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report from st. petersberg

Post #513 • April 8, 2005, 10:36 AM • 8 Comments

Necee Regis, artist, Boston Globe correspondent, longtime Miami Beach resident, awesome human being, and friend, just returned from Russia with shots of the Hermitage. Her report, in her words, follows.

Forgive me if the image quality isn't up to snuff. [I fixed the levels a bit but otherwise left them alone, for sort of a cinema verite look. - F.] In my ten days in Russia I had one day of sun. This was it in St. Petersburg. The city and the Hermitage are all spiffed up, after the city's recent 300 year anniversary festivities. Here are a few highlights from the collection. Though I somehow missed the Caravaggio, damn. Check out the scale of this thing and you'll see how that was possible in an afternoon visit.

The Winter Palace, circa 1764, in Palace Square.

Yes, that's snow on the ground, and the Russian flag above.

This is the Malachite Room. The Russians were inspired by the decorative style of Louis XIV. Although this scene shows a fair amount of visitors, this was considered "not crowded" by our guide. Avoid visiting in the summer months!

There was a special exhibit with the curious title "Futurism, Novocento, Abstract, 20th Century Art." It was a mishmash of stuff, all over the place in quality. But one corner had NINE Morandi's, each titled "Still Life," from the 1940's and 1950's. Here are five.

The rest of these are from the permanent collection. Matisse, Dishes and Fruit, 1901.

Matisse, The Red Room, 1908.

Matisse, Conversation, 1909-12.

Matisse, View of Collioure, 1905. I was particularly interested in this, since I was in Collioure in 2003.

Matisse, Girl with Tulips, 1910.

Picasso, Head of Woman, 1903.

Picasso, Absinthe Drinker, 1901.

Soutine, Self-Portrait, 1920-21.

I have no idea on the date of this, but there was an entire hallway painted floor to ceiling with charming creatures.

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