Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts has a collection of over 700,000 paintings and sculptures. Most are of Western European origin ranging from masters to contemporary artists. It also exhibits an impressive array of ancient artifacts and art from Greece, Italy, Southwest Asia and Egypt. The museum was founded by Ivan Tsvetaev and named after Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin was an early 19th century poet and considered to be the father of Russian literature. The building was designed by Roman Klein, financed by glassware businessman Yury Nechaev-Maltsov and opened in 1912.
