The Fund of “Illustration and Fine Arts”, which was established in 2002 on the basis of paintings from other funds and departments, has been operating under the name of the Fund of “Descriptive Materials” since 2009. At the present time, as well as the drawings of Azerbaijani artists (Azim Azimzade, Maral Rahmanzadeh, Mikayil Abdullayev, Boyukagha Mirzazade, Tahir Salahov, Altay Hajiyev and others.), more than 1000 paintings of artists from European, Eastern countries and Russia are preserved in the Fund. Among them, there are artworks trimmed with oil and water color on linen, wood, cardboard and paper including made by the methods of graphics, lithography, intarsia, encrustation, mosaic, etc.

The basis of Fund contains some of the works from the collection of Art Department, which was founded in the Museum in 1925, and of Picture Gallery created a year later. The works of Western, Eastern and Russian artists, which were presented to the Museum from Moscow (The State Tretyakov Gallery) and Leningrad (Hermitage Museum) as a result of negotiations, were also added to the artworks obtained in consequence of collection work carried out by the Museum staff and confiscation campaign of the Bolshevik government during those years. According to the information from 1928, there were 715 artworks in the western collection of the department of “Art” and 879 in its eastern collection. The exhibition of Western and Eastern artworks was held in the Museum in 1926-27. In the same year, V.M.Zummer was appointed head of the Department, the Museum artist Moris Fabri head and conservator of the Department of Eastern “Art”, V.A.Obolenski head of Mobile exhibitions. Reconstruction works, which were launched at the beginning of 1930’s, were ended up with the adoption of decision within the Museum on establishing independent museums on basis of the Museum’s Departments of Theater and Art. In May 1935, the Art Museum became Artistic Gallery under the Azerbaijan State Museum in accordance with the order of People’s Commissariat of Education. Although the Art Museum began functioning as an independent establishment by becoming Azerbaijan State Museum under the decision of People’s Commissariat of Education dated 31 March 1936, it was still located in the Taghiyev mansion called “House of Museums” at those times. The examples of painting, sculpture including other artworks of the department of Art of the Azerbaijan State Museum were given to the newly founded museum. Only a few part of works directly related to the history (for example, “The invasion of Elisabethpol”, “The invasion of Lankaran” by F.Roubaud, several works of A.Azimzade and so on)  remained in the Azerbaijan Historical Museum.

At present, the Fund of “Descriptive Materials” operating in the Museum contains those works as well as artistic paintings, statues and other artworks mainly concerning the history and obtained by the ways of collecting and ordering. Those works are displayed in the Museum’s permanent exposition and the exhibitions organized by the Museum.

In 2012, the exhibition “The works of Azerbaijani painters in the Museum’s collection” was arranged in the Museum on the basis of materials of that Fund. During 2002-2019, PhD in History Rasim Sultanov was the head of the Fund and since 2019, the Fund has been running by PhD in Architecture, Associate Professor Nardana Yusifova.