Irkutsk's Museum of Art is considered to have been founded in 1870 when local collector and patron of the arts Vladimir Sukachev purchased the first painting, however the collection housed inside Sukhachev's own estate house was only opened to the public in the 1880s - becoming the first gallery in Siberia. At the beginning of the 20th century construction of a special building to house the collection began and in 1920 the collection became part of the city's regional museum, then a separate museum of art in 1936.

Today the museum displays over 20,000 items including paintings, graphical works, sculptures, icons and pieces of applied art. Most of the work is Russian or Soviet in original, but it also holds European and Asian art. The museum has a separate department dedicated to Siberian art on Ulitsa Karla Marksa, plus another gallery located in the former estate house of Vladimir Sukhachev.