The dark brown building of the Moscow Art Theater on Tverskoy Boulevard, which occupies almost an entire block, seems out of proportion and breaks the row of two-story houses of the XIX century.
The theater building was conceived here in the mid-1930s, when it was assumed that the inner side of the boulevard would expand and take on a more triumphal appearance. Reconstruction began with the construction of the 1,500-seat Nemirovich-Danchenko Opera Theater in the courtyard of House 22, but the construction was prevented by the war. In the 1940s, the Frontline Theater directed by A. Dikiy was located in an unfinished building, then the construction site was simply frozen. In 1973, at the initiative of the Minister of Culture E. A. Furtseva, a new theater building was built according to the project of architect V. S. Kubasov.
The building of the theater is monumental and original in its architecture. The dark facade, lined with red brick, falls down like a giant curtain. Black metal brackets hold lanterns, as well as bas-relief cards depicting the Muses of dance, tragedy, music, and comedy. However, the building looks alien, oppressive, it is disproportionate to the existing boulevard.
At the beginning of the XIX century. on the site of the theater (more precisely, on the boulevard in front of the theater), the Kologrivovs ' mansion was located - one of the most interesting examples of the elegant Moscow Empire style. The big house was built by the general from cavalry Andrey Semyonovich Kologrivov. Here arranged the balls of the famous dancing master Igel. This house was called one of the supposed meeting places of Pushkin and N. N. Goncharova.
After the revolution, the building was occupied by newspaper offices, various offices and the address desk of the Moscow police. It stood for another eighteen years, and then there was a construction project that stretched for 40 years.
Since 1987, it has been the Moscow Art Theater Gorky under the direction of Tatiana Doronina.
