The State Hermitage Museum: Hermitage News

News from the Youth Center

On 6 June 2004 a project between the State Hermitage and the Rhode Island School of Design got underway. A group of American students arrived in St Petersburg to get acquainted with Russian art from its very beginnings to the avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century. They are also studying contemporary art in Russia and the art of both the West and the Orient.

Courses will be conducted in the State Hermitage and in other museums of St Petersburg. Moreover, there are plans for day trips to the suburban palaces and a visit to Novgorod. A thorough examination of the Hermitage collections will help broaden the knowledge of those studying world art and will give them a better understanding of the history of the cultural dialogue between Russia and Europe.

The program in art theory will be supplemented by a course in art practice. The idea will be to do course work in artists’ ateliers, where the students will review painting techniques, ornaments and architectural motifs that are used in Russian and European art. The students will be offered an introduction to icon painting, to restoration of frescoes and also be given a chance to set down on paper their own drawings of picturesque areas of Petersburg.
At the end of the program, the students will be asked to submit a written report on their work.

In order that the American students get better acquainted with the City on the Neva and feel firsthand its uniqueness and inimitable charm, members of the Hermitage Student Club offered to meet with them in their free time and on the very first day they all went on a stroll together along the city’s rivers and canals. The next day was no less filled with activities: there was a bus tour around the city, work in an artist’s atelier, followed by an evening boat trip along the Neva in the company of well-known musicians, literary personalities and people in the arts.

The entire program of the American students’ stay in Petersburg has been scheduled in great detail, so that there will be no dull moments. It is still too early to draw conclusions, but we are hopeful this visit will be successful and the program will become an annual event.

More detailed information about the program is available on the web pages of the Youth Center: http://www.hermitage.ru/html_En/06/hm6_4_6_2.html

A boat trip on the Neva

Course work