The book by Lev Anisov tells about the life and work of the famous philanthropist and collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, whose idea “from a very young age” was “to make money so that what was acquired from society would also be returned to society (the people) in some useful institutions " This thought never left him “never in his entire life.” The author introduces us to his hero through the eyes of the people of the era in which he lived. Wonderful painters appear before us: I. N. Kramskoy, I. I. Shishkin, I. E. Repin, a whole galaxy of not only Russian artists, but also other representatives of domestic and world culture. The author strives through their perception to paint a portrait of Tretyakov, which turned out to be lively, bright and rich.