Hermitage art to get a week in New York

The Hermitage Museum housing the national collection of art begun by Catherine the Great will present a fund-raising exhibition in New York Sept. 20-27.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage, said the exhibit at the galleries of Sotheby's auction house was designed "to give Americans more awareness of the different aspects of the Hermitage collection" and will include many works never before seen outside Russia. He said the exhibit would be accompanied by concerts, lectures, and various educational programs.

Included in the exhibit of paintings, sculptures, and other art works will be 10 jeweled imperial masterpieces including a fantastic bouquet of flowers in a vase made in the 1740s by St. Petersburg craftsman Jeremiah Pausier. It is made of gold and precious and semi-precious stones and was first mention in an inventory begun by Empress Catherine in 1789.

Piotrovsky said it was the first of several "Hermitage Week" exhibits planned to raise funds for the renovation and expansion of the museum housed in St. Petersburg's Winter Palace on the Neva River and several other nearby historical buildings.

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