State Hermitage Museum: a new player art market

[Евгений]

05.03.10
Hermitage on the art market
Michael Piotrowski talks about his art-market ambitions, and how and what he is going to spend taxpayers' money, adding to the Hermitage collection ...

State Hermitage Museum has made the biggest acquisition in the last half century - the museum bought from the Parisian gallery "Popov" a unique collection of watercolor portraits of Russian porcelain and XVIII century. Apparently, this acquisition - the last for which the museum will have to pay VAT, as the long process of the abolition of import tax for Russian museums finally completed.

Thus, the Hermitage, and after him, and other customer contacts are becoming influential players in the art market. Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky told about the past, present and future building of the Hermitage collection.

- How is the latest addition to the Hermitage collection - graphics and porcelain from the gallery "Popov" - from all others, which in fact were a lot?

- Home - it is a great artistic and historical significance of the collection of Popov, its absolute uniqueness, as well as the fact that we have shown their willingness to pioneer and rapid action on the art market.

- Which means Hermitage makes its acquisitions?

- In recent years we have regularly allocates money from the earned our money. When there is an interesting exhibit, we are helping the Ministry of Culture. But there are exceptions. In an election in 1996, Boris Yeltsin promised the money to purchase items, and then Vladimir Putin when he was Chief of the Main Control Directorate of the President of Russia secured their receipt - then we laid that track, bought Soutine, Rouault, Dufy, Utrillo. Then, a series of museums also received funds for replenishment of collections - the Russian Museum and Tretyakov Gallery. Then it was a revolution of its kind. After Vladimir Potanin bought for the Hermitage "Black Square", we have a whole pool of fellow patrons. The last gift - drawings Felten - a project for the building of the Small Hermitage.

- Funds available to the Hermitage, is still not comparable, for example, with the possibilities of American museums?

- No museums can not compete with private collectors, billionaire who is now a lot. And besides, we should appear at auction - prices just soar. Once we Rostropovich competed for the snuffbox with the portrait of Count Orlov - and could not buy, he gave more. Incidentally, this snuff-box was once Alexander Popov - on the cover of his first book, this is the most Orel snuffbox. But snuff yet returned, it is now in the Constantine Palace.

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- So the Hermitage has always kept an eye on the art market and already knows how it work?

- Even without being able to buy at auctions, we always watched them very carefully. When it became aware of the auction collection Popov and appeared catalog, to me has been the custodians of our pilgrimage: let's buy this and that then, at least two or three things ... Scratching on susekam. Followed the auction via the Internet. But what is going, going for a lot of money. However, most first-class things remained - these are things from the personal collection gallery founder Alexander Popov, a collection of real professional. And we were able to immediately contact the gallery and quickly offer their version. We were quite ready for active service in the art market. It is very important that we have been able to buy it at a reasonable, "our", and costs and without commissions and middlemen. We paid, of course, less than it would cost at auction. But for us it is a lot of money. We have collected everything - and collective money sponsors (there is such a category, small amounts accumulate funds), and all our savings, and that has provided the Ministry of Culture. This case is a once in a hundred years, we had to stand up to the ears and buy. These things are completely contained in the scientific program of the Hermitage, it is our main theme. And this is especially important.

- Watercolors and Porcelain - the material is absolutely the "Hermitage." Does the museum in some other, less obvious ways?

- At the end of last year the museum the money the Ministry of Culture has acquired collection of photographs Briton Roger Fenton, one of the most famous photographers of the XIX century. They are made in Russia during the Crimean War. We are currently working (together with the Mellon Foundation) on a draft of a new repository for photographs, a special exhibition. This is our first attempt to find their way to the collection of photographs.

And we think about how to collect - not for money - the new art, such as West, the second half of XX century.

- How to do without money?

- Gifts of the authors may be. We have two installations of Ilya Kabakov donated after the show. There is a large western collectors, which theoretically can give a whole collection of contemporary art. This, of course, dreams, for it must be active, to show how good and beautiful we can do with this art work.

- And Russia's collectors have something to donate?

- They still too early to give, they need to gather to start. But we are talking about long-term display of works from Russian private collections. Now the museum is planning a large exhibition in the premises of the General Staff, and we expect her to ask for Russian paintings from private Russian collectors, and Western Europe - the Western.

- At the end of last year for museums to abolish the VAT. This involved the purchase of the Hermitage collection Popov?

- When we bought, it has not been canceled. But in connection with this purchase, I sent a few more lachrymose letters, including the president. I think that this played a role. While we long ago all the museum community to make it happen. Now try this wall (25 November 2009 amendment to FL-281: the abolition of VAT on importation of cultural property acquired by the federal or municipal budget for museums and other cultural institutions, as well as purchased as a gift from the relevant agencies .- Kommersant "), and Russia's museums can actively enter the art market and fill their collections abroad, if there are, of course, the necessary regulations.

Source: Kommersant