The State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin, known as the Pushkin Museum, is a Moscow museum of foreign art. It was founded in 1912 by Professor Ivan Tsvetaev of Moscow University. The museum building, designed in a neoclassical style and resembling an ancient temple, was created by architect Roman Klein. Originally, the museum was intended as an educational institution, but after the 1917 revolution, it became the State Museum of Fine Arts. In 1937, it was named after the poet Alexander Pushkin. By 2018, the museum's collection included over 700,000 exhibits, including casts of ancient statues, works of art, archaeological finds, as well as items from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome.

The idea of creating a museum of fine arts was discussed by cultural figures since the early 19th century, but its realization was postponed due to lack of funding. In 1894, Professor Ivan Tsvetaev, the father of poetess Marina Tsvetaeva, proposed to create an educational museum based on the 'Cabinet of Fine Arts' he established in 1848 at Moscow University. The new museum was to showcase the development of art from Antiquity to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. On March 12, 1898, Tsvetaev presented the project to Emperor Nicholas II, who approved it and allocated 200,000 rubles for construction. Upon learning of the emperor's approval, many investors also began to contribute. The Yusupov princes funded the Roman Hall, and architect Fyodor Shekhtel created a copy of the Pergamon Altar. Merchant Varvara Alexeeva allocated about 150,000 rubles on the condition that the museum would bear the name of Alexander III.

The foundation of the museum was laid at the end of 1898 in the presence of Nicholas II and his family. On the same day, the Committee for the Establishment of the Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander III was created. The first chairman was Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and the deputy was industrialist Yuri Nechaev-Maltsov, the museum's main sponsor. His contributions included marble and granite cladding, a white marble colonnade, a portico with friezes, and the decoration of the central staircase with multicolored Hungarian marble. The 'White Hall' is adorned with a blue frieze and a copper door. The first gift from a patron was a twenty-meter frieze, a copy of the mosaics of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. To extract white marble in the Urals, Nechaev-Maltsov hired 300 workers. When it became clear that the columns for the portico could not be made in Russia, he ordered them from Norway and organized their delivery to Moscow.

On May 31, 2012, the Pushkin Museum celebrated its 100th anniversary, for which medals and a postage stamp were issued. In 2013, a second competition was held for the construction of new buildings and the reconstruction of the main museum building, which was won by architect Yuri Grigoryan. According to his project, the area from the 'Kropotkinskaya' metro station to 'Borovitskaya Square' will be transformed into a museum space. A brass map with landmarks is planned to be installed, as well as the inclusion of more than 29 new buildings for expanded exhibitions. The completion of the reconstruction is scheduled for 2023.