THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT n 2013 CONTENTS General Editor 4 The Year of Extraordinary Exhibitions Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, 6 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, 20 Composition of the Hermitage Collection as of 1 January 2014 Doctor of History 42 Permanent Exhibitions 44 Temporary Exhibitions 92 Restoration and Conservation EDITORIAL BOARD: 117 Publications Mikhail Piotrovsky, 129 Electronic Editions and Video Films General Director of the State Hermitage Museum 130 Conferences Georgy Vilinbakhov, 135 Dissertations Defended Deputy Director for Research 136 Archaeological Expeditions Svetlana Adaksina, Deputy Director, Chief Curator 153 Major Construction and Restoration of the Buildings Marina Antipova, 164 Structure of Visits to the State Hermitage in 2013 Deputy Director for Finance and Planning 165 Educational Events Alexey Bogdanov, Deputy Director for Maintenance 175 Special Development Programmes Vladimir Matveyev, 184 International Advisory Board of the State Hermitage Museum Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Development 186 Guests of the Hermitage Mikhail Novikov, 194 Hermitage Friends Organisations Deputy Director for Construction 208 Hermitage Friends’ Club Mariam Dandamayeva, Academic Secretary 210 Financial Statements of the State Hermitage Museum Yelena Zvyagintseva, 212 Principal Patrons and Sponsors of the State Hermitage Museum in 2013 Head of the Publishing Department 214 Staff Members of the State Hermitage Museum Larissa Korabelnikova, 219 Email Addresses of the State Hermitage Museum Head of the Press Service EXECUTIVE GROUP: Tatiana Baranova, Alexander Butyagin, Vera Chudinova, Mariam Dandamayeva, Yekaterina Danilina, Victor Faibisovich, Larissa Korabelnikova, Yelena Kuzminykh, Regina Mamedova, Svetlana Philippova, Natalia Polevaya, Lyudmila Yershova, Yelena Zvyagintseva ISBN 978-5-93572-588-4 © The State Hermitage Museum, 2014 THE YEAR OF EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITIONS her visit since she would allegedly not be allowed to voice her opinion about the problem of trophy art. There was such eagerness to disrupt the event that it is still widely believed in Germany that the visit was cancelled. However, despite all the controversy, both Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin visited the exhibition, expressed their deeply-held and divergent opinions, and noted that museum workers were offering a good example to the politicians. There are very few works by German Expressionists at the Hermitage. This year, two different exhibitions provided a temporary solution to this problem. The Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace accommodated a grand display from the famous Albertina Museum in Vienna focus- ing on the art of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Oskar Kokoschka, Emil Nolde. The General Staff, meanwhile, housed the wonderful George Economou collection that introduced the public to masterpieces of the new Expressionists: Georg Baselitz, Neo Rauch, and Anselm Kiefer. In the Hermitage, everything is part of the whole, and even exhibitions serve to complement one another. After many years of scientific conservation and restoration, Titian’s The Flight into Egypt was a revelation – a first work by a great master that combines the splendour of the Venetian tradition with a brilliant study of Northern landscape art. After a short presentation, we took the painting to Venice so that the work of restorers and art historians could be put to the test of the special Italian appreciation and artistic instinct. Once again, we have demonstrated a special approach to something that is of interest both to the general public and the “gour- mets”. Venice was captivated. The majority of visitors are coming to the Hermitage to see its permanent displays. The free manner of display organisation, the open and innovative life of the museum nowa- This means that our museum can do what others like the Uffizi Gallery do and stage exhibi- days go hand in hand with a greater emphasis on procedure, administrative discussion, and tions that do not aim to draw in the crowds but rather cater for more refined tastes. This some- approval. This is only natural given that the museums are playing a more important role times implies a more limited audience, although some of these displays can turn out to be very in public life and receiving more funding from the Government. This year, for the first time popular. This year was very rich in these unusual events which are special to the Hermitage. in many years, three of the Hermitage issues were discussed by the collegium of the Ministry The exhibition entitled “From Guercino to Caravaggio” ended up being the fifth most popular for Culture. The museum development strategy, based on the concept of the Greater Hermit- event in the world for single-ticket museums, according to the “Arts Newspaper”. This means age and designed to ensure a dynamic and global accessibility of the museum’s collections, the fifth place in the world as a whole (545,000 visitors, 11,122 persons a day). The exhibition was discussed and approved. A separate discussion focused on the role of research in the Her- prepared in cooperation with our Italian partners contained superstar masterpieces, including mitage. The collegium’s decision, perhaps contrary to the current fashion, approved on the around ten Caravaggios from popular and private collections that are a real hit with the public principle of mandatory fundamental research as the basis for creating the museum’s cultural today. But the exhibition managed to tell both the story of the artists and that of the famous “product”. Another issue that was discussed concerned a different aspect of the museum’s collector and connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon who helped the world rediscover the art of the development, the architectural design for the next stage in the construction of the Hermitage Italian academic painting by collecting these works and donating them to museums. The exhi- in Staraya Derevnya, the “Cube” to house the Open Library and the Institute of Costume. bition highlighted the role of the museum and art studies within art history. This was an exhibi- All these discussions stimulate the debate which has a paramount importance for museum tion both for the masses and the “gourmets”. life and in which the Hermitage is meant to play a leading role. What is the criterion of a mu- A justly topical answer to the current mood in society was provided by the long-expected seum’s success? To comply with the figures somebody else came up with, or to be able to solve exhibition on the art and aesthetics of Russian freemasons. After a long gap, items from two one’s own problems? We are fighting for the second option to be recognised. The museum has famous collections of Dmitry Burylin and Fedor Plyushkin were put on display. Once they were to understand how many visitors, and what kind of visitors, it needs in order to fulfil its mis- saved by museum workers from being sent abroad and now they have been returned to the sion. The museum cares about providing free access to those who find it hard to come to the public at a time when the nature and role of freemasonry in our history is becoming a sensitive museum but who are needed by the museum. These people account for one third of visitors political and ideological issue. This is true for everyone, and especially for the connoisseurs. to the Hermitage. The museum maintains the balance between its functions as an academy, For many years, our Russian and German colleagues have worked together to prepare a very a university, a theatre, and a temple. The museum determines the atmosphere of the district, high-brow archaeological exhibition “The Bronze Age. Europe without Borders”. The Gen- the city, the country. This is something that is hard to gauge, but if anyone can measure it, eral Staff Building housed famous hoards and burials that shed the light on one of the most re- it should be the museums themselves. All they need to do is take stock of the previous twenty markable periods in European history. This was a feast for scholars’ eyes. However, the exhibi- five years. tion also had an unusual political aspect. It contained the so-called displaced cultural assets, The Hermitage is looking forward to a year of celebration. This year will help us to evaluate archaeological items that used to belong to German museums before the Second World War what our predecessors have done in 250 years and what we have been able to do over the last and are now in several Russian museums. There are many political and property-related dis- twenty five or so. putes around them. The Hermitage came up with the idea of laying these disagreements to one side and joining efforts to make these objects the focus of scholarly and museum attention. Several joint exhibitions were a product of this idea. A recipe for cooperation in an imperfect world was found. This academic initiative was appreciated by the politicians. The President of Russia and the Chancellor of Germany agreed to visit the opening of the exhibition at the Hermitage. Just be- Mikhail Piotrovsky, fore the opening, the German media launched a campaign calling on the Chancellor to cancel General Director of the State Hermitage Museum 4 5 STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM. GENERAL INFORMATION STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM. GENERAL INFORMATION FOUNDING OF THE MUSEUM Menshikov Palace. 1710–1727 The foundation date of the museum is considered to be 1764, when Empress Catherine the Great Architects, Giovanni Mario Fontana and Georg Schedel acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernest Gotzkowsky. “Staraya Derevnya” Centre for Restoration, Conservation and Storage The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, The beginning of construction – 1990 St. Catherine’s Day.