In 1998-2000, Zurab Tsereteli, the President of the Russian Academy of Arts restored and reconstructed the Dolgorukovs' House and opened there his Art Gallery. The exhibition complex is a part of the program elaborated by Tsereteli to transform the Academy returning it the leading position it had occupied in the 18th and 19th centuries. The project was also the part of charity cultural initiatives realized recently by the master.

    The splendid palace reborn includes a suite of magnificent vaulted rooms on the ground floor maintaining architectural space of the 18th century and majestic rooms on the first floor decorated in the middle of the 19th century. The complex is good for any kind of exhibition. Dozens of rooms and several covered inner courts take up about 10,000 square meters. Such a complex is to hold large-scale exhibitions - All -Russian and international - of all the fine arts and architecture. And what is more, the treasures of the Academy collection are constantly exposed here