Something was amiss in our visit to the Hermitage. We were told that the Impressionist paintings had been moved to another building. After the unpleasant visit on the first day, we were discouraged from going any further.

We decided to return today. The newly renovated building, in all its splendor, contained works from the Shchukin collection that included most of the French Impressionists and many more. The experience was completely different. We could take our time, enjoy each piece of work at our own leisure, and be among very few tourists or other visitors.

The General Staff Building is outside the Hermitage complex and was opened in June this year. They are still trouble shooting the building, so few people seem to have any information on what it is. This worked to our advantage, although there were no audio guides available. A visitor center was being prepared to handle a much larger volume of visitors, but it had not been implemented in the Hermitage complex yet. We appeared in the middle of this transition.

Here are a few of my favorite Matisses and Picassos from the Shchukin collection. They are absent titles and dates, except for those where I made notes.

You can read more about the collection here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Shchukin.

Period interiors were impeccably detailed and displayed:

A separate Art Nouveau exhibition displayed gifts to the Russian Royal Family:

The Hermitage is the revered museum in the world. There was always this nagging voice in the background after you’d “done” the Louvre, that there was another bigger and better collection somewhere east. For having acquired and displaying all the famous Western schools of art, from the Dutch Landscapes to Spanish portraiture to Italian Renaissance masters and beyond, the Hermitage is the big Kahuna.

Here are a few of the best. This is totally subjective, so you are in my hands.

Next… the rooms.

Then…my favorites. These have nothing to do with what’s important in history, but more to do with what I find unique from other museums I have seen. The only one I can relate to is the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. It had the replica of the Ishtar Gate there. It reminded me of the early beginnings of Western Art and examples of pre-European Art that I had never seen before.

For me, museum visits can be a religious, sublime experience. On the less raptured end, they can be pleasant visits where you come out feeling more informed or better connected to a particular culture. Once in awhile, it can be totally hideous. Our visit to the Hermitage unfortunately was in the latter category.

Gee Kin and I tried our best to tackle the Hermitage in a respectable way. However, the huge volume of cruise ship and foreign tour groups made it nearly impossible to see and enjoy the collection. There were more people taking selfies and photos in front of paintings than I can remember. I used to be annoyed by those using audio guides and standing in front of paintings as they listened to commentary. And I was one myself.

But these swarms of tourists take museum going to a new level. It makes you rethink your entire education and reason for going to museums in the first place. I have been to plenty of museums by now, and know that the quiet times are the best for viewing. But we failed to plan out our strategy, and at a moment of weakness decided to go in the afternoon instead of waiting for the following day.

And as for the experience….well, here are a few photos of what we went through to battle the crowds for a piece of the pie. Not pretty. These were were the forged battles that took place to see and appreciate the revered art I had learned as an undergrad. The pictures trace our experience– innocuous beginning, then quickly deteriorating to life in hell. H-E-L-P!!!!

In the end, I was satisfied with four hours and 4 miles (calculated on my Apple Watch) in the museum to see the pieces I did. As usual, Gee Kin had more questions than answers. His favorite piece was indicative of his experience at the museum.(See image below)

Aside from his getting chronic museum sickness, he continues to battle his problem without medication. Gee Kin thinks there are definitely better ways to give tourists without art training a quality experience.

When we took the kids through the Louvre a generation ago, I decided the best way for them to really see the voluminous collection was to focus on a few pieces that they could remember. I made a “scavenge hunt” of sorts for them. I seem to recall that one of the earliest and amazing internet sites was the material at the Alexandria Library in Egypt and the extensive art works that were catalogued there and available to the public. Remember Netscape and Mosaic, anyone?

On arrival at the Louvre, we broke into two teams and set a time limit and meeting point. Find the Venus of Milo, the Mona Lisa and a handful of other notable pieces. Gee Kin and I led our teams, ripping through the museum, literally racing. It didn’t matter what others thought of us. We wanted to win! Once we could find the handful on the list, we were exhilarated. Our girls vividly remember the fun we had at the Louvre, and the pieces they saw. Thankfully, they have each taken proper art history classes and got an understanding of the artwork they needed than from their schlocky mother. Melissa even majored in art history, so it couldn’t have been that bad an experience!

The annual Bouquets to Art exhibition at the De Young was a crowd pleaser and an eloquent pairing of floral artistry interpreting museum pieces. The flowers helped to provide a new dimension on and appreciation of a wide range of artwork, from classic paintings to three dimensional sculpture, Mayan gallery treasures, and signature Shaker furniture.

Friday at our local DeYoung Museum Exhibition from the Scottish National Gallery–an excellent array of the best including Impressionists. Scotland was at one time one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and this collection demonstrates its wealth and sophistication. I couldn’t resist taking pictures to capture the pieces for myself, so I thought I would share them. The exhibition will be shown until the end of May. If you are in the area, I highly recommend seeing it! The audio guide is also a worthwhile investment.
Below is a description of the Scottish painters from the exhibition.
Click on images to enlarge–these will enhance viewing and provide a better understanding of these exquisite paintings.

Above:
1. Allan Ramsay, Printer’s Wife
2. Portrait of Two Children, Van Dyck
3. Sir Joshua Reynolds, The Ladies Waldegrave, 1780
4. John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw,1892 (My favorite of the entire exhibition–a mesmerizing glare)

Above:
5. Sir Henry Raeburn, Colonel Altstadt MacDonnell, Glengarry Chief,1812 (Check out the regal kilt and purse here, that was preceded by pants!)
6. Sir Henry Raeburn, Rev. Robert Walker Skating on Duddington Loch, 1795
Other European painters from the National Gallery included:

Above:
7. Degas, Diego Martelli, 1879 Florentine Art critic
8. Monet, Poplars on the Epte, 1891
9. Seurat, La Luzerne St. Denis, 1884-85

Above:
10. Gauguin, Three Tahitians, 1899
11. Max Ernst, Young Girl showing the Head of her father 1927

Above:
12. Braque, The Candlestick, 1911
13. Vuillard, The Candlestick, 1900, (the artist lived with his mother who had a dressmaking and corset Shop)

To the left:
15. Kirchner, (member of die Brücke group, who wanted to form a bridge to the future)
Japanisches Theater 1909, from the Center Theater in Dresden. This is part of the German Expressionist movement shown at the MOMA in NYC earlier last month. I am teaching myself more about this and other periods of art history as I find examples and connect them to examples in prior exhibitions.

For a short video of Golden Gate Park from the top of the DeYoung Museum, go to https://youtu.be/GTg_BwXNyv4.