 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, form an alliance.
The Courtauld Institute of Art is delighted to announce an important alliance with The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. This exciting initiative links one of the world's most eminent teaching and research institutions with one of the world's great museums and has been made possible by a generous grant from the Edmond J Safra Philanthropic Foundation. This grant will not only support teaching and research at the Courtauld but also fund Edmond J Safra Visiting Curators from The State Hermitage Museum to the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. The grant also facilitates the Courtauld Institute of Art assuming responsibility for the Hermitage Rooms, currently administered by the Hermitage Development Trust, and its exhibition programme at Somerset House. Opened by HRH The Prince of Wales in November 2000, the Hermitage Rooms offer an introduction to Russia's leading museum through a series of exhibitions drawn from the Hermitage's world-renowned collections. Professor James Cuno, Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, said: "The generous grant from the Edmond J Safra Philanthropic Foundation strengthens our teaching and research mission and supports our effort to establish strategic alliances with distinguished institutions around the world. We are excited by the prospects of joint research, exhibition, publication and conservation programmes with the Hermitage and are pleased to be able to announce the establishment of Edmond J Safra Visiting Curators. These will be drawn from the Hermitage's expert curatorial staff and will provide us with the opportunity to develop projects together." Three diverse and stimulating exhibitions will be staged during this first exhibition season under the new Courtauld-Hermitage alliance. The first, St Petersburg: A 300th Birthday Tribute, People and Palaces in Photographs around 1900, opens at the end of May to mark the founding of the great city on 27 May 1703 by Peter the Great. This exhibition is curated by Tatyana Petrova, Keeper of Russian Photographs, and Galina Mirolyubova, Keeper of Russian Works on Paper, from The State Hermitage Museum.
The second exhibition, Peter Paul Rubens: A Touch of Brilliance, Oil Sketches and Related Works from The State Hermitage Museum and the Courtauld Institute Gallery, will be on view from September 2003 to February 2004. It has been jointly organised by Dr Joanna Woodall, Deputy Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art and Senior Lecturer in Netherlandish Art, Dr Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Senior Curator of the Courtauld Institute Gallery, Natalya Gritsay, Keeper of 17th-century Flemish Paintings, and Alexey Larionov, Keeper of Drawings of the Northern Schools 15th-17th centuries, both of The State Hermitage Museum. The exhibition draws on the extraordinary holdings of oil sketches and drawings by the baroque master Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in both the Courtauld and the Hermitage collections. The third exhibition, Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands, has been organised by Dr Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of The State Hermitage Museum and eminent scholar in Islamic art. The glory of Islamic art is celebrated in this small but dazzling show which presents works of art from two prestigious collections, The State Hermitage Museum and the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London. It will show how the fine and decorative arts of Islam - textiles, jewels, metalwork and ceramics - were used to glorify both God and human rulers. "These are only the first of an extended
series of exhibitions we are planning that will draw on the combined collections
and scholarly resources of both the Courtauld and the Hermitage,"
Professor Cuno said. "Our projects with the Hermitage are a manifestation
of our efforts to build partnerships with other universities, museums
and research centres around the world." The Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art, founded in 1932, is a major centre in Britain for the study of the history of Western art and has an outstanding international reputation. Since 1 August 2002 it has been a separately incorporated body as a College of the federal University of London. It has a teaching staff of thirty who between them cover the full range of arts and architecture of the Western world from classical antiquity to the present day, as well as the conservation of easel and wall paintings. The Courtauld was the only art history faculty in the United Kingdom to be awarded the highest grade, 5*, in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and received a rating of 23/24 in the 1997 Quality Assessment carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency. Some 400 students are currently at the Courtauld studying for their BA, Postgraduate Diploma, MA, MPhil, or PhD degrees. Many graduates of the Institute occupy prominent positions in museums, universities, conservation laboratories and the art trade throughout the world. The current directors of many of Britain's national art museums are Courtauld graduates. The Courtauld has a world-renowned collection of Western art from the medieval period to the first quarter of the 20th century as well as book and photographic libraries of equal renown. The Courtauld Institute of Art is also home to research centres and survey projects. It is housed in the distinguished North Block of Somerset House, built by Sir William Chambers in 1776-80 as a home for the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries as well as government offices including the Navy Board. Professor James Cuno became Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art in January 2003. A specialist in 19th-century French art, he was previously Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University, and Director of the Harvard University Art Museums. website design by Adaptive Technologies |
|
|
