The Vyatka Art Museum, which became the first art and historical museum in the North and Northeast of Russia, was opened on December 18, 1910 (December 5 in the old style) thanks to the initiative of the famous Russian artists the Vasnetsov brothers. It is located in the mansion of merchant I. Repin, built by architect M. Anisimov in 1815, on Bread Square in Vyatka, which later became known as Constitution Square, and now, Theater Square.

During the Soviet era, the museum changed its name several times. From 1918 it was known as the Vyatka Provincial Museum of Art and Antiquities, from 1924, the Vyatka State Regional Museum, and from 1934, the Kirov Regional Art Museum. In 1936, it briefly bore the name "Kirov State Regional Art Museum" and then became the Art Museum named after Gorky. Only in 1989 did it receive its familiar name in honor of Viktor and Apollinary Vasnetsov. In its history, the museum even lost its independence: from 1931 to 1934, it was part of the Vyatka State Museum Association as an art department.

Since 1992, the museum has been located in a new building built on the site of the former "Coliseum" cinema. Between the two buildings, there is a monument to the Vasnetsov brothers with the inscription "from grateful fellow countrymen," created in 1992 by the People's Artist of Russia Yuri Orekhov and the Honored Architect of the RSFSR Sergey Khadzhibarov.

The museum's collection includes more than 22,000 works, including painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative and applied arts, and folk art. The exhibition is divided into departments.

The Department of Ancient Russian Art includes icon painting from the late 16th to early 20th centuries, small plastic art from the 12th to 16th centuries, carved wooden sculpture from the 16th to 19th centuries, face embroidery from the 16th to early 20th centuries, and liturgical vestments from the 18th to early 20th centuries.

In the artistic section of the exhibition, works by famous artists of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries are presented, among which portraits by Bryullov, Borovikovsky, Shchukin, Tropinin, Venetsianov stand out, as well as landscapes by Shchedrin, Matveev, and Vorobyov.

You can also see paintings by artists of the second half of the 19th century: Perov, Shishkin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Repin, Surikov, and others, including Aivazovsky's masterpiece "Ships in a Stormy Sea."

The section of art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries reflects the fashionable trends of those times, including the creative associations "World of Art" and "Union of Russian Artists," of which Apollinary Vasnetsov was a member. Here, works by Serov, Korovin, Benois, Konchalovsky, Mashkov, and Larionov are also presented. Late painting is represented by works of local Vyatka artists, such as Denishin and Khokhryakov.

The Department of Decorative and Applied Arts and Folk Art includes collections of lacquer miniatures, porcelain, glass, carved bone, Dymkovo toys, samples of fabric and printing. A rich collection of Vyatka crafts and trades is also presented.

All departments are replenished annually, including through the restoration of previously inaccessible monuments of antiquity. In addition to the main exhibition, the museum annually organizes exhibitions in collaboration with the largest museums in Russia, including the Tretyakov Gallery, where masterpieces by Viktor Vasnetsov and works by his brother Apollinary Vasnetsov are stored.

The museum has several branches. In 1963, one hall was transferred to it for traveling exhibitions, and in 1985, after reconstruction, a large exhibition hall opened, where exhibitions of contemporary artists, concerts, and master classes are held. It is located at: Karl Liebknecht St., 71.

In 1998, the estate museum of artist Khokhryakov was opened at: Kopyansky Lane, 4. Here, a permanent memorial exhibition operates. The Vyatka Art Museum's funds hold about 200 paintings by Khokhryakov, more than 80 pencil drawings, etchings, and 28 travel albums.

In 1981, the historical and memorial landscape museum-reserve of artists Viktor and Apollinary Vasnetsov "Ryabovo" was opened, located at: Kirov Region, Zuevsky District, Ryabov Village, Ryabovskaya St., 3. The Vasnetsov brothers were born and raised in Ryabov, where they began to paint their first paintings, marking the beginning of their worldwide fame.