Dvortsy Ermitazha v sovetskii period (The Hermitage palaces in the Soviet period)
St. Petersburg: Herm, 2018. Sewn cl. This is the first complete edition of the monograph written by the Hermitage Museum’s chief architect who was responsible from 1925 to 1950 for transforming the Winter Palace into a museum with galleries that would reconcile at least partial preservation of the interiors of the eighteenth-century palace and the needs of exhibiting the museum’s vast art collections. Some criticize Sivkov’s work for sacrificing historical spaces and others praise him for creating a modern museum space with minimal damage to the historical setting. New commentary amplifies and give perspective to the manuscript written in the 1950s, and copious illustrations consisting of archival photos and drawings of the interiors of the Winter Palace as residence and the same spaces after their conversion to galleries demonstrate the scale of the undertaking. Among of the themes of chapters are The New Hermitage and the Winter Palace before the February revolution; Storm of the Winter Palace; the Hermitage after the October Revolution; the Winter Palace reconstructed as part of the Hermitage Museum and the first exhibitions after the October revolution; reconstruction of the Winter Palace, the Old, and the New Hermitage; the Hermitage during World War II and the blockade; return of evacuated works to the museum. 547 p., approx. 400 color and b/w illus., Rus. with title page and summary in ENGLISH. Item #3153
ISBN: 9785935727888
Price: $94.00