures and minor and applied arts.

Then there are the paintings from the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries (5,000 works) and paintings from the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century (about 7,000 works).

Also, Russian graphic art of the 18th to early 20th centuries, including drawings, watercolors, pastels and engravings (more than 30,000); Russian sculpture (1,000 pieces). A collection of furniture, applied arts and a huge collection of post-revolutionary painting are located in the Crimea Embankment annex.

With so much to see it's easy to become exhausted and fail to notice outstanding examples of Russian painting. I have chosen five examples which, if nothing else, should be given consideration.

Firstly Andrei Rublyov's icon "The Trinity," painted some time during the 1420s. Rublyov can be called the most renowned painter of old Russia. His name is mentioned often in chronicles and his manner of icon painting was highly esteemed and was already considered the best by the 16th century.

His famous "Trinity" was dedicated to the memory of the great champion of Russian unity, St Sergius of Radonezh, and is the all-embodied symbol of the ideals of spiritual unity, love and self-sacrifice.

Alexander Ivanov's "The Appearance of Christ to the People" is a breathtakingly huge canvas painted between 1837-57. With its luminescent , it is an image not so much of the miracle of Christ's appearance as to the miracle of the moral transformation of people from different social levels.

Victor Vasentsov's charming painting "Alyonushka" (1881) has echoes of both the Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic movements in art. A beautiful girl in a dream-like state is seen staring into a pond, while Repin's realistic "Religious Procession in Kursk" (1880-3) is bold, vivid and makes a strong statement about Russia's spiritual faith.

Lastly, Vasily Kandinsky's "Composition No. 7," painted in 1913, is a pure expression of energetic color in vibrant reds, yellows and greens which can only be called primitive in its execution.

And if you're not finished off by all that walking or rather sliding through the endless galleries, you may have the energy to make it to one of the two restaurants or the coffee bar on the ground floor, which look considerably better than the food they serve! The new Tretyakov Gallery gives us an extremely full and broad picture of Russian art from medieval times to today which in itself is an education.