a small collection of sculpture (9 sculptures by 1893). At first the gallery was located in Tretyakov's house in Lavrushenski pereulok. But as his collection expanded he decided to reconstruct his house to accommodate it. In 1870-1880 the house was reconstructed a number of times by the architect Kaminski. Tretyakov wanted to transfer the gallery to the city as discreetly as possible, without any fuss; he didn't want to be in the centre of general attention and an object of gratitude. But this was not possible and he was very dissatisfied. From 1881 his gallery became popular (by 1885 it was visited by about 30 thousand people). In 1892 Tretyakov inherited a collection of Western European painting from his brother and placed it in two halls of the western school. The collection in Tretyakov's gallery was equal in importance with the largest museums in Russia at that time, and became one of sights of Moscow. In August 1892 Tretyakov donated his collection and a private residence to Moscow. By then in the collection there were 1287 pictures and 518 graphics of the Russian school, 75 pictures and 8 figures of the West-European school, 15 sculptures and a collections of icons. On 15 August 1893 the official opening of a museum under the name "Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov City art gallery" (nowadays Tretyakov Gallery) took place. By 1890 it was visited by up to 150 thousand people annually. Tretyakov continued to build up his collection, for example, in 1894 he donated a gallery of 30 pictures, 12 figures and a marble statue “The Christian martyrs“ works by M.M. Antokolski. He was also involved in studying the collection, and from 1893 he produced its catalogue. Other work Apart from engaging in collecting, Tretyakov was active in charity. Charity for him was as natural as the creation of a national gallery. He was an honorary member of the Society of Collectors of the Applied Arts and of the Musical Society from the dates of their foundations. He granted large amounts of money to these organizations, supporting all their educational undertakings. He supported an initiative to help the families of soldiers who died during the Crimean and Russo-Turkish War. He established grants in commercial schools in Moscow and Alexandrovskoe. He never refused monetary help to artists and others, and carefully looked after the affairs of painters who without fear entrusted their savings to him.