The exhibition La Belle Epoque: European Art of the Turn of the 20th Century from the Collection of the State Hermitage Museum was unveiled at the Hermitage–Kazan Centre on November 28. This is the central event of the second Hermitage Days, marking the third collaborative project between the Republic of Tatarstan and the State Hermitage Museum hosted at the Kazan Kremlin.
The exhibition highlights the artistic vibrancy of Paris from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the start of World War I in 1914, a period when Paris stood as Europe’s cultural epicenter.
Divided into seven sections: “Landscape”, “Outdoor Leisure”, “Amusements”, “Paris”, “Portraits of the Era”, “Beauties” and “Art Nouveau”, the exhibition features 175 paintings, drawings, prints and decorative art pieces from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum. Alongside notable works by artists such as Paul Gauguin, Edgar Degas, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the exhibition also showcases paintings by Salon artists, who were once celebrated figures of the Belle Époque.
To enhance the experience, five custom-designed scent installations, interactive multimedia zones, and several tactile stations for visually impaired visitors have been specially created for the exhibition.
Since some of the exhibits cannot be exposed to light for long periods, the display will be refreshed every three months.
“The exhibition is unique in its composition and its twist on the theme. It tells how much richer and more varied the artistic life of France was than the existing stereotype about the revolution brought about by the Impressionists. It also shows once again how many different aspects and meanings the Hermitage’s collections have, and how that complexity of presentation and perception finds expression precisely in such pleasant, but thematically focused exhibitions,” Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage, says.
The exhibition is open until September 14, 2025.
Source: State Hermitage Museum