The Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv was created on the basis of the former Taras Shevchenko Art Gallery in Kharkiv and the Taras Shevchenko Central State Museum in Kyiv in 1949. The museum collection consists of unique values: original paintings by Shevchenko, documents about his life and work, handwritten lists of his poems, rare photographs of the poet and his friends, first editions of Shevchenko's works with his autographs, almost all editions of the poet's works and literature about him. There are more than 4 000 exhibits in 24 halls.