Hermitage •Amsterdam Exhibition Centre
One hundred days from the opening date – the first results

On Monday, September 28, 2009, the Hermitage•Amsterdam centre celebrated its first “anniversary”, one hundred days from the official opening of the centre to the public.

During this period the Russian Imperial Court exhibition was attended by more than 360,000 people.

The Amsterdam colleagues have carried out a research that showed that more than 80% of the visitors had come to the capital of the Netherlands specially to see the renewed Amstelhof and the Russian Imperial Court exhibition. One sixth of all the visitors have been foreign tourists.

Owing to a special programme of the Hermitage •Amsterdam centre entitled Become a Friend of the Hermitage! the number of the Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands have increased from 700 people at the moment of the opening to 3,500 people as of now.

On September 1, 2009, the day of the school year opening, the Hermitage for Children centre opened its doors. More than 20,000 pupils of various ages shall take part in the educational programmes of this centre for children. The interest towards the programmes of the educational centre is so big that the number of teachers has been increased from seven to twenty people. During their visit to the Russian Imperial Court exhibition the youngest visitors of the Hermitage• Amsterdam centre will be helped by ten assistants, who will also help them in choosing a programme.

At present the second exhibition, which is going to be devoted to the French Art of the beginning of XX Century, is being prepared; it will be entitled Pioneers of the Modern Art, and its opening is planned for March 2010. Among the guests of the Hermitage• Amsterdam centre there will be masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, van Dongen, Vlaminck, Derain from the collection of the State Hermitage.