POLENOVO is an artist's studio museum on the banks of the Oka river, 120 km south from Moscow. It is the former estate of Vassily Polenov, a well-known landscape painter (1844-1927). Settled in the country, at the age of 45, he spent the rest of his life developing the estate, painting extensive landscapes and working a lot with the surrounding villages and communities. In 1892 he invited visitors to his home, having created the first Open Museum, based on his own art collection. In 1924, the Soviet government took ownership of his estate, but granted Polenov and his family the right to remain as managers on behalf of the state. Officially the museum was established there in 1939 and survived, even though the family members faced persecution, the Second World War, post-war poverty, ideology of the Soviet times and new economic challenges of the 1990s.

    Today Vassily Polenov Fine Arts Museum and National Park is one of the most dynamic among other estates and artist's studio museums. The museum is expanding: a branch was opened in Tula in October 2020