A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts, Almaty

The history of the museum begins in 1935 when the Kazakh art gallery began to work. The gallery's collection included art objects created by Russian and Kazakh, as well as foreign artists. The gallery was named after the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko.

In 1970, the Museum of Folk Applied Art was established in Almaty. The collection was made up of Kazakh items of folk crafts, including the best examples of carpet products. In 1976, the museum collections were merged into one institution - the State Museum of Arts of the Kazakh SSR. At the same time, the entire exposition moved to the room where it is currently located.

The building that houses the museum has been recognized as a cultural monument since 1982 and is under state protection. Two years after the move, the museum received the name of the founder of national painting - the artist A. Kasteev.

The main fund of the Museum of Art contains 25 thousand exhibits. The main exposition is divided into 6 collections:

1. The fine art of Kazakhstan. Among several tens of thousands of objects of fine art: paintings by Kasteev and other Kazakh artists (N. G. Khludov, A. M. Cherkassky, S. I. Kalmykov, B. I. Urmanche and others); sculpture and graphics that introduce visitors to the culture of the country.

2. Decorative and applied art of Kazakhstan. The collection includes samples of Kazakh folk crafts: patterned felt, mat weaving, weaving, jewellery, artistically processed wood and equipment for horses.

3. Russian art. The exposition, representing Russian painting of the 18th–20th centuries, contains paintings by Aivazovsky, Rokotov, Petrov-Vodkin, Tropinin, Shishkin, Kiprensky, Levitsky, Vereshchagin, Kustodiev, Levitan, Borisov-Musatov.

4. Western art. The exhibition includes works by artists from Holland, Italy, England, France and many other countries. In addition to paintings, visitors to the museum can look at the sculptures of Houdon, Kuazevo, as well as other masters.

5. Art of the East. The collection includes not only paintings and graphics from China, India and Korea, but also porcelain vases, figurines and sculptures.

6. Foreign art of the XX century. Here are the works of the XX century, the authorship of which belongs to Plastov, Korin, Konchalovsky, Deineka, Yablonskaya and others.