THE HERMITAGE IN LONDON
The Hermitage has had a presence in London for nearly a decade and has offices at Somerset House, the beautiful 18th century palace on the Thames. As a registered charity (No. 1100096), the Friends are dedicated to working outside Russia for the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and promoting the Hermitage and Russian culture abroad.
Our principal priority lies in seeking sponsorship and fundraising from corporations, trusts, foundations and individuals for two main projects:
· support for the ‘Hermitage 20/21’ project, an ambitious scheme to extend the display of 20th century Western art and put high profile contemporary work on view in the Hermitage.
· the renovation of the Islamic galleries and support of the Islamic collection
We also run art history courses for Russian children living in London (click here), a travel service for members of the international Hermitage Friends Club (click here) and help run an annual gala banquet in the Winter Palace every June during the city’s White Nights.
OUR WORK
20/21
One of the most ambitious projects undertaken by any museum globally is 20/21. From 1917 to 2000 there were almost no acquisitions of contemporary Western art. The purpose of the campaign is to fill this gap by expanding the collection of 20th century art and display the very best of the 21st century art from Russia and internationally.
We have recently mounted two high profile and exceptionally successful exhibitions that have brought in new audiences to the Hermitage and put the museum on the world’s contemporary art map.
USA TODAY
24 October 2007- 13 January 2008
“USA Today”, an exhibition of new American art from the Saatchi Gallery, London, was chosen to launch the Hermitage Museum’s new initiative in the field of contemporary and modern art – the so-called ‘Hermitage 20/21’ project.
CHUCK CLOSE: SEVEN PORTRAITS
29 February – 13 April 2008
Seven monumental portraits – ranging in size from 2 to 3 meters – all executed in 2005-2007, including a portrait of former US President Bill Clinton, destined for donation to a major museum
THE ALIF FUND
Supporting one of the world’s great Islamic collections.
The magnificent collection covers a thousand years of Islamic art and culture, spanning the Arab World, Spain, Persia and the Indian sub-continent.
Calligraphy, textiles, jewellery, metalwork, ceramics and paintings – a collection supervised by the museum’s director, Professor Piotrovsky, an Arabist scholar, who has published widely on the subject.
To find out more about the Alif Fund and how you can support it, please contact us - info@hermitagefriends.org.
OTHER WORK
We also host a series of events throughout the year, including our annual London fundraising dinner, which was hosted by Sotheby’s in 2009, and the museum’s glamorous Summer Banquet. If you would like to be invited to these events, please contact us - info@hermitagefriends.org.
VISITING CURATORS
The London Friends recently launched a ‘Visiting Curator’ scheme, welcoming curators from the Hermitage who want to use London’s great wealth of museums and libraries to further their research interests. This spring two curators came to London.
Yulia Kagan from the Western European Art Department came over to work on her book, “The Art of Gemstones in Great Britain”, which will be published next year.
Elena Shishkova, Head of Paper Restoration Department, learned much about the restoration of Japanese scrolls by taking part in the Hirajama Studio‘s Collaborative Project for the Conservation of Japanese Paintings in the British Museum, together with the Association for Conservation of National Treasures in Japan.
The Visiting Curators scheme is an exceptionally important source of ongoing professional development for Hermitage curators, and costs approximately £35,000 annually to maintain. Any contributions, however small, will be greatly welcomed, and supporters will be able to meet individual curators to discuss specific aspects of the museum’s collection, and individual specialisms.