Chief at the exhibits: Mikhail Piotrovsky - 80
He has been at the helm of the State Hermitage for 32 years, and at the head of the Union of Museums he founded for 23 years. More than half a century in big science (if we count from the moment he defended his PhD thesis). While the numbers are weighty, of course, all this arithmetic does not reflect the true significance of Mikhail Piotrovsky's figure. Today he celebrates his 80th birthday, having just the other day opened a major new exhibition. And the art community is wondering how long Mikhail Borisovich will keep his post and to whom he will eventually hand over the reins of power (spoiler: candidate No. 1 is his son). "Izvestia" joins the numerous congratulations, recalls the past of the jubilee and predicts his future.
In the footsteps of his parents
Mikhail Piotrovsky was born in 1944 in the family of major Soviet scientists - archaeologists, orientalists Boris Piotrovsky and Ripsime Dzhanpoladyan. The boy followed in his parents' footsteps: in 1967 he graduated from the Arabic Philology Department of the Oriental Faculty of the Leningrad University and became an employee of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At that time his father had already been head of the Hermitage for several years. But Mikhail Borisovich began to build a career as an academic scientist rather than a museum employee. He completed postgraduate studies, went on archaeological expeditions, taught (including abroad - in Yemen), defended his PhD thesis and then his doctoral thesis.
He came to the Hermitage after the death of his father, who had been in charge of the museum for more than a quarter of a century. First Mikhail Borisovich became Deputy Director for Research, and in 1992 he took over as head of this giant and most important institution for the country at the most difficult time.
Later he told many times in interviews, broadcasts, and public speeches that at that moment his main task was simply to prevent the sale of Hermitage treasures: given the total chaos on the one hand and the sudden appearance of people with a lot of money on the other, this danger was by no means hypothetical.
Nevertheless, the "Russian Ark" emerged from the storms and continued to develop. As early as 1993, the Hermitage was given the eastern wing of the General Staff Building on Palace Square - today it is the museum's second most important building (after the Winter Palace, of course) and houses a collection of art from the 19th and 21st centuries, including Impressionists and Modernists. Since the early 2000s the Hermitage began to open representative offices in other countries (Great Britain, the USA, Italy, Holland) and in Russian regions. The collection was actively expanded, including Russian and contemporary art, which had not previously been considered the Hermitage's core collection.
Classics and modernity
By the way, Piotrovsky has been criticized for his attention to and affection for contemporary art on more than one occasion: a loud scandal was caused by the exhibition of Belgian provocateur artist Jan Fabre at the Hermitage in 2016, but in the end Mikhail Borisovich emerged from this story as a winner, having fiercely defended the rights of museums to show what they deem necessary. A year later, the Hermitage celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Revolution with a personal project by the German Anselm Kiefer, and in 2018 a retrospective of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov was held, to name just a few.
Exhibits at the exhibition "Jan Fabre: Knight of Despair - Warrior of Beauty" at the Hermitage Museum
Of course, one after another, the Hermitage has also hosted impressive exhibitions of old art. A relatively recent example is the joint project with the Pushkin Museum - a sensational tour of the Shchukin and Morozov collections. Masterpieces of Impressionists and Modernists, collected by Moscow merchants in the early 20th century, were successively seen in Moscow, Paris and St. Petersburg. And in the General Staff especially for the exhibition of Morozov's collection the interior of the musical living room of the mansion on Prechistenka with a panel by Maurice Denis was recreated as accurately as possible. To this day, this room adorns the permanent exhibition.
In 2022, after the beginning of the SWO, Piotrovsky imposed a moratorium on touring his exhibits abroad, and consequently on receiving works from abroad. It is understandable that for a museum that had originally focused on Western European art, this is a difficult step. But even in this situation the Hermitage manages to make impressive exhibitions. This year the art community unanimously praised "Ars Vivendi. Frans Snyders and Flemish Still Life of the 17th Century", and last Saturday, celebrating the 260th anniversary of the Hermitage itself, Piotrovsky opened a retrospective of the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.
The exhibition "Ars Vivendi. Frans Snyders and Flemish Still Life of the 17th Century" in the Hermitage Museum
Of course, it is impossible to enumerate all the bright projects and innovations: the museum and its director have traveled a long way over the past thirty-odd years. There were failures, passing exhibitions and controversial steps. But here is an eloquent statistic: for many years now the Hermitage has been at the top of the list of the most popular museums in the country. As a rule, it is overtaken by museums-reserves (Peterhof and so on) in terms of the number of tickets sold, but this is due to the existing restrictions on visiting the Winter Palace. Due to fire safety measures and, from 2020, also due to covid restrictions, the Hermitage cannot physically accept more than a certain number of visitors.
Five functions
One way or another, Piotrovsky has always emphasized that the key task of a museum is not to attract the public at all, but to preserve values.
- A museum has five functions: to collect, to store, to study, to restore, to exhibit. And they are roughly equal in importance. But still the main thing is that we have to preserve the artifacts we have inherited and pass them on to the next generation. These things do not belong to us or to the state. And a clever collector says: "I am not the owner, I am the keeper of these objects", - explained Mikhail Borisovich "Izvestia".
He is faithful to this mission both in the Hermitage and in the Union of Museums, an institution that consistently defends the interests of museum institutions and employees before the state. Piotrovsky has been president of the Union since its foundation and up to the present day.
Director General of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky at the exhibition "After Impressionism"
He is also Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at St. Petersburg State University (SPbSU), member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts - and this is not a complete list. By the age of 80, Mikhail Piotrovsky has not only not lost his authority and influence, but, on the contrary, has become something like the Pope of Rome in the museum world - a figure with whom it is pointless to compete, let alone the idea of replacing him . None of the museum directors had such an apparatus weight. Not even Irina Antonova at the Pushkin Museum (incidentally, one of the reasons for her resignation could have been, as it is believed, too ardent defense of the idea of returning the Impressionist collections to Moscow, which Piotrovsky strongly opposed).
That is why timid discussions about who might one day succeed Mikhail Borisovich at the head of the Hermitage have always been met with the essential caveat: "to succeed him when he wants to. It is clear that no one is eternal, but this prospect, even despite all the other museum reshuffles, seemed remote and theoretical. The eventual background, however, did indeed favor reforms.
A manager instead of a scientist
In the last two years alone , three of the four largest art museums in Russia have changed their leadership: in the Tretyakov Gallery, Elena Pronicheva took over from Zelfira Tregulova, in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Marina Loshak gave way to Elizaveta Likhacheva, and in the Russian Museum Vladimir Gusev moved to the position of president, giving the directorship to Alla Manilova. The logic behind these changes is quite clear. At the helm of key institutions, the authorities want to see not scientific luminaries, not star curators, but strong managers who will delegate the creative part to specialized deputies, and themselves will deal with more down-to-earth issues.
Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Elizaveta Likhacheva
Yes, this is only partially true of Elizaveta Likhacheva: coming from the Museum of Architecture, she has retained her curatorial and scientific ambitions, but it seems that her main task is not blockbuster exhibitions, but solving problems with the construction of the museum campus. Elena Pronicheva (reconstruction of the building on Krymsky Val) and the director of the Hermitage, whoever he may be, face similar challenges. Here, too, there is a problematic construction site - the Exchange building on the arrow of Vasilyevsky Island, which was handed over to the Hermitage in 2014 but never opened, but has repeatedly found itself at the center of corruption scandals. This is in addition to all sorts of smaller economic issues that require attention.
On this basis, it is clear that if Mikhail Piotrovsky leaves the directorship in the foreseeable future, it will most likely be to an effective manager who has experience of working not in scientific institutions (as Mikhail Borisovich himself had by the early 1990s), but in government bodies. And here the most likely candidate looks like his son, Boris Piotrovsky, who is now vice-governor of St. Petersburg and responsible for culture.
A son for his father
Unlike his father, he did not build an academic career, but consistently developed as a manager. What distinguishes Piotrovsky Jr. from other "outside" managers is his deep understanding of internal museum processes and his childhood commitment to the ideals of museum work. In other words, his kinship with the two previous directors of the Hermitage is important not because of his surname as such, but because at the very least he will not put financial and other formal indicators above all else, acting according to the principle of "do no harm.
Boris Piotrovsky, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg
In addition, obviously, this will ensure the gentlest and smoothest possible transit of power. It is almost certain that Piotrovsky Senior will get the post of president (as it happened earlier with Irina Antonova and then with Vladimir Gusev), but he will retain real control over the situation and at least for the first time (and maybe for years) will participate in making all key decisions.
Talks that such plans are being worked out have been heard for a long time. But recently, Mikhail Borisovich himself added fuel to the fire, saying at a meeting with the press that the museum is "preparing a change of guard". Then, however, he refused to develop the topic and comment on his remark. "I do not discuss rumors, the post of director is occupied, " he told Izvestia.
State representatives also emphasize that there is nothing to talk about yet.
- I think there is no replacement for Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky at the moment. There is no such figure who could preserve and develop the Hermitage and at the same time conduct a constructive dialog with the professional community, the authorities, and the public," Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation, told Izvestia.
Visitors near the painting "Madonna in the Rocks" in the State Hermitage Museum
Izvestia's sources in the St. Petersburg museum community, however, claim that the issue of a successor is being discussed, and quite actively. The intrigue is whether Piotrovsky Sr. has managed to convince the country's leadership of the correctness of the idea of handing over the post to his son (recall that the director of the Hermitage is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture, but it is impossible to make such a decision without the authorization of the head of state). If so, then the phrase about "changing the guard" could have been just an announcement of the coming changes and preparation of public opinion. If not, then perhaps the message was different: "Yes, yes, I am thinking about a successor, and one day it will happen, but not now".
Stay forever
When Mikhail Piotrovsky was celebrating his 25th anniversary as director, he said in an interview with Izvestia: "It is important to note that all directors have worked for us for a long time. This is a peculiarity of the Hermitage that sets it apart from many museums around the world: people who come to work here either leave quickly or stay here forever.
These words sound especially eloquent today. Whoever becomes the next Director of the Hermitage, it is safe to say that Mikhail Piotrovsky will remain at the museum forever. Time will tell whether he will retain all the levers of management or whether he will limit himself to representative functions and pay more attention to scientific work.
Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky gave an interview to Izvestia newspaper
But there is no doubt that his work in his current position is highly appreciated and respected at all levels. Another proof of this is the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the first degree, awarded to Mikhail Piotrovsky on his jubilee. So his opinion on personnel and other important issues will certainly be listened to in any case.
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