The Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) is one of the world's great museums; we hope to see it someday maybe after a regime change. Anyhow, the holdings of the Hermitage are so vast--it can display only 5% at a time--that it has decided to set up Hermitage-outposts in other countries..Amsterdam's outpost is the first and still the largest. There are only temporary exhibits, but they were very well worth seeing, especially the Napoleon/Josephine/Alexander exhibit, which was spectacular for the authenticity of its items (e.g., N's saber from the Nile, J's dresses). Alas, there was a no fotos policy in force, so I have nothing much to show for the visit. But, of note: there was a bit of a triangle going here, among N, J, and Alexander, and Josephine was a big-time art collector; N was her curator. The other exhibition we saw was one of the great group portraits, as it were, from the Dutch Golden Age. Night Watch. There were a large hall full of them...and then an enchanting little contemporary parody. I did not want to like this museum, but ended up liking it very much.
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| Modest entrance to the Amsterdam Hermitage: it's in a large historic quadrangle that was once an old folks home; now completely renovated and with room for more |
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| The Napoleonic exhibition |
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| Thus |
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| My one clandestine foto from the N/J/A exhibit::from Josephine's collection...I never, ever, pass up a Claude Lorraine |
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| Moving right along now to another exhibit, group portraits from the Dutch Golden Age |
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| Thus |
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| And thus |
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| Women in black |
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| Hand signals |
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| A contemporary photographer. Taco Anema, came up with the idea of juxtaposing these with fotos of today's non-profit boards...of which there is a large and interesting exhibit...and of which I'll post just two close to my heart...here is the board of the Netherlands Federation for the Sciences and Humanities (humanities get more respect in your more mature countries) |
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| And the board of the Association of Sinti, Roma, and Caravan Dwellers in the Netherlands |
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| Moving right along from the Hermitage to our next destination, we again pass the Rembrandt statue and his Night Watch friends |
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| And the lobby of the Pathe Touschinski theatre, which we must tour next time we are here |
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