The collection of icons in the Novokuznetsk Art Museum began to form in the late 1980s. Most of the exhibits were obtained by the museum staff during expeditions to the villages of the Kuznetsky district, some were purchased from collectors.
For several centuries, people brought icons to Siberia from various parts of the country. The icons in the collection are heterogeneous in terms of artistic skill and style. In them, one can notice the peculiarities of Moscow, Novgorod, Stroganov and other schools of icon painting. These icons are rather modern, that is, painted mainly in the late 19th — early 20th century. Russian icon painting of this period is a new and almost unexplored area for researchers.
The presented works of famous artists make it possible to trace the history of Russian art from the 1700s to the 1950s. The exhibition is rich and diverse in its content: it includes paintings by artists of the academic school, and artworks by those who lived through one of the most dramatic periods of Russian history.
Exhibits are marked with AR stickers for identification purposes.