In the summer of 1880, the first public art gallery named after Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was opened in Crimea. At that time, it became the third publicly accessible cultural venue in Russia after the Hermitage and the Rumyantsev Museum. The building was designed by the artist himself, and the exhibition was housed in a small annex hall. After his death, the building was transferred to the city's care. Today, the museum is one of the main attractions of Feodosia and serves as a scientific center.

The exhibition includes 416 paintings by Aivazovsky and other masters, as well as archival photographs, documents, and household items related to the life of the great artist. The collection contains over eleven thousand exhibits in total. Nine exhibition halls are located in the buildings "Villa Maestro" and "Sister's House." The Aivazovsky Gallery in Feodosia hosts music festivals, classical music concerts, international conferences, lectures, exhibitions, and screenings of documentary films.

One of the most mysterious exhibits is Aivazovsky's painting "On the Death of Alexander III." It is kept in a secret room without daylight and is accessible for viewing only as part of a guided group of up to 10 people. The artist himself found the image in the painting frightening and decided to hide it from the public.

Since 1925, the gallery's collection has been constantly replenished, including paintings by Western artists, and the exhibition space has expanded. In the 1920s and 30s, the first guidebook and monograph on Aivazovsky were published here.

During the Great Patriotic War, the gallery was evacuated to Yerevan, where it continued to operate until the liberation of Crimea. Director Basramov played a key role in preserving the collection by sending it to Armenia despite an order to send the exhibits to Stalingrad. After the collection returned to the devastated city, restoration work was carried out, and in the spring of 1946, the Aivazovsky House in Feodosia reopened to visitors.

An interesting story is associated with the bust of Aivazovsky by sculptor Bernshtam. During the evacuation, it was lost in the port but was found by the military and sent to the front as part of the property of Major Chernyshev's unit. After the war, the bust was returned to the gallery.

In the renovated museum building, new spaces were created: a memorial hall and a lecture hall. In the 1980s, the Aivazovsky House was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and in 2001, the gallery received national status. The Feodosia Museum has survived many complex historical events but continues its work to this day.