The basis of the collection of the City Gallery was formed by part of the collection of the Museum of Princes of Lyubomyrsky, which belonged to the structure of the National Institute named after Ossolinsky and has been functioning since 1823. It was the largest public collection of art treasures (paintings and sculptures) at the time, founded by the Galician patron, Prince Henryk Lubomyrsky (1777-1850). The decision to establish a gallery of European art in Lviv was taken by the Magistrate in 1897. In 1902, the first exhibits were the works of artists: V. Leopolsky (“The Death of the Poet Acern”, “The Meager”), Ya. Stiki, F. Vygjhivalsky, Y. Matejka, E. Okunya. At the beginning of 1907, at the expense of the master, a collection of Western European art of a sugar magnate from the village of Sitkivtsi (mistakenly considered the village of Sutkivtsi) on Jan Yakovych Podillya was purchased, which included about 2000 exhibits, including more than 400 paintings. February 14, 1907, this collection was transported to Lviv and this date is considered the beginning of the functioning of the museum. Famous artists, invited by the Potocki family, worked in Sitkivtsi for a long time and made numerous copies of famous and well-known works of art. Perhaps the landowner of his collection is J. Yakovych received from Potocki.