Exhibition of European art masterpieces from Russia and Austria opens in Vienna
RELEASE
Release
An opening ceremony for the “Old Masters from the Hermitage” exhibition took place today at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. The project marks the 50-year anniversary of Russian gas supplies to Austria.
The ceremony was attended by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, Federal Chancellor of Austria, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage Museum, and Sabine Haag, Director General of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.
The exhibition features acclaimed works from two of the world’s top museums – the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Each museum selected 14 paintings by Rembrandt, van Dyck, Tintoretto, Botticelli and other great masters, pairing up the artworks based on their authorship, themes or compositional arrangements. The event is held with support from Gazprom and OMV as part of the “Imperial Capitals: St. Petersburg – Vienna” joint project.
In the autumn of 2018, the exclusive exhibition will move to Russia’s Hermitage Museum, where it will be open through mid-January 2019.
Background
OMV AG is Gazprom’s main partner in Austria. The companies cooperate in gas production, transportation and supplies.
In 2016, Gazprom and OMV launched “Imperial Capitals: St. Petersburg – Vienna,” a joint cultural project uniting the art and history of Russia and Austria. In 2017, a theatrical gala performance was held at the Dmitry Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia. All money raised from ticket sales was donated to a charity foundation helping children with serious diseases. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, with support from the two companies, hosted an exhibition featuring three artworks by Peter Paul Rubens from the State Hermitage Museum. The Imperial Hofburg Palace also held a charity event – the Energy for Life Christmas Ball – to which more than 1,000 children from socially vulnerable groups had been invited. In addition, a New Year's charity ball was held at the Tavrichesky Palace in St. Petersburg.