THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT n 2011 CONTENTS General Editor 4 A Year of the Queen of Spades Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, 6 The State Hermitage Museum. General Information Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 16 Awards Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, 18 Composition of the Hermitage Collections as of 1 January 2012 Doctor of Sciences (History) 31 Permanent Exhibitions 34 Temporary Exhibitions 74 Restoration and Conservation EDITORIAL BOARD: 98 Publications Mikhail Piotrovsky, 109 Electronic Editions and Video Films General Director of the State Hermitage Museum 110 Conferences Georgy Vilinbakhov, Deputy Director for Research 114 Dissertations Svetlana Adaksina, 116 Archaeological Expeditions Deputy Director, Chief Curator 126 Major Construction and Restoration of the Buildings Marina Antipova, 130 Structure of Visits to the State Hermitage in 2011 Deputy Director for Finance and Planning Alexei Bogdanov, 131 Educational Events Deputy Director for Maintenance 138 Special Development Programmes Vladimir Matveyev, 150 International Advisory Board of the State Hermitage Museum Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Development 152 Guests of the Hermitage Mikhail Novikov, Deputy Director for Construction 158 Hermitage Friends Organizations Mariam Dandamayeva, 164 Hermitage Friends’ Club Academic Secretary 166 Financial Statements of the State Hermitage Museum Yelena Zvyagintseva, 168 Principal Patrons and Sponsors of the State Hermitage Museum in 2011 Head of the Publishing Department 170 Staff Members of the State Hermitage Museum Larisa Korabelnikova, Head of the Press Service 175 Email Addresses of the State Hermitage Museum EXECUTIVE GROUP: Tatiana Baranova, Vera Chudinova, Mariam Dandamayeva, Yekaterina Danilina, Victor Faibisovich, Yevgenia Glinka, Larisa Korabelnikova, Yevgenia Kulikova, Svetlana Philippova, Yelena Zvyagintseva ISBN 978-5-93572-467-2 © The State Hermitage Museum, 2012 A YEAR OF THE QUEEN OF SPADES The unique Roads of Arabia exhibition was wonderfully successful. The combination of the latest archae- ological discoveries from the pre-Islamic period and monuments from the Muslim era attracted around 500,000 visitors and demonstrated the clear striving of a conservative country for greater openness to the world. The Aga Khan Foundation contributed masterpieces of Muslim art from its collection that will subsequently go on display to the public in a new museum in Toronto. At the same time, the Hermitage began preparations for 2014, when it will celebrate its 250th an- niversary. The appropriate decree was signed by the Russian President, a resolution passed by the Rus- sian Government and the new Statutes of the Hermitage adopted. Work is under way in the East Wing of the General Staff Building. Here a remarkable exhibition of Roman art from the excavations of Her- culaneum has been staged (part of the Year of Italy in Russia), public events have been held and a Youth Centre is located in the part of the building that is finished. The second stage of the Staraya Derevnya Centre for Restoration and Conservation is close to completion and work is under way on the project for the third stage. Large-scale work is planned in the Small Hermitage and the Reserve House. All the formal procedures for setting up the Hermitage Endowment Fund have been completed. It seems that the Hermitage is finding its niche and style in working with new art. The museum received as a gift a large collection of works by Dmitry Prigov and made its debut with it at the Venice Bien- nale, where an installation of Meissen porcelain was also shown. The Henry Moore exhibition made an impression by a dialogue between his sculptures and the Baroque patterns in the Courtyard of the Win- ter Palace and by the juxtaposition of his wartime drawings with the blockade drawings of Alexander Nikolsky. The Antony Gormley exhibition was a successful blend of ancient and contemporary sculpture, in a style that differed from similar experiments at the Louvre and Versailles. Finally, the exhibition of photographs by Annie Leibovitz, in the rooms of the Winter Palace where Alexander II died of his wounds, deservedly and expectedly attracted crowds of interested visitors. Future plans include an increase in the museum’s scientific activity, particularly in the publication of catalogues of the collections and art pieces from the collections expressing the characteristics of mu- seum science (“The Hermitage as Academy”). The Hermitage has begun to assimilate the field of pho- One of the outstanding museum events of 2011 was the acquisition of a beautiful eighteenth-century tography: this year has seen a scientific exhibition of daguerreotypes with a painstakingly prepared French toilet set made by Antoine Boullier. The special significance of this purchase is that the delight- catalogue of the collection and a dissertation. The always active Heraldry Seminar again confirmed the ful items originally belonged to Countess Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna – the inspiration for the Countess Hermitage’s avant-garde role in the practical and scientific development of this discipline. The Hermit- in Pushkin’s The Queen of Spades. This historical link was realized only in the Hermitage, and it was age style in the study of the East was continued by the international conferences “The Christian Orient” therefore possible to buy this rare work at a price the museum could afford. The Hermitage, with its and “Islam in Russia”. Several monographs presented a new level of study of “star” collections and ex- special style, has been a substantial player on the international art market for several years. hibits. One example of the scientific thoroughness and accessibility of the museum’s scientific approach I also see the recognition of this special style in the award of the State Prize – the country’s premier was the exhibition of its collection of prints by Piranesi. award – to three Hermitage clock restorers. They have brought sound and rhythm back to the museum’s The plans also include the development of the museum’s educational function, particularly via the Inter- rooms, and society has acknowledged that this is important. net (“The Hermitage as University”). The Hermitage Lecture Centre has long not been confined to the The special style was also evident in the Hermitage’s contributions to the Year of Italy in Russia and museum, while still preserving the magical aura of lectures in the Hermitage itself. The museum spares Russia in Italy and the Year of Spain in Russia and Russia in Spain. Our museum organized several exhi- no expense in publishing popular and inexpensive books, and this year has seen a sharp increase in elec- bitions in different locations – of Italian art in Kaliningrad, Vyborg and Yoshkar-Ola, and of Spanish art tronic publications. The magazine, newspaper, TV programme, radio and four music festivals have in Saratov and Kazan. Within the museum’s walls we had the major exhibition from the Prado, which been supplemented by a weekly programme on the “Echo of Moscow” radio station. The Hermitage was later echoed by the Hermitage in the Prado exhibition in Madrid. Both exhibitions were sensational is the basis for one chair at the European University and two in St. Petersburg State University. and were each visited by around 600,000 people. The exhibition of painting from Andalusia correspond- Unfortunately, philistines and the state apparatus have difficulty in appreciating the scientific and ed with an exhibition of archaeological treasures from the Hermitage in Alicante. educational functions of museums, seeing them exclusively as providing leisure and creating a tourist There was even more variety in the Italian events, held jointly with our Italian counterparts: an exhibi- product. tion of artists of Leonardo da Vinci’s school in Pavia, a concert in honour of Caravaggio’s The Lute The Hermitage is proving that none of this is possible without scientific and educational work. One should Player in Rome, the presentation of new catalogues of the Hermitage’s Italian collections, an exhibition not fail to recognize The Queen of Spades. of nineteenth-century Italian artists who are almost unknown to us, archaeological excavations in Sta- bia, shows of Rembrandt in Padua and Lotto in Venice. The Hermitage’s own collections formed the basis of a major exhibition about the art world in Rome in the second half of the 18th century. This year visitors to the Hermitage have had the opportunity to see three of the world’s best paintings – Giorgione’s La Tempesta, Vermeer’s The Love Letter and Giotto’s God the Father. These three paintings alone would have been sufficient for the year to be considered a success. There were also traditional historical-cultural exhibitions. The exhibition of Mikhail Lomonosov and the Mikhail Piotrovsky, time of Elizabeth I, Baroque in its richness, acted as a bridge to the famous exhibition held a century ago. Director of the State Hermitage Museum 4 5 THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM. GENERAL INFORMATION THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM. GENERAL INFORMATION FOUNDING OF THE MUSEUM General Staff building (former Ministry of Foreign Affairs The foundation date of the museum is considered to be 1764, when Empress Catherine the Great and Ministry of Finance building). 1819–1829 acquired an impressive collection of works (225 paintings) from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernest Architect, Carlo Rossi Gotzkowsky. Staraya Derevnya Centre for Restoration, Conservation and Storage The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, St. Catherine’s Day. The beginning of construction – 1990 STATUS OF THE HERMITAGE In a Decree by the President of the Russian Federation dated 18 December 1991 the State Hermitage MUSEUM SPACE Museum was included into a list of the objects of national heritage belonging to all the people Total area 183,820 sq. metres of the Russian Federation. Exhibition area 66,842 sq. metres In a Decree by the President of the Russian Federation dated 12 June 1996 the State Hermitage Storage area 45,000 sq.