Samara Art Museum, Art museum in central Samara, Russia

The Samara Art Museum is an art museum in Samara, Russia. Its collection began with canvases by Samara painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and works by Russian masters of the early 1900s, and it now holds Russian art of the 18th and 19th centuries, Russian painting and graphics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a prized collection of early 20th-century Russian avant-garde, and Soviet art of the 1920s to 1970s.

The museum was founded in 1897, growing out of a small private collection that expanded steadily over the following decades. It became one of the largest art institutions in the Russian regions outside Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

The museum grew from a collection begun by the painter Konstantin Golovkin (1871–1925) together with other Samara painters, and canvases by local artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries formed its first holdings. Today the rooms hold Russian painting and graphic art from the 18th to the early 20th century, a prized collection of early Russian avant-garde, and Soviet art of the 1920s–1970s. Temporary exhibitions bring in works from other Russian and foreign museums.

The museum runs permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions throughout the year, so it is worth checking what is on before your visit. The rooms are well labeled, making it easy to move through on your own without a guide.

The museum runs a branch in Shiryaevo village, where painter Ilya Repin lived while working on some of his most famous paintings. The branch sits outside the city along the Volga and can be reached by ferry, making the trip there an experience on its own.