Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts − one of the most significant art museums in the Urals – was founded in 1936.
Its collection was originally based on that of the LocalHistoryMuseum, which in turn received it from historic Ural Society of Natural History (UOLE). Later on, the collection was enriched with transfers from State Hermitage, Tretyakov Gallery, State Museum of Fine Arts named after Pushkin, as well as donations from private collections and national purchase commissions.
Today EMFA is a major cultural center, conducting exhibiting, educational, research and collecting activities. It is also the methodological source for art schools and institutions in the Middle Urals.
The museum collection contains unique art pieces of the national and global importance, including Russian icon painting of the 17-20th century, 18-early 20th century Russian art, 14-19th century western European art, 1910-1920s Russian avant-garde, Russian modern and contemporary art, as well as decorative and applied arts.
EMFA preserves the largest in Russia collection of the Kasli iron cast works, centered around the Kasli iron cast pavilion created by local craftsmen with project by St. Petersburg architect E. E. Baumgarten for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900.
INTERESTING FACT
One of the kind Kasli iron cast pavilion was designed especially for one the first World’ Fairs in Paris in 1900, where it won the Grand-Prix and the Grand golden medal. All together the pavilion is composed of more than 1500 unique iron cast details and sculptures, it weighs about 20 tons. In 1978 the unique pavilion was registered by UNESCO as the world's only architectural structure made ??of cast iron and located in a museum collection.