Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rooms 298-301: English Art
These rooms showcase 15th- to 18th-century English art. Highlights include
The In-
fant Hercules Strangling the Serpents,
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which was commis-
sioned by Catherine the Great to symbolise the growing strength of Russia.
Portrait of
a Lady in Blue,
by Thomas Gainsborough, is perhaps the most famous piece in the
collection.
Third Floor Highlights
The 3rd floor will amaze anyone with an interest in 20th-century art. Featuring
everything from Impressionism to cubism, these galleries are many people's favour-
ite.
Rooms 316-320: Impressionists & Post-Impressionists
Inspired by Romanticism, a group of painters in the 1860s began experimenting with
painting modern life and landscapes, endeavouring to capture the overall effect of a
scene instead of being overly concerned with details. The new trend - radical in its
time - was known as Impressionism. After Impressionism, artists continued to use
thick brush strokes, vivid colours and real-life subject matter, but they were more
likely to use sharp lines and distorted shapes.
Room 316
Gaugin is famed for the primitive paintings that he created in Tahiti.
RUSSIAN ARK
Russian film director Alexander Sokurov celebrated the Hermitage's history in his
highly lauded film
Russian Ark
(2002). The viewer sees through the eyes of an un-
named narrator, a ghost who resides in the Winter Palace. The other character is a
19th-century visitor, the Marquis de Custine, who wrote extensively about his travels
to Russia. In one unedited sweep (the film was the first-ever feature length production
to be shot in one continuous take), the narrator guides the 'European' through 33
rooms of the Winter Palace and 300 years of Russian history.
Kazimir Malevich's (Room 334) is the most striking painting of the Petro-
grad avant-garde. Malevich created several variants of the simple black
square against a white background throughout his career, of which this
