The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

temporary exhIbItIons
BacK To ruSSia.
phoTographS By roger fenTon
On 14 May, a small-scale exhibition opened
at the State Hermitage: Roger Fenton (1819–
1869). Back to Russia. It contains 22 photographs
– a small but remarkable part of the
two famous series by one of the pioneers
of British photography: the first one made
during the trip to Russia in 1852 and the second
one which documented the events of the
Crimean War (1855). From a historical point
of view, Fenton’s images are a must for any
museum which lays claim to an independent
photograph collection. The fact that he is one
of the first is not as important as the fact that
he is really the first official war photographer
in history.
Kira Dolinina, “The Hermitage Enjoys
Photos of Russia”, Kommersant,
18 March 2010
In 1852, Fenton came to Russia in order
to photograph the construction of a bridge
across the Dnieper, commissioned by Nicholas
I to Fenton’s compatriot, the architect
Charles Vignoles, and so he was attracted
to the exotic local scenes, comparable for
a Westerner to those of Egypt, Greece and
the Near East, and started to photograph the
views of Russian cities and their residents.
The Hermitage exhibition includes six prints
from this period. In 1855, Fenton was commissioned
by his publisher and the British
Government to make over 300 photographs
of the frontline of the Crimean War, waged
by the United Kingdom and France against
Russia.
Fontanka.Ru, “English Photographs
of the Crimean War Return to Russia”,
14 May 2010
from goThic To manneriSm.
early neTherlandiSh drawingS
in The STaTe hermiTage muSeum
The task of using the Dutch drawings in order
to trace how the world was changing alongside
art is a difficult one for the exhibition organizers
as well as the public. The difficulty
lies in the fact that Dutch art has no well-defined
borderline marking the transition from
religious miniatures and images to sketches
of landscapes and genre scenes, that is,
from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
The genres exist side by side, often in the
works by the same master. So it is impossible
to show how art is changed by developing
new themes. But this parallelism is a unique
At Contemporary Porcelain of Sèvres exhibition
feature of Dutch art. Just like it is possible
for the works by Bosch and Brueghel to combine
religious exultation with a sombre naturalism,
it is also possible to reconcile Biblical
scenes and caricatures or everyday scenes
in the Dutch paintings and drawings.
Ivan Chuviliayev, “From Timid Pencil
to Dances of the Pen”, Infox.ru,
20 May 2010
For the first time, the Hermitage displays
its unique collection of early Netherlandish
drawings – 70 pieces from the 15th and 16th
centuries, including works by Rogier van der
Weyden, Petrus Christus, Peter Brueghel the
Elder, Jan Gossaert. The exhibition is entitled
From Gothic to Mannerism.
The stylistic landmarks set by the title indicate
the beginning and end of the artistic
evolution of Dutch art, as well as its paradoxical
nature: the Dutch painters made an
elegant leap from mediaeval forms to imitating
Classical art and following the achievements
of Italian artists, skipping the stage of
the High Renaissance itself with its harmonious
integral view of the world.
Olga Luzina, “Drafts for Masterpieces”,
Fontanka.Ru, 18 May 2010
conTemporary porcelain
of SèvreS
The best examples of contemporary Sévres
porcelain are represented at the exhibition
which opens in St. Petersburg today. It is organized
as part of the France – Russia Year
in Menshikov Palace, which is a section of the
State Hermitage Museum. Around 100 works
by forty artists, whose creative ideas come
to life in the Sévres ceramics, will help the
Russian visitors to form an understanding of
the main genres of modern porcelain production
at Sévres. The exhibition includes sculptures,
vases, table decorations, and pieces
from dinner sets.
ITAR-TASS, “Best Examples
of Contemporary Sévres Porcelain
Represented at an Exhibition in
St. Petersburg”, 15 June 2010
picaSSo. from The collecTion
of The picaSSo muSeum – pariS
Picasso’s art has one mysterious characteristic,
which is hard to pinpoint and even harder
to explain although it seems to be lying
on the surface. Picasso irritates. He makes
one mad. More often than any other artist,
contemporary or not, he provokes the reaction
of “I don’t understand him”.
Nevertheless, any Picasso exhibition is always
crowded. And the crowd can be neatly
divided into two halves. Some visitors derive
an interest and pleasure incomprehensible
to others from viewing the master’s paintings,
drawings, and sculptures; while the
other half either sneers in derision, swears,
or stops by his entirely realistic, even Salon-like,
portrait of his third woman and first
wife, the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova,
only to exclaim in indignant bewilderment:
“He can do it normally when he wants to, so
what’s the hell?”
Nikita Yeliseyev, “The Borders
of Picasso”, Expert Severo-Zapada,
30 August 2010
It is incredible how Picasso has managed to
take the Winter Palace by storm without firing
a single shot (no revolutionary sailors but
several designers were involved). Or, strictly
speaking, it is the main state rooms of the
Winter Palace (the Field Marshall, Armorial,
and Piquet Rooms), as well as the Eastern
Gallery and the Rooms of the Courtyard Gallery
in the second floor.
Before the opening of the exhibition, the Director
of the Picasso Museum Anne Baldassari
took a whirlwind tour of the rooms in
order to make sure that the collection was
ready to be shown to the public. And this is
when she was asked whether she thought
that Picasso the rebel and non-conformist
had managed to conquer the Winter Palace,
that Everest of Imperial spirit? And her answer
was clear: Of course he has, how could
it be otherwise?
Artur Mezentsev, “Parad-Alle
of Pablo Picasso”, Peterburgsky Chas Pik,
23 June 2010
This exhibition is doomed to success, and
not only because it is promoted as the main
event of the France – Russia Year and has
the special patronage of the Presidents
of both countries. This is the first display of
Picasso’s works on such a scale in Russia.
The famous 1956 exhibition at the Hermitage,
which paved the way for new art in this
country, had four times fewer exhibits.
One of the important things about the exhibition
is that it is located in the state rooms of
the Winter Palace. Not every artist can survive
such surroundings. A huge space full of architectural
detail, bas-reliefs, and colours,
At Picasso. From the Collection of the Picasso Museum – Paris exhibition
tends to be oppressive. But Picasso holds his
ground, putting up a good fight. It turns out
the space is worthy of him.
Ludmila Leusskaya, “Pablo and His
Models”, Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti,
21 June 2010
“Since ToBacco you love
So much...”
At the opening of the Hermitage exhibition
“Since Tobacco You Love So Much...”, dedicated
to the tobacco accessories in art, the
Director of the museum Mikhail Piotrovsky
admitted that in his youth, he used to smoke
Belomor during the field trips. But he had
given it up in time. This was the end of the
unhealthy topic, and everyone proceeded
to view the snuffboxes, tobacco pouches,
pipes, cigar cases and match boxes made
of porcelain, amber and precious metals.
V.Sh., “The Nineteenth-Century Hydrogen
Bomb”, Gorod, 27 September 2010
The Blue Bedroom of the Winter Palace is
always shrouded in twilight and has an air
filled with dreams and memories. Some are
pleasant, but some are nightmares. At the
moment, this tiny room (in palace terms)
temporary exhIbItIons
is filled with the most curious stories. They
are not told by paintings or sculptures, but
tiny little objects – mere trifles such as
snuffboxes, pipes, cigar cases. The exhibition
which opened here uses Pushkin’s
words in its title: “Since Tobacco You Love
So Much...”. It is dedicated to smoking. But
before you start to frown and protest, we
have to say that we are not at all condoning
this unhealthy habit which poisons the
lives of the smokers and non-smokers alike.
But smoking is more than just a vice.
Zinaida Arsenieva, “It’s Not a Morning
Flower You Like to Smell”, Vecherny
Peterburg, 1 July 2010
The smokers of today, whose bad habit is
nothing more than a sequence of opening the
pack-clicking the disposable Cricket lighter–
lighting up–finishing the cigarette–throwing
away the butt, can hardly imagine how elegant
was the ritual of smoking of inhaling tobacco
in the Gallant Century. In the 18th century,
tobacco was a required accessory for
a man of the world. And what snuffboxes they
use! Gold and diamonds, enamel and carving,
tortoiseshell and ivory, crystal and mother-
of-pearl – a snuffbox was not a utilitarian
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