and the travel brochure continues . . .
My greatest art stop in Saint Petersburg was at the Hermitage, the largest art museum in the world, with a collection of no less than 3 million objects, primarily housed in what used to be the Winter Palaces of the czars; which are interesting in themselves. It took me two entire days to get through what was on display, and the museum is impressive not only in quantity and variety but in the quality and historical importance of particularly the paintings on display. A highlight for me was an entire hall of just larger Rembrandt paintings including the “Prodigal Son.” Both the Italian and Dutch Renaissances are highly represented, as well as the 18th and 19th century French painting that dominated the tastes of the czars, and Baroque painting from Spain, Holland, and Italy. Other things of interest included many halls of varied craft objects from Eastern European antiquity that were almost entirely devoid of visitors.
On the upper floors is a collection of paintings from the early 20th century that includes work from just about every movement and famous artist that makes up the early Modernist canon of art history. People crowd in daily to get a look at Monet, Pisarro, Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, and early Picasso paintings among other things.
I found an interesting virtual tour of the collection. It is well made, but incredibly slow on my end.
Link.
My greatest art stop in Saint Petersburg was at the Hermitage, the largest art museum in the world, with a collection of no less than 3 million objects, primarily housed in what used to be the Winter Palaces of the czars; which are interesting in themselves. It took me two entire days to get through what was on display, and the museum is impressive not only in quantity and variety but in the quality and historical importance of particularly the paintings on display. A highlight for me was an entire hall of just larger Rembrandt paintings including the “Prodigal Son.” Both the Italian and Dutch Renaissances are highly represented, as well as the 18th and 19th century French painting that dominated the tastes of the czars, and Baroque painting from Spain, Holland, and Italy. Other things of interest included many halls of varied craft objects from Eastern European antiquity that were almost entirely devoid of visitors.
On the upper floors is a collection of paintings from the early 20th century that includes work from just about every movement and famous artist that makes up the early Modernist canon of art history. People crowd in daily to get a look at Monet, Pisarro, Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, and early Picasso paintings among other things.
I found an interesting virtual tour of the collection. It is well made, but incredibly slow on my end.
Link.
5 comments:
Yeah? I seem to remember Tracy saying you had a distaste for Rembrandt. I can see how the scumbling of bright colors over dark grounds, to achieve a certain luminosity, is related to your current work.
Their Matisse collection is darned good. The "Dance" painting by him is a preliminary work he did for the mural that is in the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
The scrolling, panoramic shots of many of the rooms of the museum are super-cool, but kind of a tease, because of their low resolution.
I was confused by your first comment. It may be that someone mixed up the Flemish painters with names that start with "R": I have an atagonistic attitude towards Peter Paul Rubens, but have always been drawn to Rembrandt, particularly as a draftsman.
I just met with an architect the other night who as a side project is designing a web interface for virtual gallery spaces targetted towards high end art institutions. I will post something about it as I learn more.
Ah-ha, no harm done, I was just under the impression that you didn't like Rembrandt.
I like him far more as a draftsman than as a painter, as well. I often find his colors boring and predictable. His saving grace as a painter lies in particularly lucid and intense passages of paint, usually where he hasn't smoothed out his drawing.
You must divulge details of this virtual reality gallery when there is enough to tell.
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