Minsk. The National Art Museum.

The official history of the museum begins on January 24, 1939 – in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Council of People's Commissars of the BSSR, the State Art Gallery of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (GKG BSSR) was established in Minsk. It is located in fifteen halls of the building of the Higher Communist Agricultural School, the former pre–revolutionary building of the Minsk Women's Gymnasium at 29 K. Marx Street (currently a memorial plaque is installed on the building). In addition to the departments of painting, sculpture and graphics, an art industry department was organized in the Gallery by a special decree.

The Gallery's art collection is based on works from the fine art departments of the historical museums of Minsk, Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel. Several works from their collections were donated by the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Hermitage Museum. The collection of the new gallery also includes works by famous Russian Soviet artists.

After the reunification of the Western Belarusian lands with the BSSR in September 1939, the Art Gallery received works from the nationalized estates and castles of Western Belarus, including part of the collection of the Palace of Princes Radziwill in Nesvizh. Thus, the collection was replenished with a rich collection of Slutsk belts, French tapestries of the XVIII century, portrait paintings of the XVI–XIX centuries.

However, the rich collection of the art gallery in Minsk was destined for a short life. In the early days of the war, the fate of the entire assembly was tragic. In a short time, it will disappear without a trace. The collection was being prepared for evacuation, but they did not have time to take it out. By September 1941, the collection of the art gallery was practically lost.

After the war, despite the devastation, the Government of the republic allocated considerable funds for the restoration of the Gallery and the purchase of new works. Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of the few first employees, the selfless activity of the new director of the Gallery, Elena Vasilyevna Aladova, the museum literally "rose from the ashes" in a short time.

The construction of the Art Gallery with ten spacious halls spread over two floors was completed in 1957. The building of architect M. Baklanov became one of the first museum buildings in the history of Soviet architecture. The collection was actively replenished, including through the help of Russian museums, private collections, and scientific expeditions.

Nowadays, the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus is the largest stock and exposition repository of art objects in the country. In particular, the world's largest collection of works of Belarusian art is presented here. To date, the number of works in all collections and collections is 37,000 units from more than 132 countries and about 12 centuries of human history.