Top-10 private museums of Moscow

Continuing a series of publications on cultural and historical sites of Russia, the experts of the Information agency Credinform analyzed museums of Moscow.

In the first part of the ranking, the revenues of TOP-10 private museums of Saint Petersburg were examined.

Experimentanium Science Museum with the highest revenue (186,6 million RUB) is the first in the ranking. The museum provides an interactive exhibition covering all basic fields of science. The visitors can learn in detail not only about electricity, but also about acoustics, magnetism, optics and space.

Garage is ranked the second by revenue (125,1million RUB). It is the first philanthropic institution in Russia to create a comprehensive public mandate for contemporary art. Every year the museum hosts major exhibition projects, as well as retrospectives of the best Russian and foreign artists.

The Living Systems is the third (99,1 million RUB). The museum reveals the secrets of the most complex question about the nature and the structure of living organisms. Unfortunately, the museum is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout Russia from April to May 2020. Currently, an investor and a new exhibition space are being searched for.

Museum Collection is ranked the fourth (95,9 million RUB). The museum collects over 20 thousand musical carriers and instruments: music boxes, gramophones, accordions, barrel organs, organs, etc. Today the museum has one of the largest private collections in the world.

Then follows the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center (76,9 million RUB). It is a cultural and educational project dedicating to the history of the Jewish community in Russia since the middle of the 18th century. In addition, it helps people of different cultures, religions and worldviews to communicate with each other. This center is the first of its kind in Russia.

Bunker 42 is the sixth (59,9million RUB). The Military History Museum located at a depth of 65 meters. Former the USSR military-tactical bunker, it was designed to protect against atomic bombings. By the order of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the defense building had to be located in the center of Moscow near the Kremlin. From 1954 to 1986, the bunker was used by the Soviet military command.

Museum of Russian impressionism (57,1 million RUB) is the seventh in the ranking. The museum exhibits works by Russian impressionists. The main exposition includes paintings by the prominent artists Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov, Stanislav Zhukovsky, Igor Grabar, etc. The museum considers its mission to popularize Russian art in general and its impressionistic component, both in Russia and abroad. For this, it earned the respect of the international museum community and in 2015 became a member of ICOM (International Council of Museums).

Impressionism is one of the areas of painting that appeared in France at the end of the 19th century. The word “impressionism” comes from the French word "impression". The painters opposed the traditions of classicism and realism. They tried to show beauty and convey emotion from a particular moment. It is interesting that the impressionists never use black color and a palette for mixing paints. Sometimes, they squeeze paint from a tube directly onto the canvas and use small strokes instead of the outlines of the depicted objects.

Moscow design museum (30,9 million RUB) is ranked the eighth. It is the first and only design museum in Russia. The museum collects and stores samples of Russian design from the avant-garde to the present day, as well as the most significant developments of Soviet and Russian designers.

Hockey Museum is the ninth in the ranking (13,4 million RUB). It is the first museum in Russia that is dedicated to the history of Soviet and Russian ice hockey.

The last in the ranking is Bulgakov house (12,7 million RUB). The permanent exhibition of the museum is dedicated to the life and work of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov.

The ranking results showed that there are many diverse and unique museums in Moscow as well.