Preparation of the permanent display for the Hermitage–Urals Centre

The centre’s exhibition and memorial block will be opening in the merchant Bardygin’s mansion at 11, Vainer Street, which housed the Hermitage’s evacuated collections during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45).

The rooms on the middle floor of the building will be used for a permanent display of works of Western European art, the majority of which were transferred from the Hermitage as a gift to the Sverdlovsk Picture Gallery (since 1988, the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts) in gratitude for the safekeeping of its collections during the war.

The core of the museum’s collection of Western European art had already formed in the first third of the 20th century, but the gift from the Hermitage substantially altered its composition. It was enriched with works from Classical Antiquity, paintings and sculptures by Western European artists, examples of artistic furniture, glassware, porcelain and bronze applied art.

Over the course of several months, staff from various departments of the Yekaterinburg museum were engaged in drawing up a plan for the new permanent display. A tremendous amount of work was performed to select the exhibits, to precisely establish their authorship and dates, to assess their state of preservation and documentation, and, finally, to compile a definitive list of the items to be included in the future permanent display. Thanks to these efforts, it has become possible to produce a visualization of the museum halls: the artworks selected for display are presented in the real-life setting and at the proper scale.

A considerable portion of the works will be going on show for the first time in many years. Visitors to the Hermitage–Urals Centre will be able to acquaint themselves with different periods in the development of European art, from Antiquity to the early 20th century, to view paintings, sculptures and works of decorative and applied art by Italian, Flemish, Dutch, German, French and British artists.