The Tartu Art Museum occupies an elegant neoclassical building on the bank of the Emajõgi river, housing a collection focused on Estonian art from the 19th century to the present. The permanent collection includes significant works by Eduard von Gebhardt, Kristjan Raud (who developed the visual imagery of the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg), and the Pallas School artists of the interwar period.
The Pallas Art School, which operated in Tartu from 1919 to 1940, was the most important artistic institution in Estonia's independence period and the museum holds a substantial collection of their work. The building is pleasant and the collection is manageable in two hours. Combined with a walk along the river bank, it makes a good afternoon.