The museum was founded in 1899 on the initiative of the Association of Antiquities and Fine Arts. The building itself is an architectural monument of the late 19th century; it was constructed by famous Kiev architect Vladislav Gorodetskyi. At that time there was hardly any concept of Ukrainian professional art. This country was traditionally famous for its national ethnographical applied art. The founders of the museum's collections decided to prove that this opinion was wrong and defined the list of main representatives of Ukrainian fine art.. These scientists have included in the list not only those who were born and worked in Ukraine, but also those national-conscious artists who lived abroad. They thought that foreigners who worked in Ukraine have enriched a national culture too. These principles were the basis of their collective work.
The present display occupies 18 rooms. The collection totals 20,000 works of art including icons of the 12th–18th centuries and paintings by Ukrainian artists of the 19th – 20th centuries. Today there are a lot of new works of art coming to museum's collections. Among these new comings are: unique icon relief "St. George in His Lifetime" dating to the 12th century; works of the founder of international abstractionism Kazimir Malevich, who was born in Kiev; masterpiece of Ukrainian rococo "The Great Martyr" icon, graphics of world famous Ukrainian living in the USA, Y. Gnizdovskyi. Of special interest are the so-called “naïve’ paintings made by village amateur talented masters
