Kinoteatr Khudozhestvenny, Movie theater in Arbat District, Moscow, Russia

Kinoteatr Khudozhestvenny stands on Arbat Square at house 14, its flat-roofed facade carrying the yellow capital letters "КИНО ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫЙ" above a recessed entrance framed by two pilasters with wall lanterns. The grey stone building has a projecting left section with a semicircular chariot relief above a doorway marked "ВЫХОД", and raised metal letters reading "ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫЙ ЭЛЕКТРО-ТЕАТР". Tall rectangular windows with pale trim run along the lower right facade.

The building opened in 1909 and underwent its first major renovation three years later by Fyodor Schechtel, who expanded the auditorium to hold up to 900 people. After 1917 it became a venue for Soviet film premieres, including early sound productions and works by well-known directors.

The name "Khudozhestvenny" means "artistic", and the original 1909 name was "Khudozhestvenny Electro-Theatre". Before the revolution the hall drew mainly Moscow's intelligentsia, with a foyer fountain, palms and an orchestra playing before screenings. In 2009 a monument to the first ticket holder, a man in 1909 dress holding a cup of tea, was installed in the foyer.

The cinema sits at Arbatskaya Square 14 and is easily reached via the metro station of the same name. The four halls show current releases and retrospectives throughout the year, with evening screenings often drawing larger crowds.

In 1955 the antique chariot moulding was removed from the facades and the name "Artistic Electrotheater" taken down; the semicircular chariot relief above the exit doorway is what visitors see today. In the foyer stands a monument to the first ticket holder, a man in 1909 dress holding a cup of tea, devised by Anna Pendrakovskaya and made by glass artist Fidail Ibragimov. Brick-laid passages found in the basement have no known origin.