The Behzod Museum of Fine Arts, named after the famous 15th-century Herat miniaturist Kamoliddin Behzod, houses the main collection of Tajik visual art from the Soviet and post-independence periods alongside some pre-Soviet Central Asian decorative arts. The Soviet-era socialist realism section is extensive and, depending on your sensibility, either fascinating or tedious — or both.
The collection of Central Asian decorative art — ceramic tiles, carved plasterwork, embroidery — is more consistently interesting. The museum is in a grand building near Rudaki Avenue and is often uncrowded, giving you the collections largely to yourself. Admission is cheap.