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Hermitage Week in New York: Program Presented at a Press Conference On 14 September 2004 a press conference was held in the Hermitage Theater to present the program of Hermitage Week in New York. Hermitage Week in New York, which has been organized by the State Hermitage and the American Friends of the Hermitage Museum, will take place 20 - 27 September 2004. The program includes exhibitions, lectures, round table discussions, concerts and educational events for children. "We are very pleased to announce the new initiative Hermitage Week in New York .This city is a world artistic capital that has always been closely tied to Europe as well to North America and has experienced huge satisfaction from the waves of European visitors and settlers who have come here. And if New York can be seen as an extension of Europe, then it bears remembering that St Petersburg is traditionally called Russia’s window on Europe. The Hermitage truly feels at home here. We hope that during this week we will see all our old friends and will make many new friends for our museum," commented Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage.. During the period 20 - 27 September 2004, Sotheby’s New York display rooms will host an exhibition of Ten Masterpieces from the Treasury of the State Hermitage Museum. Some of the most famous works of jewelry from the museum collections will be exhibited simultaneously outside the museum premises for the first time. This week-long exhibition abroad serves the purpose of raising funds for the Great Hermitage project. The following items of the jeweler’s art will be exhibited:
Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage will deliver a lecture in Sotheby’s entitled The Fate of Universal Museums. On 20 September 2004 a Gala Fundraising Dinner will be held in Sotheby’s. This event has become an annual tradition of the American Friends of the Hermitage. The receipts will be turned over to the Great Hermitage project and made available for the restoration of the General Staff building. On 23 September 2004 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will be the venue for another fundraising dinner in honor of the Hermitage which is organized by Vladimir Potanin, President of the Interros Holding Company and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the State Hermitage, and by Peter Louis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. From 20 - 27 September 2004, The New York gallery A La Vieille Russie will host an exhibition entitled Great Works of Art by Russian Masters from American Collections including a 17th century reliquary, a snuffbox with the portrait of Empress Elizabeth I made in St Petersburg circa 1755 by Jeremiah Pausier and pieces of jewelry by Faberge. The exhibition will provide visitors with a unique opportunity to acquaint themselves with art works reflecting the history of Russia. The New York Public Library will be the venue for a Round Table discussion of Treasures of the Hermitage in Printed Publications as well as an exhibition of Rare Books and Engravings. Among those presenting reports in the Round Table will be Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage; Oleg Grabar, Professor of Princeton University, speaking on The Hermitage Between Several Worlds; O.G. Kostiuk, of the Solomon R.y new fireiave come herCurator of Western European Art and Jewelry in the State Hermitage; James Vett, Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, speaking on Works of Art by Chinese Masters in the Collections of the Russian Tsars; ànd Renata Holod, Professor of the University of Pennsylvania, speaking on Diplomatic Gifts from the South. Among the other events taking place during Hermitage Week in New York will be concerts by the Hermitage Quartet and performances by the talented young pianist Alexander Pirojenko, winner of international musical competitions. The concert program features works by the composers Piotr Tchaikowsky and Sergey Rakhmaninov. A special issue of Hermitage Magazine will be published to coincide with Hermitage Week in New York and will provide detailed information about the jewelry masterpieces on display in Sotheby’s, including their history and how they were acquired for the museum collections. Several articles by Hermitage curators are especially worthy of note: Faberge in the Hermitage by M.N. Lopato acquaints readers with the life and work of the outstanding master jeweler Karl Faberge; Gold of Myths and Magic by E.F. Korolkova tells about the museum’s Scythian collection; and an article by O.G. Kostiuk talks about the remarkable collection of decorative and applied art. The Hermitage Magazine will also publish ‘salutes’ to the Hermitage from prominent Americans who have expressed their genuine love for this great museum, among them Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; John Russell, former principal art critic of The New York Times and member of the Board of Trustees of the State Hermitage; Edward Kasinec, Curator of the Baltic and Slavic Department of The New York Public Library; Glenn Lowry, Director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art; Tom Krentz, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York; and Paul Khlebnikov, editor of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine (the edition of the Hermitage Magazine went to press before Mr. Khlebnikov’s tragic death). A great deal of interest will be generated by the presentation of the book Russian Collectors by O. Ya. Neverov, State Hermitage Curator of Antique Cameos. The book was published in Paris in 2004 and includes an introductory article by Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage, as well the text of a lecture entitled Why Do We Need Another Book About Catherine the Great? by the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature Robert Massey (author of the books Peter the Great and Nicholas and Alexandra). At the same time there will be a working session of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of the Hermitage and the Hermitage-Guggenheim Foundation, which was formed in 2002 in St Petersburg to assist the Great Hermitage project. Among other events associated with Hermitage Week in New York are the presentation of a gift to the museum: a sculpture entitled The Study of Nature, made in 2002 by Louise Bourgeois. An exhibition of Louise Bourgeois’ works in the Hermitage in 2001 to celebrate the sculptor’s 90th birthday was highly successful. Her gift to the museum is a token of her enormous gratitude to and love for the Hermitage. The museum will also be given Urart collections which will go to the Hermitage’s Oriental Art Department. |
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