Hermitage Exhibition Opens in Washington

An exhibition of works from the State Hermitage opened in Washington's National Museum on Tuesday evening. The exposition "Women in Art" comes as part of St. Petersburg's tercentenary celebrations and is dedicated to women artists of the 18th and 19th centuries who made a great contribution to Russian culture. The collection includes 49 works by women artists and sculptors, including Marie-Anne Callot, Angelica Kaufmann, Louise-Elisabet Vigee-Lebrun and Christina Robertson.

The director of the State Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, flew in specially for the opening ceremony on Tuesday evening. During a reception dedicated to the event at the Russian ambassador's residence, Piotrovsky said that although the Hermitage arranged exhibitions all over the world every year, including in the USA, the current event has particular significance because it comes on the eve of St. Petersburg's tercentenary. According to Piotrovsky, the exposition, "The Imperial Collection: Women-Artists from the State Hermitage," is the result of close co-operation between the Hermitage and American museums, including those in Washington.

Russian Ambassador to the USA Yuri Ushakov in his turn said that the Russian side was enthusiastic about the broad attention the American public was paying to the forthcoming anniversary. He said that the Hermitage exhibition at the Washington museum was one of a myriad of events that would be held in the USA to mark the tercentenary of Russia's northern capital.