Yuri Luzhkov believes that the Tretyakov Gallery should be returned to the city

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov believes that the State Tretyakov Gallery should be held by the city.

“Pavel Tretyakov is the creator of the gallery, which gave it to the city. I think it should be returned to the city,” Luzhkov said on Friday at the ceremony of the Honorary Citizen of Moscow to the General Director of the House Building Plant N1 Vladimir Kopelev. It is reported by "Interfax."

Pavel Tretyakov handed over his collection of paintings along with the collection of his brother Sergei as a gift to the city of Moscow in 1892. Soon, at a meeting of the Moscow City Duma, the gift of the Tretyakov brothers was officially accepted. The collection included 1287 picturesque works, 518 drawings, 9 sculptural works of Russian artists, 75 paintings and 8 drawings of foreign masters.

This gift was estimated at 1,429,000 rubles. In recognition of huge merits to the capital, Tretyakov was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Moscow".

In June 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was declared state property of the Russian Federal Soviet Republic. From that moment on, the museum became known as the State Tretyakov Gallery.