In the galleries on the ground floor of the Department of Private Collections works of Russian art are exhibited dating from the late 19th and the 20th century.

Paintings and drawings from the period 1900-1920 from the collection of I.M.Koretskaya and B.V.Mikhailovskii – works by P.V.Kuznetsov, M.S.Saryan and N.K.Roerich – are exhibited in a gallery together with works by S.Y.Sudeikin (donated by V.M.Isaeva) and G.V.Deryuzhinskii (donated by F.P.Zelinskaya-Kalkanie). Russian art from the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th is represented by an exhibition of collections of paintings and drawings which formerly belonged to the Leningrad scholar and engineer A.N. Ramm and the celebrated pianist, Svyatoslav Richter.

In the galleries on the ground floor, in addition to the collections of paintings visitors can enjoy the creative legacies of artists which have been donated to the Department by their relatives. Among these they will find the world's largest collection of works from the masters of Constructivism, A.F.Rodchenko and V.F.Stepanova and ten paintings by the striking representative of the avant-garde, D.I.Shterenberg. A number of galleries are taken up with the legacy of artists from the 1960s, A.G.Tyshler. D.M.Krasnopevtsev and V.G.Veisberg. A separate exhibition is devoted to the legacy of works by L.O.Pasternak dating from the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th.

The atrium on the ground floor is a space set aside for holding temporary exhibitions, concerts and poetry evenings.

The galleries on the second floor display a number of collections of different types, including paintings, drawings, sculpture and decorative and applied art of periods ranging from the 15th century to the early-20th.

Several galleries are taken up by the collection of Russian and West-European art which had belonged to I.S.Zilberstein, who initiated the creation of the Museum of Private collections: it includes works by such well-known masters as Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin and Alexandre Benois. This chance for visitors to broaden their knowledge of Russian 19th-century painting is taken further by the exhibition of the collection which belonged to S.V.Solovyov. Other collections of considerable interest are those of art glass, which previously were the property of F.V. and E.P.Lemkul and the collection of decorative and applied art which had belonged to their close friend, E.M.Makaseyeva. A suite of adjoining rooms houses the small-scale sculpted figures of animals, which had formerly been the property of E.Y.Stepanov. In the galleries on this floor it is also possible to see works by Russian icon-painters of the Old Believers community from the collection of M.I. Chuvanov and the artist T.A.Mavrina.

The gallery on the third floor next to the atrium is the most adaptable part of the premises belonging to the Department of Private Collections. The space in these rooms is used for temporary exhibitions or for exhibiting collections usually held in the Department's repositories. On this floor there is also a media-centre, where lectures, meetings and film screenings are held.