The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

temporary exhIbItIons
J hermiTage cenTreS
hermiTage • amSTerdam cenTre
amsterdam, The netherlands
Last year was the first full year of operation for the Centre,
which opened in June 2009. With three exhibitions, a rich
programme of lectures and a fully operative children’s
centre, 2010 can be rated a very successful year.
The Centre welcomed 650,000 visitors, the third highest
number among Amsterdam museums after the Rijksmuseum
and the Van Gogh Museum. Over 10,000 children
took part in the programmes for children.
In 2010 two new members – Wim Keuken and Jan Ernst de
Groot – joined the Hermitage on the Amstel board, which
manages the Hermitage • Amsterdam Exhibition Centre.
It is with deep regret that we have to announce the death
of Hans Dijkstal, who was a member of the board for many
years.
exhiBiTionS
at the russian court. palace and protocol
in the 19th century
January 2010 was the last month of this exhibition. For the
first and last time the display was accommodated in both
wings of the exhibition centre. At the end of the exhibition,
which attracted over 700,000 visitors, the Centre was
closed for a month to rehabilitate the building after this
large influx of people.
matisse to malevich.
pioneers of modern art from the hermitage
This was the first time that such an imposing exhibition
of avant-garde masterpieces had been shown in the Netherlands:
from 6 March to 17 September 2010 the Centre
featured masterpieces by Matisse, Picasso, van Dongen,
de Vlaminck and other outstanding pioneers of modern
art. The exhibition described the sources of modern art as
a historical phenomenon and also provided an idea of the
artistic trends at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries,
when a revolution in the history of world art took place.
The exhibition, which was designed by Pieter Roosen,
was very successful, attracting more than 375,000 visitors.
It was accompanied by a whole series of educational programmes
– for example, a special “educational wall” was
built, describing Paris at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Visitors purchased over 15,000 catalogues, with
articles by State Hermitage researchers.
From 1 April to 9 May 2010 the exhibition welcomed
a “special guest”: The Dance, one of Henri Matisse’s most
important works, which had never previously been shown
in the Netherlands, was sent to Amsterdam from St. Petersburg.
The Russian Ministry of Culture gave permission
Installing Matisse to Malevich. Pioneers of Modern Art from the Hermitage exhibition
for the canvas to be on display for six weeks. The painting
was included in the exhibition with the support of the
Turing Foundation and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which
provided a special aircraft for its transportation.
As part of the preparations for the exhibition the Centre
organized a special press trip to Moscow. A film about the
collectors Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov and the fate
of their collections was made for Dutch television.
Several thousand masks in the Cubist style were made by
schoolchildren in the children’s centre. The best works
by pupils in classes for gifted children were shown in three
rooms directly adjoining the exhibition.
The exhibition was accompanied by an extensive cultural
programme: lectures, courses, theatrical and musical
presentations.
from dusk to dawn
From 11 June to 12 September 2010 the Hermitage • Amsterdam
Exhibition Centre presented a major art project
by the famous Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf.
The immortal alexander the great. The myth. The reality.
his Journey. his legacy. hermitage
An exhibition devoted to Alexander the Great, his Eastern
campaign and the spread of Hellenism, shown in the
Netherlands for the first time, was held in the Centre from
18 September 2010 to 16 March 2011. The exhibition was
designed by Ger Feijen, and the graphic design and design
of the catalogue was by “UnA Designers”.
temporary exhIbItIons
Erwin Olaf created photographic interpretations of Alexander
for the exhibition. By superimposing images of a real
model on pictures of the museum exhibits, Olaf managed
to convey the character of Alexander and to re create his
facial features. The project was started by Erwin Olaf and
his team in the State Hermitage’s photographic studio,
where photographs of the museum exhibits were taken,
and completed in Olaf’s studio in Amsterdam with shots of
a live model. Erwin Olaf’s photographs became the basis
of the advertising campaign for the exhibition and were
included on the posters. One of Olaf’s works was used on
the cover of the catalogue.
The Dutch TV company “AVRO” made a documentary
film for the exhibition. It was shot in Pella, Alexander’s
birthplace. At sessions in the children centre pupils made
special medals of Alexander the Great. The courses and
lectures that accompanied the exhibition were invariably
well received by their audiences.
As part of “Museum Night 2010” the Hermitage • Amsterdam
Exhibition Centre organized a presentation of battles
in the style of Alexander the Great in the Centre’s inner
courtyard.
lucia ganieva’s ermitazhniki
From 22 September 2010 the Hermitage • Amsterdam
staged a project entitled Ermitazhniki by the Russian-Dutch
photographer Lucia Ganieva. The project depicted State
Hermitage custodians in front of paintings.
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