THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT n 2015 CONTENTS General Editor 4 The Year of Zaha Hadid Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, 6 State Hermitage Museum. General Information Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 14 Awards Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor of St Petersburg State University, 20 The Composition of the Museum’s Collection Doctor of History 36 Permanent Displays 40 Temporary Exhibitions 80 Restoration and Conservation EDITORIAL BOARD: 96 Publications Mikhail Piotrovsky, 109 Electronic Editions, Video Films and Multimedia Projects General Director of the State Hermitage Museum 111 Conferences Georgy Vilinbakhov, 116 Archaeological Expeditions Deputy Director for Research 133 Major Construction and Restoration of Buildings Svetlana Adaksina, Deputy Director, Chief Curator 142 Structure of Visits to the State Hermitage in 2015 Marina Antipova, 143 Educational Events Deputy Director for Finance and Planning 156 Special Events Alexey Bogdanov, Deputy Director for Maintenance 162 Agreements Signed Mikhail Novikov, 166 International Advisory Board of the State Hermitage Museum Deputy Director for Construction 168 Guests of the Hermitage Mariam Dandamayeva, 174 Hermitage Friends’ Organisations Academic Secretary 188 Hermitage Friends’ Club Elena Zvyagintseva, Head of the Publishing Department 190 Financial Statements of the State Hermitage Museum Larissa Korabelnikova, 192 Principal Patrons and Sponsors of the State Hermitage Museum in 2015 Deputy Head of the History and Information Service 196 Staff Members of the State Hermitage Museum Ekaterina Sirakanian, Head of the Development Service EXECUTIVE GROUP: Tatiana Baranova, Alexander Butyagin, Vera Chudinova, Irina Dalekaya, Mariam Dandamayeva, Ekaterina Danilina, Ludmila Ershova, Victor Faybisovich, Larissa Korabelnikova, Elena Kuzminykh, Svetlana Philippova, Natalia Polevaya, Marina Stepanova, Elena Zvyagintseva © The State Hermitage Museum, 2017 THE YEAR OF ZAHA HADID In 2015 the Hermitage astonished itself by staging the exhibition of the great architect and designer This year’s world-class events include the Iranian Studies Congress and the Cultural and Legal Forums Zaha Hadid. It so happened that our “exhibition of the year” turned out to be the last retrospective which were organised with the participation of the Hermitage. The museum’s presence was making of this remarkable woman, who died soon afterwards. Zaha’s presence at the Hermitage was highly itself felt in the world through its Satellite Centres, exhibitions, Friends’ Societies, Hermitage Days symbolic. This devotee of Kazimir Malevich had received the renowned Pulitzer Prize in our museum. and numerous publications which offered a fair balance of popular books, research studies and exhibi- She herself supervised the design of the exhibition in the Nicholas Hall, which continued a new and tion catalogues. successful initiative of displaying contemporary architecture and design in our museum. It accords very A certain equilibrium can also be observed in the parameters of research types. The Hermitage organ- well with a function of the Hermitage, which is, among other things, an architectural encyclopaedia. ises around 25 field trips, 25 exhibitions and 25 conferences annually. This is a perfect benchmark. A fine exhibition of Finnish modernist architecture was also part of the same trend. The current 3,600,000 visitors are an optimal number. Over 4,000,000 make the space less comforta- This year, we have lost Vladimir Matveyev, a highly skilled and vibrant leader of the Hermitage ble. There is now also a stable ratio in the system of social privileges which is unique to the Hermitage. exhibition policy and innovative experiments. The museum’s achievements of the last twenty years are As many as 1,200,000 people can visit the museum and its exhibitions free of charge. Another 900,000 a direct tribute to his ability to come up with new ideas and to celebrate the new. may use the special offer extended to Russian citizens. 1,500,000 chose a full ticket. Officially, 2015 was the Year of Photography. We completed a huge joint project with the Mellon Foun- We continue to work on making visits to the museum easier for those who find it a challenge. And we dation, which made the Hermitage a leader in the restoration and artistic reinterpretation of photogra- try to make sure that our visitors do not inconvenience one another. phy. This gave rise to a series of exhibitions: “The Levitsky ‘Light Painting’”, the works of Candida Höfer, Steve McCurry, Xenia Nikolskaya. The historical and cultural field was represented by two “royal” exhibitions on the age of Catherine the Great (in the Hermitage and in Melbourne) and on Al- exander I, Napoleon and Josephine at the Hermitage • Amsterdam Centre. The exhibition “Francis Bacon and the Masters” travelled from the Hermitage to the UK. A shining example of the Hermitage approach to Muslim art was offered by the exhibition on the travels of Ibn Battuta. Art connoisseurs could relish Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette, a landscape by Gainsborough, an altar by Lorenzo Mikhail Piotrovsky Lotto, Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait, Barocci’s unusual Mary Madgalene. General Director of the State Hermitage The permanent exhibition space is being constantly changed by the presence of temporary displays and by their influence. In the General Staff Building, we have rooms with changeable elements: the Fabergé Rooms and the Cabinet of Artists’ Books. Another “named” room has been opened, ded- icated to the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. The Peter the Great Room is sparkling in a new light after restoration. The New Hermitage sculptures, polluted by the outside air, have been replaced with bronze copies, and the originals have become part of the monumental display in Staraya Derevnya, where new Classical Antiquity rooms have opened as well. The Pergamon and the Manège in the Small Hermitage are gradually coming alive, as is the Shuvalov Passage. 4 5 STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM. GENERAL INFORMATION 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 paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernest Gotzkowsky. Architect, Carlo Rossi The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, “Staraya Derevnya” Centre for Restoration, Conservation and Storage St Catherine’s Day. Completion of the first phase – 2003, completion of the second phase – 2012 STATUS OF THE HERMITAGE Stock Exchange. 1805–1810 Architect, Jean-François Thomas de Thomon In a Decree by the President of the Russian Federation dated 18 December 1991 the State Hermitage Museum was included into a list of the most valuable objects of national heritage. In a Decree by the President of the Russian Federation dated 12 June 1996 the State Hermitage MUSEUM SPACE Museum was placed under personal patronage of the President of the Russian Federation. Total area 233,345 m2 In a Decree (No. 984) dated 29 November 2011 the new Statutes of the State Hermitage Museum, Exhibition area 66,842 m2 as a federal government funded institution, were approved. According to the Statutes the Government Exhibition rooms 542 of the Russian Federation is to act as the museum founder. MAIN COLLECTIONS ENTERING THE MUSEUM SINCE ITS FOUNDATION OFFICIAL NAMES 1764 – Johann Ernest Gotzkowsky collection The State Hermitage Museum Federal Government Funded Cultural Institution; The State Hermitage 1769 – Count Heinrich von Bruhl collection Museum; The Hermitage 1772 – Baron Pierre Crozat collection In honour of the State Hermitage Museum, according to the Official Certificate of the International 1779 – Lord Walpole collection Astronomic Association and the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy of the Russian Academy 1781 – Count Baudouin collection of Sciences dated 11 April 1997, a minor planet registered in the International Catalogue of Minor 1787 – Cabinet of carved stones of Duke of Orleans Planets under No. 4758 was named Hermitage. 1814 – Collection of Josephine Beauharnais from the Malmaison Palace 1861 – Marquis Gian Pietro Campana collection LEGAL ADDRESS 1884 – Alexander Basilewski collection 34 Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya (Dvortsovaya Embankment), 190000 St Petersburg, 1885 – Collection of the Arsenal in Tsarskoye Selo (now the town of Pushkin) Russian Federation 1910 – Pyotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky collection After 1918 the Hermitage also received the socialised collections of the Russian aristocratic families Sheremetev, Stroganov, Shuvalov, Yusupov, as well as the famous collections ARCHITECTURAL COMPLEX OF THE MUSEUM of Sergey Shchukin and Ivan Morozov and others. The museum complex consists of the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, 1935 – Collection of the former Museum of the Baron Stieglitz Central Higher School Hermitage Theatre, New Hermitage, and Reserve (Storage) House (30–38 Dvortsovaya Embankment); of Technical Drawing Eastern Wing and the Arch of the General Staff Building (6–8 Palace Square); 1950 – Collection of banners and banners’ accessories, banners’ graphics, the archives Menshikov Palace (15 Universitetskaya Embankment); “Staraya Derevnya” Centre for Restoration, from the Artillery Historic Museum Conservation and Storage (37 Zausadebnaya Street); Imperial Porcelain Manufactory Museum, 2001 – Collection