Hermitage in 2 hours
Posted by Max Dunn Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:09:07 GMT
We went through the Hermitage Museum in two hours today. There are a thousand rooms in the Hermitage and you would probably need to spend two hours in each one to get the full impact. Even the ceilings in many of the rooms were so fantastic that I always made it a point of looking up when I first entered each room.
What is art? I submit that art is something that creates a desirable emotion in us. Many times that emotion might be peace or tranquility or desire, but sometimes we might also enjoy art that creates anger, tension or confusion. And great art is that which can inspire these emotions in many different people, and continue to inspire us time and time again. But the full emotional impact of a work of art usually doesn’t hit us at first, especially if it is a style or artist that we are not familiar with. For me, it takes time to study a piece of art, learn about the nuances of the style and the period in which it was created, understand how it is similar or different from other pieces and grasp the artists master of skills to fully appreciate the work and let the emotions sink in. For others, none of this might be important but I still contend that it takes time to become comfortable with a piece and fully explore all of its intricacies in order for the full weight of emotions to come out.
So going through the Hermitage in 2 hours is destined to be a disappointing experience, since we will not be able to fully feel the emotional and creative weight of any of the pieces. It would be better to spend the same amount of time in just one room, or at least one area, to better experience the Hermitage and come away with a deeper understanding of the whole of it.