Azerbaijan National Museum of Art

Established in 1936, the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art in Baku showcases a vast collection of Azerbaijani and international art, spanning ancient to contemporary periods.

Planning your visit

The Azerbaijan National Museum of Art occupies two adjoining nineteenth-century mansions in central Baku and holds around 17,000 works across Azerbaijani, Russian, Western European and Eastern art.

The Azerbaijani material is the reason to go. It covers medieval miniature painting in the Tabriz tradition, the decorative arts, and — most interestingly — the twentieth century, when Azerbaijani painters worked through Soviet socialist realism, the national revival that followed the Thaw, and the post-independence period. Sattar Bahlulzade's landscapes and Tahir Salahov's severe portraits are the names to know.

The European holdings include Dutch, Italian, French and German paintings acquired largely through Soviet redistribution of collections, and the Russian material covers the nineteenth-century schools.

Baku's oil wealth built the mansions the museum occupies, which is part of the city's story.

Bookable options are guided visits. Current availability is listed below.