Collections of Abramtsevo College of Design and Applied Arts named after V. Vasnetsov
For the past 130 years Abramtsevo College of Design and Applied Arts named after the great Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov gives training to talented artists and craftsmen who determine further development of traditional arts and crafts of Russia.
The history of the College traces back to Abramtsevo Estate in Moscow District that used to belong to Savva Mamontov – a Russian art collector, connoisseur and philanthropist. In the 1870s a group of prominent Russian artists (Vasiliy Vasnetsov, Ilia Repin, Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Vasiliy Polenov and others) began to work there. They collected many pieces of folk art in the nearby villages and laid down the foundation of the Abramtsevo Museum of Folk Art as well as several educational workshops in carpentry, pottery and female needlework.
In 1885 Elisaveta Mamontova and Elena Polenova founded a very successful carpentry workshop that later formed the basis of Abramtsevo College.
Stroganov Handicraft Museum greatly influenced the education and the production of Abramtsevo workshops in the 1890s-1910s.  The museum was in charge of both exhibitions and sales of Abramtsevo and Sergiev Posad workshops products.
A Stroganov School graduate Konstantin Orlov was the director of the Abramtsevo Arts and Crafts Workshop from 1918 to 1930. He put a lot of efforts into preserving the traditional training of crafts artists.
In the 1920s Orlov created  an Art Sample Room in Abramtsevo. It actually was a museum which now houses more than 2500 exhibits including the works of Elena Polenova, Victor Vasnetsov and best teachers and graduates. Every year the collection was enriched with new pieces of young artists of that strong art school with rich traditions and history.
Nowadays the museum has in its permanent display Elena Polenova’s sketches of furniture, a locker designed by Victor Vasnetsov with his personal signature, pieces of furniture made in the carpentry shop in the 1920s, and of course the best works of the College’s graduates. The entrance is decorated with a massive oak door with a cat hole made upon Polenova’s design.
The exhibition of the museum shows the visitors not only the history of Abramtsevo College, but the Russian folk crafts by themselves.
The students of the College has an opportunity to study the originals of traditional folk art in the museum which has a good impact on their artistic career. They can make sketches, take measurements and copy all the exhibits of the museum. The Art Sample Room is truly invaluable for the training of young artists. The pieces of art from the museum regularly participate in Russian exhibitions and won high awards.