The painter Martiros Saryan and the writer Marietta Shaginyan were one of the originators of the Museum of Fine Arts in Rostov-on-Don. A number of its exhibits "moved" here from Moscow State Tretyakov Gallery and Saint Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum. Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts traces its history back to the early 20th century. Paintings belonging to the Rostov-Nakhichevan Society of Fine Arts laid the foundation of the museum collection. The works were handed over to the museum after the October Revolution. Since 1958, the exposition has been housed in the eclectic house of lawyer Petrov in Pushkinskaya Street and in the building in Chekhov Street.
The exposition of the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts comprises Russian art of the XVII - early XX century, the art of the East and Western Europe. Here you can see icons of the 16th-19th centuries, paintings of Bryullov, Aivazovsky, Kuindzhi, Shishkin, Levitan, Vasnetsov and Korovin. The European art is represented by the works of Rubens, de Baen, Carpioni, as well as by porcelain and interior items. The "Eastern" collection includes snuffboxes, Netsuke figurines and sculptures.