The Karelian Museum of fine arts is located in the historic centre of Petrozavodsk, on the Kirov square (formerly known as Cathedral square) in the 17th century. Over the years, this building housed: Olonets school, public school, Public library, School of culture and the Palace of pioneers. Symbolic is the fact that it was in this building that is so imbued with the spiritual atmosphere, began its work in 1960 the famous Museum of fine arts of the Republic of Karelia.

The Museum collection was formed in the 30-ies of the 19th century. The first exposition of the Museum (1838,) was called "Muzeum" and included more than three hundred items presented product samples and products iron foundry art casting of the Alexander factory.

In 1905 opened the first solo exhibition Karelian, which is represented by landscapes of Petrozavodsk and numerous portraits of the townspeople, written by A. V. Rosenboom. Closer to 1930, the citizens began to raise the question of establishing an art Museum in Petrozavodsk. The historical Museum was United in itself all the collections of the city.

The Museum has been continuously improved and updated for quite a long time. But because of this, the work of collecting historical monuments on Karelian territory led to the acceleration of the decision of a question on creation of the Museum of fine arts, which began its work on 20 October 1960.

The Museum features many interesting collections. A collection of Ancient art brought international fame Museum. It contains works of iconography, which has about 2,500 copies. The collection is the Foundation of iconography from the 15th to 19th centuries, which was almost completely assembled in the territory of Karelia.

Collection "Russian art 18 – the beginnings of 20 centuries" presents a graphical, pictorial, sculptural works, numbering more than six hundred exhibits. The largest part of the collection came from the Russian Museum, the Hermitage and the Tretyakov gallery in the early 1960-ies. Most valuable in this section are canvases by I. Levitan, I. Shishkin, K. Korovin, A. Bogolyubov.

Collection "the Art of Karelia of the 20th century" includes more than 3 thousand exhibits of drawing, painting, sculpture, decorative and scenic painting. The collection reflects the historical development of visual arts of the Karelian Republic. In the Museum of fine art is not only collected, but also carefully crafted from a scientific point of view unique collection, which give information about the art and traditions of this region.

The collection of "Foreign art" began to emerge with a small group of works by artists who came from lies in 1960. Later this collector's edition complements the sculptural and pictorial works received from the state Russian Museum and the Hermitage. The brightest ornament of the collection are works of artists from the Netherlands 16-17 centuries – Michel van Cocci and Jan van der Heyden. Of great interest is the collection of European porcelain manufactories of Sevres and Meissen.

Collection "Russian art of the 20th century" four thousand works, which were created by the hands of skilled craftsmen in St. Petersburg, Moscow and many other cities. Interest in the work of artists 1920-1930-ies has allowed the Museum to collect the material, which reflected the complex process of the development of art in Russia. In the collection were highlighted a little-known names, as well as a unique phenomenon. The pride of the collection: works of Tatiana Glebova, Pavel Kondratiev, Michael Tsybasova – they were all disciples of the largest and best-known representative of the avant-garde in Russia in the early 20th century.

In addition, the Museum of fine arts of Karelia has still a considerable amount of collector's editions. Excursions in the Museum are conducted by professional staff that will help you fully familiarize yourself with existing and new museums, learn a lot, more deeply immersed in the world of art.