NewsMuseums & Heritage
Cultural love-in between Italy and Russia sets ‘soft power’ alarm bells ringing
Growing unease as the special relationship between the two countries gains momentum during the Covid-19 crisis
FeatureSecond World War
What can we learn from museums during the Second World War?
On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, we look back at how art institutions adapted to wartime constraints, from tours without pictures to child's play
Analysiscoronavirus
Russian museums in crisis: State Hermitage projects losses of almost half its annual revenue after closing for two months
Loss of tourism and oil market crash because of coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc as institutions seek state help
FeatureDigital Age
On coronavirus lockdown? The top online museum and art tours to enjoy from home
If you are in self-isolation or your local galleries have closed, here are the best digital initiatives to feed your need for art
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Barcelona rejects plans for outpost of Russia’s State Hermitage Museum
Hermitage officials dismayed after city council refuses planning permission for new venue, citing multiple concerns
NewsRussia
Russian museums follow Putin’s call for satellites in the regions
The Hermitage has opened a branch in Siberia, the Pushkin is renovating a Constructivist landmark in Samara and more agreements are in the works
NewsConservation & Preservation
Looted in Germany by Stalin’s brigades, a restored goddess goes on view at the Hermitage
Bronze sculpture gets new wings in a collaboration with Berlin’s Antikensammlung
NewsMuseum attendance
Influx of millions of Chinese tourists wreaks havoc for Russian museums
Electronic visas pave the way for ever greater visitors numbers, creating major logistical problems at Tsarskoe Selo and the Hermitage
NewsPalmyra
Russia and Syria sign agreement to restore ancient city of Palmyra
Collaboration spearheaded by the State Hermitage Museum was made official in Damascus this week
NewsRussia
Putin grants Russian citizenship to collector Sergei Shchukin’s grandson ahead of blockbuster Pushkin show
André-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud urges Russia to reunite collection in Moscow
NewsState Hermitage Museum
St Petersburg's State Hermitage ponders Saudi Arabia satellite museum
The Hermitage will also expand its presence in Crimea with a new cultural centre planned in Sevastopol
NewsNational Gallery
'Exceptional loan' of Francesco Melzi painting from Russia comes to London's National Gallery
Unusual month-long display of recently restored work by Leonardo’s favourite and heir will be lent by the State Hermitage Museum
NewsLeonardo da Vinci
Italy secures loan of Leonardo da Vinci's Benois Madonna from Russia's Hermitage museum
There has been intense competition to borrow works by the artist during the 500th anniversary of his death this year
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage and Pushkin join forces to show stellar Russian collections of Modern art
The museums are pooling the divided collections of Sergei Shchukin and Morozov brothers for a quartet of exhibitions
BlogIn the frame
Achilles the Hermitage cat gets top tourism gong
PreviewExhibitions
Piero della Francesca exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum is largest ever—with 11 works
Half of movable works by Renaissance master included in St Petersburg show
NewsState Hermitage Museum
Putin demands ramping-up of cultural hub in annexed Crimea
State Hermitage Museum and Tretyakov are involved in arts centre in contested region
NewsConservation & Preservation
Pharmaceutical company pledges to restore beauty at the Hermitage
The Hungarian firm Gedeon Richter to fund three-year project to restore works from the Russian museum that relate to the concept of female beauty
NewsConservation & Preservation
Hermitage gets Caravaggio’s Lute Player back on song
First-ever major restoration for the artist’s only work in a Russian museum
News
Fashion display at Hermitage storage facility paves the way for textiles study centre
Peter the Great’s tailored justaucorps, Catherine the Great's gown and more on display in St Petersburg
NewsExhibitions
The Hermitage's big Russian Revolution show that nearly didn't happen
Museum in tsars' Winter Palace, symbol of Bolshevik takeover, only decided how to mark 1917 centenary in February
ArchiveFrancis Bacon
Bacon and his inspiration at the Hermitage
See the conversation in Norwich exhibition next Spring
ArchiveMuseums
Hermitage and Pushkin involve Putin in new museum row
The two institutions have clashed over the future of modern masterpieces
ArchiveFakes & copies
Scholars absent from State Hermitage Museum conference with controversial Degas bronzes on the agenda
Experts have been silenced by fears of legal action if doubts regarding the sculptures' legitimacy are voiced
ArchiveMuseums & Heritage
The Pinacothèque de Paris to form a partnership with the Hermitage and plans to display long-term loans from a group of international collectors
Collectors to create “museum collection”
ArchiveLeonardo da Vinci
Hermitage Leonardo bust taken hostage in restorer's cash dispute
The kidnapped statue has now been returned to the museum
ArchiveCharles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi’s art to go on rotating display at Hermitage
Works on loan from the British collector will go on display in a room named after him; Tate to send Turner Prize retrospective to Moscow
ArchiveSt Petersburg
Hermitage nears conclusion of deal with Iran securing multiple joint exhibitions
The museum's director maintains that the agreement is no major coup
ArchiveBooks
The political power of a painting
The story of Raphael’s St George and the Dragon
ArchiveNovember 2005
Siberian billionaire funds $3m Hermitage exhibition tour
Industrialist Oleg Deripaska has become the Russian museum’s most generous private donor—even if his support is part of a public relations initiative
ArchiveAndy Warhol
US aluminium giant sends Warhol to Russia
The Alcoa Corporation is marking its entry into Russia by funding the tour of a Warhol Museum show
ArchiveRestitution
Recent developments in restitution claims in Russia prove that some art theft is 'legitimate'; when it is committed by a government that is recognised by nations around the world
Unlike the heirs of Nazi victims, the descendants of collectors whose art was appropriated by the Bolsheviks are unlikely to have it returned
ArchiveKazimir Malevich
Malevich “Black square” goes to the Hermitage
The journey of the painting has ended
ArchiveMuseums
Costs of Afghan war may curtail promised State funding to struggling Hermitage Museum
Published accounts show that in 2000 the Hermitage raised 65% of its budget
ArchiveExhibitions
Warhol tour begins in Russia
Russia’s first Andy Warhol exhibition has opened at the State Hermitage Museum
ArchivePersian art
State Hermitage Museum's show of Iranian jewellery from Patti Birch's collection recalls an age where the export of archaeological finds was legal
The Shah's policy decreed that private individuals could sponsor excavations and keep a portion of the finds
ArchiveMuseums
Russian cultural institutions suffer collateral damage from the war in the Balkans
The director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, outlines the possible implications for his museum of the NATO campaign
ArchiveMuseums
A room full of MoMA in St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum
This marks the first in a series of planned loans of modern and contemporary American works from MoMA to the Hermitage
ArchiveState Hermitage Museum
The Hermitage proposes a Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts. $150 million wanted for joint commercial/museum scheme
British architect, Christopher Seddon, is the project manager
ArchiveRestitution
Twenty-five Hermitage “treasures” gained as war loot still unclaimed
Watercolours and drawings seized by the Red Army in a Berlin bunker in 1945 have been on show in the Hermitage earlier this year for the first time
ArchiveRestitution
Hermitage to exhibit Bremen Old Master drawings
Director does not foresee restitution to Germany
CommentCultural policy
Mikhail Piotrovsky—Hermitage chief for 26 years—is an Old Master of diplomacy
Russian museum is pursuing global expansion with long-term plans under way for Barcelona and China
Alison Cole