Nevzorov Family Regional Museum of Fine Arts

The Nevzorov Family Regional Museum of Fine Arts in the Abay region was founded in Semey in 1985 and is one of the largest collections of art treasures in Kazakhstan. The museum's collection is relatively small, with more than 5,500 works of art, but it is significant that, in terms of its composition and artistic merit, it is of great interest to both specialists and a wide range of art lovers.

A special place in the museum's collecting activities is occupied by the acquisition of a collection of Kazakhstani fine art. From the very first days of its existence, the museum established ties with the country's leading artists and art historians, enabling it to assemble a collection that adequately represents the contemporary fine art of our republic and includes more than 2,500 exhibits. Among them are works by outstanding masters such as A. Kasteyev, S. Kalmykov, S. Mambiyev, S. Aitbayev, E. Tolepbay, G. Ismailova, K. Shayakhmetov, E. Sidorkin and many others.

The exhibition provides a fairly comprehensive overview of the development of Russian art in the late 18th and early 20th centuries by the leading masters of their time: K. Bryullov, S. Shchedrin, V. Tropinin, A. Venetsianov, A. Bogolyubov, L. Lagorio, A. Meshchersky, I. Shishkin, A. Savrasov, I. Kramskoy, I. Levitan, K. Korovin, M. Dobuzhinsky, and many others. This was made possible primarily by an unprecedented event in the history of Kazakhstani museums, which took place in 1988: a gift from the Nevzorov family. Yuli Vladimirovich Nevzorov, his wife, Antonina Mikhailovna, and their daughter, Yulia Yuliyevna, donated more than 500 works of Russian, Soviet, and foreign art to the Semipalatinsk Museum. In 1991, the museum was named after the Nevzorov family, and in 1995, for his great contribution to the development of culture in Kazakhstan, Y.V. Nevzorov was awarded the Parasat Order by the government.

The small section of Western European painting and graphics from the late 17th to early 20th centuries is also of considerable interest. The museum's exhibition concludes with 20th century art from the CIS countries - Russia, Central Asia, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus and others.

The museum staff conduct extensive research and publish work on the museum's collections.

The museum's educational activities extend beyond the Abay region. Exhibitions from the museum's collection have been held in Astana and in the major cities of Almaty, Pavlodar, Oskemen, Petropavlovsk, and others. The museum has a lecture hall, a children's art studio, an art lovers' club, a series of drawing classes for adults called “Learning to Draw”, and classical music evenings are held in the concert hall. The museum has a restoration workshop where paintings are conserved and restored.

The museum is located in a complex of buildings, the earliest of which was built by the Sevypala-Tyn merchant of the First Guild, Fyodor Stepanov, in the 1870s. Construction was completed in the 1910s. The interiors of the old building perfectly match the museum's feel, creating an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.