The Sampilov Art Museum holds the largest collection of Buryat art in Russia — paintings, sculpture, and applied arts by 20th-century Buryat artists, alongside Russian academic painting and rotating contemporary shows. Tsyrenzhap Sampilov, after whom the museum is named, was the founder of Buryat easel painting.
The museum is small and unfussy. Combine it with a walk past the Opera House and the central square. Often quiet — you may have the rooms to yourself.