20. Hermitage Friends' Club
I am now officially a "Friend" of the Hermitage. My donation will go toward conservation of the 17th century Dutch painting "Landscape With A Sand Slope" by Jan Wijnants. In return, I will be granted free admission for a year to the Winter Palace; General Staff Building; Menshikov Palace; Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory; and the Staraya Derevnya Restoration, Conservation, and Storage Center. I will also be invited to Friends-only exhibit openings and receive discounts at the museum gift shops and cafes. I plan to visit the Hermitage at least every month or two for the next year (likely much more frequently - I've already had four visits during my first month to three of the list above), so I expect to get the better end of the bargain.
A new temporary exhibit opened in the Winter Palace over the weekend: 30 new paintings by Anselm Kiefer dedicated to the Russian poet Velimir Khlebnikov. A member's-only viewing was scheduled for the afternoon, with the general public not admitted until two days later. It felt great to slide past busloads of tourists in some of the more popular galleries, step past the "Closed" sign, flash my member card, and then enjoy the three rooms of Nikolaevsky Hall (almost) all to myself. In 20 minutes, only 15 other people came into the galleries. For part of the time, I had one room all to myself - a rare occurrence in the Winter Palace during a weekend afternoon.
This picture of "Landscape With A Sand Slope" is from the internet rather than one I took myself - I suppose the painting is either in storage or the conservation lab at the moment.
And here are a bunch of pictures of the Anselm Kiefer exhibit:
A new temporary exhibit opened in the Winter Palace over the weekend: 30 new paintings by Anselm Kiefer dedicated to the Russian poet Velimir Khlebnikov. A member's-only viewing was scheduled for the afternoon, with the general public not admitted until two days later. It felt great to slide past busloads of tourists in some of the more popular galleries, step past the "Closed" sign, flash my member card, and then enjoy the three rooms of Nikolaevsky Hall (almost) all to myself. In 20 minutes, only 15 other people came into the galleries. For part of the time, I had one room all to myself - a rare occurrence in the Winter Palace during a weekend afternoon.
This picture of "Landscape With A Sand Slope" is from the internet rather than one I took myself - I suppose the painting is either in storage or the conservation lab at the moment.
And here are a bunch of pictures of the Anselm Kiefer exhibit:
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