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Hermitage Magazine. Autumn
2008, No 3 (12)
Letter from Director of the State Hermitage Museum
The Museum As City
The cornice of the Winter Palace is 24 meters high. For centuries it
was the benchmark and official limit for the construction of buildings
in St. Petersburg. At the beginning of the 20th century, this prohibition
began to be broken but, nonetheless, the low skyline of St. Petersburg
has, despite a few losses, by and large been preserved. However, that
is not the only reason why architecture is a subject native to the Hermitage.
Its buildings are an encyclopaedia of Russian architecture in St. Petersburg.
Rastrelli, Vallin de la Mothe, Felten, Klenze, Quarenghi, and many others
built them according to the style of the era and the ingenuity of their
individual talents. With its interiors, the Hermitage is like a textbook
of classical Russian architecture. The New Hermitage is widely regarded
as a masterpiece of museum architecture, still studied as a prototype
even now.
Today the Hermitage plays a special role in the structure of the city
as a whole, hugging its heart, Palace Square. It is specifically the mixture
of exterior and interior architecture, the superb collections, the amazing
views from its windows, and the mementos of the Russian State that make
the museum unique in all the world.
The buildings of the Hermitage preserve the marks and the planning of
the functional alterations that gradually turn all its buildings into
a museum, including the official Imperial residence, the halls of ministries,
the State Council, and the private quarters of the Tsars and their families.
The story of the Winter Palace’s transformation into a museum is fascinating,
especially in light of the current effort to recreate the palace interiors.
This ambitious project, to be housed in new display halls in the East
Wing of the General Staff building, is going to set a new standard in
the history of architecture and in the history of conservation.
For all of these reasons, the Hermitage can be considered an architectural
paragon. Its history contains numerous useful pointers for a city-as-museum
like St. Petersburg. In fact, the museum is a "city" in its
own right, modelling many of the systems of modern urban life, and the
life of the future, new St. Petersburg; the new, Second St. Petersburg,
the creation of which is so important for the preservation of historic
St. Petersburg.
Mikhail Piotrovsky,
Director of the State Hermitage Museum
Departments:
Books
The Collections of Barbara Bloom
Photographer, designer, and installation artist Barbara Bloom (b. 1951)
has built her career out of questioning appearances, exploring the desire
for possessions, and commenting on the act of collecting.
Design
The Luxury of Time
There are few more desirable, or desired, possessions than a fine timepiece
and we look at the creation of very expensive and very intricate watches
by makers such as Breguet, Vacheron Constantin, Girard-Perregaux, Chopard,
etc.
Music
Symphony for 300 Guitars
Legendary minimalist composer Rhys Chatham is best known for his guitar
orchestras which can reach up to 400 participants and have been heard
in places like Sacre Coeur in Paris. Tim Gane, of the UK group Stereolab,
interviews the composer on the eve of his first appearance in Russia.
Exhibitions
The Last Romantic
Olyesia Turkina puts Timur Novikov in context: his life, work and importance.
Architecture
Geraldine Norman
The New Face of Russia
Norman Foster’s projects for Russia are set to change the way Russia and
the rest of the world see the country.
Art + Fashion
Andrew White
A Bull in the China Shop
Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Cartier and other luxury brands are now exhibiting
contemporary art and more often than not turning to important architects
to help them realize their vision.
Profile
Amei Wallach
Dreaming the Museum
On the occasion of a massive three-venue retrospective of Ilya and Emilia
Kabakov we look the significance of both the artists and the exhibition.
Trends
Pavel Chernomorsky
Factory Chic
In the post-industrial world, the buildings that once served to fuel the
rise of the great nations are now being re-purposed to function as beehives
of a different kind of activity: culture.
Photo Session
Karl Lagerfeld
Versailles in the Shadow of the Sun
Place
Tatiana Suvorova Sleeping Beauty
St. Petersburg, Dubai, Basel, London, Paris, New York, Miami, Shanghai…Our
guide of where to stay when visiting the world’s most important museums,
exhibitions and art fairs.
Terra Incognita
Bezeklik’s Buddha of Infinite Light
Of the greatest discoveries at Bezeklik, the court monastery of the Uighur
rulers whose state existed in Central Asia from the 6th to 12th centuries,
is a rare and uniquely virtuoso execution of a Pranidhi (Vow) composition
commissioned by a donor who hoped to attain enlightenment by following
Buddha’s Teaching.
Art + money:
Market Report
The latest news, events and announcements from the market
Regions
Peter Nagy
India Moving Into the World
A look at Indian contemporary art from inside.
Analysis
ArtTactics Indian Art Market Confidence Report
Recent survey of the volume of sales in Indian art and the prognosis for
the coming year.
Opinion
Christopher Gordon
A Recipe for Success?
A summary of the Hermitage Magazine panel discussion held at the Moscow
Fine Art Fair
Retrospective
Igor Arkhipov Europe’s
Tarnished Gleam
The fate of Konigsberg’s unique architectural monuments since the end
of WWII
Spotlight
Valery Sartor
A Nice Cuppa
The social, economic and aesthetic impact of the arrival of tea in Europe.
Listings
International exhibition diary
Important auctions
My Hermitage
Chris De Burgh
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