To the Hermitage

July 31, 2015 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | ART | 0 Comments |

Musée_de_l'Hermitage (photo by Pierre Andre Leclercq)

July, 2015

If you can’t get to St Petersburg, or decline to chance flying over Russian air-space, this exhibition extract at Melbourne’s NGV is some small consolation.  You’d need a few weeks to skim the Hermitage collection; this one can be seen in a couple of hours.  It is a very small slice of a gigantic art hoard, one of the greatest collections in the world (celebrating its 250th year).  Of the cameos for example, none are from classical antiquity (those remain at home).

Here, in Melbourne, is no El Greco; no Gauguin; no Cranach; no Holbein; no Leonardo; no Raphael; no Caravaggio; no Caspar David Friedrich; no Tintoretto…and so on.  But there is still a glorious cache of very interesting stuff.  Apart from a selection reproduced below, we cite with particular admiration, Luncheon by Velasquez (thumb up!); Frans Snyders’ Hitchcock nightmare entitled Concert of Birds; a selection of beautiful filigreed toilette articles (we note the Ruskies drew the line at sending us any real jewels); Building of Noah’s Ark by Guido Reni; Portrait of a Young Woman by Titian; A saucy Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus by Reynolds; View of the Zwinger in Dresden by Bernardo Bellotto; Young Woman Trying on Earrings by Rembrandt; The Doctor’s Visit by Gabriel Metsu; Joseph Wright of Derby’s luminous Iron Forge Viewed from Without; and as follows:

Antoine Watteau, Le Savoyard et la marmotte (1716) (Before van Gogh?)

Antoine Watteau, Le Savoyard et la marmotte (1716) (Before van Gogh?)

 

Why we build roads: "The Carters" by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1620

Why we build roads: A lush and verdant “The Carters” by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1620

 

Anthony van Dyck's reality show of a happy family

Anthony van Dyck’s reality show of a happy family (c. 1619)

Rubens, Franciscan Monk

Rubens, Franciscan Monk 1615 -17

John as manic wilderness preacher by J Mengs

John as manic wilderness preacher by Anton Raphael Mengs, c.1774

Piotr_Potemkin (1682) by Godfrey Kneller

Piotr Potemkin (1682) by Godfrey Kneller – his descendent hoodwinked Catherine with a fake village

Portrait of a young Eric Idle c. 15C by

Portrait of a young Eric Idle c. 1512 by Domenico Capriolo

Pierre Dumoustier's portrait of a youth

Pierre Dumoustier’s portrait of a youth 1570 – 75

Jacob Philipp Hackert, battle scene with early CGI

Jacob Philipp Hackert, battle scene with early CGI sorting out the Turkish fleet, 1771.

Lady and sprat by Paris Bordone

Lady and sprat by Paris Bordone c.1530s

NOT by Leonardo....Donna Nuda

NOT by Leonardo….Donna Nuda

We add, as random thoughts, that:

–  Alexander Roslin’s portrait, and Jean-Antoine Houdon’s bust, of Catherine the Great, both make her appear more benign than the reality;

– There are some video loops in the exhibition, involving long tracking shots down sumptuous gilded Hermitage halls and a video tour of parts of the museum.  The immensity and magnificence of buildings and the loot was obviously meant to shock and awe, as a gesture towards geopolitics more than aesthetics;

– Many portraits, from 15C in particular, portray children as little adults;

– On this limited selection (did we say the selection was severely limited?), Peter Paul Rubens wins on points.

The Varnished Culture recommends this exhibition.

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