EXPERT CURATION

Our privileged access tours were commissioned by Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky and Geraldine Norman in 2005, designed by Karine Hagen, and have been enjoyed by international art and culture enthusiasts since. They are the first and only programmes of their kind, representing privileged access to the Hermitage museum and its treasures under the guidance of leading museum scholars.

Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky – Director, The State Hermitage Museum

Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky was born in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1944. His father, Boris Borisovich Piotrovski, an eminent archaeologist was director of The State Hermitage Museum from 1964 to 1990. Mikhail Piotrovsky graduated with honours from the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad State University, specializing in Arabic Studies. He also attended Cairo University. He entered the Leningrad branch of the Institute for Oriental Studies as a research assistant in 1967 and worked there until 1991. In 1991 he became the Hermitage first deputy director with responsibility for research work. In July 1992 Mikhail Piotrovsky was appointed Director of the State Hermitage by government decree.

Geraldine Norman – Chief Executive, Hermitage Foundation, UK

After graduating from St. Anne’s College, Oxford, Geraldine joined the staff of The Times newspaper as a statistician in 1962. The construction of the Times-Sotheby index of art prices provided her introduction to art journalism. She was the Sale Room Correspondent for The Times from 1969 to 1987 and Art Market Correspondent for The Independent from 1987-1995. She was the first director of the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House in London. Her books include: The Hermitage: The Biography Of A Great Museum, The Sale of Works of Art, Nineteenth Century Painters and Painting, The Fake’s Progress (with Tom Keating and Frank Norman) and Biedermeier Painting.

Karine Hagen – Managing Director

Karine is Norwegian, with a Bachelors degree in Economics from Wellesley College, and a Masters from Stanford University. She was part of creating the first foreign exchange programme at Leningrad State University, where she spent a year studying Russian and Political Economy. Karine has been leading travel, cultural and business initiatives in Russia for 15 years. She set up and ran the first western owned outbound tour operator in Russia. Prior to that she was involved with the telecoms and software sectors both in Russia and in the United States. Karine is fluent in Russian and lives in St. Petersburg and London.

Julia Petrova – Operations Director

Julia Petrova and her team of experts manage every detail of the Glories experience in St. Petersburg. All are graduates with the highest honours from St. Petersburg University and fluent in both English and Russian, with deep insight into present and past St. Petersburg, Russian history and culture. They will be with you from the moment you arrive in Russia until the moment you depart, making sure your every need of comfort as well as knowledge, is catered to.

Tatyana Pasynkova – Lead Scholar

Tatyana Pasynkova leads the Hermitage curators/scholars selected for our privileged access tours. Ms Pasynkova has dedicated much of her life to the Hermitage and her passion for the museum is infectious. Her expert team of Valentina Vakhmenina and Elena Etsina are considered the most knowledgeable scholars at the Hermitage. Their expertise and passion for art scholarship and education are unsurpassed, and guarantee you the most qualified attention to this exclusive Hermitage experience.