To sever its ties with Russia, the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam changes its name

The Hermitage in Amsterdam will change its name, the museum announced on Monday, which shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine severed its ties with Russia, ending decades of collaboration with the eponymous institution of Amsterdam. Saint PETERSBOURG.

The museum will be called from September 1, 2023 H’ART museum, and will work “in close collaboration with the British Museum, the Center Pompidou and the Smithsonian American Art Museum”, he announced. It is “a new start for the museum on the Amstel”, a river crossing the Dutch capital, added the institution in a press release.

The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg opened a branch in the Netherlands in 2009, located in the Amstelhof, a 17th century building. Then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended the inauguration. An autonomous and independent legal entity, it mounted two exhibitions a year with objects from the collection of the Russian institution.

The Hermitage in Amsterdam severed its ties with Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine. As a result, much of his collection had closed to the public. The museum, which in March 2022 declared "war destroys everything, even 30 years of collaboration", did not mention Russia in its press release published on Monday.

The first major exhibition at the H'ART museum, scheduled for mid-2024, will highlight the Russian-born painter Kandinsky (1866-1944), in collaboration with the Center Pompidou.

In 2025, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam, a major exhibition will be organized by the museum in collaboration with “The Leiden Collection”, an important private collection of Dutch art. “Never before have the 17 Rembrandts in this collection been admired in a single exhibition,” said the museum. "This is an exciting new step, this formula of contemporary and lasting collaboration," said museum director Annabelle Birnie, quoted in the press release. “We are leaning on our experience in the international field and spreading our wings,” she added.

The institution has a permanent collection on the history of the Amstelhof it occupies and the relations between the Netherlands and Russia. It houses collections from other museums like the Amsterdam Museum and the Rijksmuseum.