As we stand in one of the Amstelhof’s two identical main galleries, it is easy to see how his vision will work. Visitors will enter from a basement-level gateway that faces onto the Amstel river, before crossing the shaded courtyard and entering the museum proper. From here they can choose their route, probably mounting the impressive, two metre-wide staircase towards the main galleries.
‘Have you ever been to the Winter Palace [in St Petersburg]?’ asks van Heeswijk, as we look down from the first-floor level. ‘There are lots of wide corridors and staircases there. That’s because much of life at the Russian court took place in the circulation spaces and when Catherine the Great received Kings and Queens from abroad they would have to come up from below to her level.’
The inspiration may be old, but the execution is definitely new. ‘In an architectural way we’ve tried to separate the old elevations from the new inner parts so you can clearly see the old and the new,’ says van Heeswijk. You mustn’t leave any doubt in the visitors’ minds about which is which. That’s why we’ve used different materials such as steel and glass for all the new parts – not brick and wood.’
The Hermitage will form part of an Amsterdam triumvirate with the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum that will keep art-loving visitors occupied for hours – days, even. Veen – in many ways the driving force behind the whole project – is understandably excited about the culmination of all that effort, which has, incidentally, seen him visit the Hermitage in St Petersburg a staggering 61 times. ‘It’s the fulfilment of a dream that we’ve managed together,’ he says.
It’s also an example of a successful public-private initiative, with funds sourced from the State of the Netherlands, the province of North Holland and private sponsors such as Fortis Bank and KPMG.
Thankfully for art lovers across western Europe, the deals were all done prior to the credit crunch hitting home – a fact of which Veen is well aware. ‘If I had to start now – forget it. There was an angel on my shoulder. We secured all the money we needed two years ago. Now I’m looking forward to 20 June. At 10am I’ll be welcoming the first visitors.’
The first 10 bi-annual exhibitions are already scheduled and sourced, with a collection of items from the Russian court of the 19th century beginning the process. What is noticeably absent from the list of future shows, at least for now, though, is anything that is focused on the Dutch Masters.
‘You can always go to the Rijksmuseen for those,’ says Veen. ‘We want to enrich the cultural climate of Amsterdam, not duplicate it.
‘This opening is the culmination of nearly two decades of planning,’ he adds. ‘At the same time it is a continuation of more than 300 years of close ties between Amsterdam and St Petersburg, going back to when Peter the Great first visited our city.’
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