The Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts named after Valery Karpov is the only Russian museum that specializes in engravings and drawings. Its collection comprises 16,000 works and includes “Penitent Mary Magdalene with Her Sister Martha” by Peter Paul Rubens as well as a study for his painting “The Entombment” that had been kept in the State Hermitage Museum until 1976.
The museum was established as an exhibition hall on January 3, 1972. Its founder was Valery Andreyevich Karpov, an honored cultural worker of the Russian Federation. In 1991, the exhibition hall was transformed into the Irbit Municipal Art Museum. In December 1995, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation recognized its collection as a “national treasure”. In 1997, the museum became known as the Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts.
The museum consists of three branches. The first branch is dedicated to the Ural art of the 20th century; it houses a large collection of decorative, applied, and fine arts. The second one is the only specialized museum of engraving and drawing in Russia, known for rare works by artists from Russia and abroad. The third building is both a museum and exhibition complex and an educational center, which, apart from temporary exhibitions, offers lectures, concerts, and movie screenings.
