Sergey Merkurov House-Museum, Sculptor's house-museum in Gyumri, Armenia

The Sergey Merkurov House-Museum is housed in a 19th-century residential building and contains approximately 3000 items from the works and personal life of the renowned Soviet sculptor. The collection includes sculptures, personal belongings, and an extensive archive documenting Merkurov's artistic practice from his early years through his later career.

The house was built in 1869 by the sculptor's grandfather, Fyodor Merkurov. In 1950 Sergey Merkurov, as sole heir, donated it to the city. The idea of a museum arose in 1977 at a meeting of city officials and art historian Henrik Igityan; it opened in 1984. Damaged in the 1988 earthquake, it was restored in 2003 with support from the Lincy Foundation.

The museum displays death masks of Soviet leaders that Merkurov created throughout his career, representing a distinctive form of artistic documentation from that era. These masks allow visitors today to encounter historical figures in a direct and tangible way.

The museum stands on Haghtanak Avenue, next to the Museum of Folk Architecture and Urban Life of Gyumri, in the city centre. The 2003 Lincy Foundation repairs left the building vulnerable to groundwater, so conditions inside can be damp. The 1988 earthquake damaged the house and people lived in it afterwards.

The museum holds 30 posthumous masks and 13 sculptures, not 300 masks. Among the masks are Hovhannes Tumanyan, Khrimian Hayrik, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya. Merkurov was born in this house in 1881.