Hermitage Museum opens new branch in Amsterdam

Going Dutch
The State Hermitage Museum launches its newest international branch on the banks of the Amstel River.
By Galina Stolyarova - Moscow Times 2/28/04

By far Russia's most internationally active gallery, the State Hermitage Museum welcomes visitors Saturday to its newest overseas branch -- the Hermitage Amsterdam, located on the banks of the Amstel River in the Netherlands' capital. Joining the Hermitage Rooms in London's Somerset House and Las Vegas' Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, the Hermitage Amsterdam is third in the parent museum's growing line of international projects, confirming Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky's policy of "cultural expansion."

"The Hermitage is one of the four biggest museums in the world of the caliber of Madrid's Prado and Paris's Louvre," Piotrovsky said in a recent interview. "Our policy of opening branches abroad will help our fuller integration into the global cultural space."

Last Tuesday's ceremonial opening of the Hermitage Amsterdam was attended by Crown Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands and greeted by a festive atmosphere complete with fireworks over the Amstel River.

Piotrovsky first began thinking of establishing a series of western Hermitage satellites back in the early 1990s, embarking on a program of joint exhibitions with Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk church and exhibition center. Funds for opening a Dutch branch of the Hermitage were raised by the Hermitage on the Amstel Foundation, an organization created specifically for the purpose. So far, the foundation has attracted 39 million euros to cover the cost of establishing the museum.

The new exhibition center opens with a display of Greek gold from the Hermitage's treasure rooms found on expeditions to ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea area. The jewelry items on display date from the sixth to second century BC and are housed in the Neerlandia Building, whose six galleries total 500 square meters of floor space. The Neerlandia Building is only part of a larger group of galleries set to open in 2007 in the historic Amstelhof architectural complex.

Located on the banks of the Amstel, the main Amstelhof building is regarded as one of the finest examples of monumental Classical architecture in Amsterdam. Built in 1681-83 as a nursing home for old women, the mansion continued to cater to the elderly over the course of several renovations, and was only recently reworked to suit the future museum's needs. With its waterside location and Classical proportions, it bears a striking resemblance to its big brother in St. Petersburg.

"The Hermitage Amsterdam complex will consist of several buildings situated around a closed garden. The Neerlandia Building was built at the end of the 19th century and is beyond the main building," said Ernst Veen, president of the Foundation of Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands.

In addition to taking advantage of its rich art resources and architectural draw, the Hermitage Amsterdam will expand from exhibition center to community events, opening its doors to schools from southeast Amsterdam with a variety of children's workshops. The museum expects to receive at least 40,000 visitors per year before fully opening in 2007, with operating costs covered 50 percent by ticket sales and 50 percent by private fundraising. Tickets cost 6 euros, while children up to 16 years old can visit for free.

According to Veen, the plan for reconstruction was drafted by Hubert-Jan Henket, who also directed the restoration of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. "He has turned the Neerlandia into a spacious and light building," Veen said.

The interior of the galleries was designed by architect Wim Crouwel, a former director of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

"He has created a contemporary but elegant interior, completely the opposite of what the building was formerly like inside," Veen said. "The construction proceeded very quickly considering that the former occupants of the building left only on April 1, 2003."

The establishment of a Dutch Hermitage comes at the culmination of a longstanding exchange between the Netherlands and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Because of the Hermitage's impressive collection of Dutch and Flemish art, the Dutch count among the museum's most avid visitors and have been active sponsors of restoration and other development projects in St. Petersburg. In part, the new Dutch branch is in continuation of that relationship.

"The Hermitage has without any doubt the best collection of Dutch masters in the world," said Kees ter Horst, board member of the Foundation of Hermitage Friends in the Netherlands. "Our foundation would like to keep these magnificent paintings in excellent condition."

Nevertheless, the Hermitage apparently plans to keep its Dutch art in Russia in order to lure guests to its St. Petersburg headquarters. Dutch audiences in Amsterdam will be treated to other treasures from the Hermitage's giant collection, which numbers over 3 million items.

Among this year's planned exhibitions is an in-depth look at the lives and art collections of Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife, Alexandra. In 2005, Dutch audiences will see a collection of paintings by Venetian artists Tintoretto, Guardi, Canaletto and Tiepolo from the 16th through 18th centuries.

See www.hermitage.nl for further details.