Since 1970 the museum is located in the centre of Moscow in the historical building known as the Lunins' House, a private residence built in the early 19th century by the famous architect Domenico Gilardi.

[1] The museum has galleries for the art and archaeology of India, Persia, China, Japan, Buryatia, Transcaucasia, and the Chukchi Peninsula.

In a few months they opened ‘Ars Asiatica’, at first on the premises of the Russian State Historical Museum, then moved to Tsvetkov Mansion on Prechistenskaya Embankment.

For example, Pyotr Shchukin had a keen interest in Oriental art and gathered a solid collection of old master prints and figurines from China, Iran, and India.

[7] The museum also received private collections of Pavel Kharitonenko, perfumer Henri Brocard, Orientalist Alexey Pozndeev, Nikolay Mosolov, and Igor Grabar.