The museum was founded in 1918 as the Museum of the People’s University of Tashkent. Then it became the Central Museum of Art, and since 1924 – Tashkent Museum of Art. Since 1935, the museum has been called the State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan.

The museum was created on the basis of a personal collection (portraits and historical paintings of Russian and foreign artists, graphics and sculptures, art furniture, porcelain) of Prince N. Romanov, who lived in Tashkent at that time.

There are departments of Uzbekistan’s folk art, Russian, West European and Eastern art, as well as storage, workshop and photo laboratory.