Catherine the Great: A Lust for Art [The Hermitage: A Russian Odyssey Volume One]
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Product details
Actor: VariousEdition: VHS Tape
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 54 minutes
Release Date: 2000-06-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Homevision
Studio: Homevision
VHS Movie Reviews of Catherine the Great: A Lust for Art [The Hermitage: A Russian Odyssey Volume One]
Movie Review: The best documentary of the Hermitage Museum
Summary: 5 Stars
After viewing every video/DVD about the Hermitage that I could get my hands on since Christmas, I can say this one is the best. While others had some facet that detracted from the whole, such as over-analysis of individual works of art, inappropriate background music, bad camera work, unbalanced history examples, etc., this production excelled on every level. MacLeish's narration is heads above the other academics chosen for their respective docs, the soundtrack is pitch perfect with selection for the corresponding pieces or art, architecture of the museum itself, other parts of St.Petersburg or just the still photos as they help to explain Russian history, not only the museum's history. And the mix of it all, done so well, makes this the perfect documentary for students of Russian history, whether one has any interest in art or the Hermitage museum or not. I sought it out for the museum, but its presentation of the country's history is reason alone to purchase it, if you can't borrow it from your local library.
While the other videos/DVDs, most listed here on the amazon site, were disappointing in one way or another, a book about the museum "The Hermitage: The Biography of a Great Museum" by Geraldine Norman, is the next best thing for a companion piece. I'd leave the other documentaries alone, grab this wonderful 3-volume video set ($3.75 !) and try your local library for the Norman book. Both highly recommended.
Movie Review: Enthralling and informative
Summary: 5 Stars
Please read the informative editorial reviews given for the separate single tapes. I just wish to endorse this set of 3 tapes which are very worth watching. You not only get exposure to so many diverse and exquisite treasures of the collections, a feel for the whole museum, but also a pictorial and enthralling account of the Russian history as the background to the development and crisis of the museum. There is no analysis of any individual masterpiece. It is an excellent introduction to anyone interested in St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum.Movie Review: An Impressive Accomplishment
Summary: 5 Stars
These three tapes do a fine job of placing the development of the Hermitage within the context of Russian history. Having viewed "The Face of Russia" 3-tape series just a few weeks before, I found this series to be substantially better, although more limited in its scope.
Summary of Catherine the Great: A Lust for Art [The Hermitage: A Russian Odyssey Volume One]
With stunning art and dramatic readings from Catherine the Great's diaries, this intriguing program investigates a self-professed "glutton for beauty," who feasted daily on Rembrandts, Rubens, and Bruegels. Like her predecessor Peter the Great, who built St. Petersburg with the best Europe had to offer, Catherine ruled Russia with an insatiable appetite for Western culture. She cunningly purchased massive art collections from Europe's monarchs, then created the Hermitage Museum in the Winter Palace (1754-1762) to house her treasures. In less than 40 years, she acquired more masterpieces than the Louvre had amassed in four centuries. From the construction of a dazzling capital city to the shocking Palace murder of Czar Peter II, Catherine the Great illuminates the world of opulence and intrigue only a czar could comprehend.This is the first of Rod McLeish's three-part series on the history of the Hermitage--St. Petersburg's and Russia's most important art museum, containing one of the greatest art collections in the world. McLeish uses the works inside the museum as a microcosm of the Russian history transpiring without, and he weaves a Russian history in and out of the wiles of the czars and czarinas who contributed to the collection. Catherine the Great was indeed the first true patron of the Hermitage's collections--she spent millions on acquiring mainly Western masterpieces; her collection of Dutch masters was particularly significant. The video balances its showcase of Catherine's collections with the opulent architecture that also became a trademark of her reign--interspersed with historical accounts of her 34-year reign. Ideal for the Russian history buff and the Russian art buff alike, Catherine the Great: Lust for Art will amuse and inform no end. --Erik Macki
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