Hermitage Amsterdam
Inaugural exhibition "At the Russian Court" presents more than 1,800 treasures from St Petersburg.
From June 20th 2009, 10 a.m., a major new European cultural destination, the greatly expanded Hermitage Amsterdam, will welcome visitors to its elegantly restored 17th-century building in the historic heart of Amsterdam.
Founded to bring the richness and grandeur of Russia’s artistic heritage to one of the West’s most charming capitals, this independent cultural institution will inaugurate its spacious new home — ten times the size of the previous building — with the exhibition At the Russian Court, a dazzling display of more than 1,800 treasures from the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
Hermitage Amsterdam is the only dedicated, independently managed venue in the West of St Petersburg’s magnificent State Hermitage Museum. At the Russian Court — a scholarly researched exploration of the opulent material culture, elaborate social hierarchy and richly layered traditions of the Tsarist court at its height in the 19th century — will remain on show from June 20th in the new institution until January 31st 2010.
Hermitage Amsterdam will then stage two large-scale, temporary exhibitions each year, drawing on the encyclopaedic collections and unparalleled scholarship of Russia’s museums to offer cultural riches that would otherwise be unavailable in Amsterdam.
masquerade costume of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna-‘Boyarina’, 1903
One entire exhibition wing of Hermitage Amsterdam will be devoted to the elaborate protocol of the nineteenth-century Russian court, with its public demonstrations of power and opulence. The other wing will tell the story of the grandiose dinners, parties and themed balls hosted by the tsars in the Hermitage.
Among the objects that will bring these subjects to life will be hundreds of exceptionally rich ball gowns and other costumes, magnificent court paintings by Franz Xaver Winterhalter and Ilya Repin, extraordinary items of furniture including the famous Romanov throne, impressive pieces of jewellery by makers such as Fabergé, vast and valuable dinner services and the last tsarina’s own grand piano.
Nikolai Bodarevski, Portrait of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, 1907, oil on canvas
This spectacular exhibition, which will occupy 2.200 square metres, has been designed by Merkx+Girod Architecten, whose previous work includes the recent Rijksmuseum Amsterdam exhibition The Masterpieces (2008) and the exhibition Morocco: 5,000 Years of Culture in De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam (2004).
Inspiration for the design has been drawn from the two most famous rooms in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, the Nicholas Hall and St George’s Hall. The decorations in these rooms will be reflected in the two great exhibition halls at the Hermitage Amsterdam.
The installation will include a number of interactive computer programmes, to offer information beyond the material found in the traditional text displays and the audio-tour. Another striking feature of the presentation will be the projection of images from the film Russian Ark, which was photographed entirely in the Hermitage in St Petersburg by the Russian director Alexander Sokurov. These images will combine with music and revolving display cases to create the impression of a nineteenth-century ball taking place within the Hermitage Amsterdam.
NO SMOKING AREA