Visiting the General Staff Building, St Petersburg
Recently opened and wowing crowds, you need to find the time to visit the General Staff Building @ the Hermitage.
Ticking things off your list? Well, the list just got bigger with a whole new building housing even more art opposite the Hermitage on Palace Square, St. Petersburg. This huge plaza known as the General Staff Building has been home to government ministries and Soviet-era agencies but these have all been replaced with more magnificent types: Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky and some of the most marvellous European Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Highlights include:
- Two Matisse rooms with beautifully arranged admired works such as Red Room - Harmony in Red, (1908), Music (1910) and Dance (1909 - 10)
- Picassos from all periods
- An entire hall with 14 Claude Monet paintings
- Degas, Pissarro, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir & much more
- Contemporary & controversial art exhibits
This building has been extensively restored and boldly remodelled into a very contemporary art gallery. There are glass roofs over the interior courtyards, lots of slick embellishments and a huge grand staircase that doubles as an amphitheatre for performances.
This gallery was opened to mark the Hermitage's 250th anniversary and can be included in our tours of St. Petersburg. Note, that the gallery is closed on Monday and like the Hermitage, is opened late on a Wednesday night. Your schedule has just got a lot tighter during your stay in St. Petersburg.