Thierry Morel on Art and Life in Late Imperial Palaces of Russia. Lecture by the American Friends of The Hermitage Museum

On June 9, 2020 the Hermitage Museum Foundation board member and art historian, Thierry Morel, discussed his new book co-authored with the Hermitage curator Elizaveta Renne: "The Splendor of St. Petersburg: Art & Life in Late Imperial Palaces of Russia" (Rizzoli in 2019), and legendary couple Prince and Princess Yusupov with David D'Arcy of The Observer. This online-event is a part of a three-program series arranged by the American Friends of The Hermitage Museum in partnership with the National Arts Club.

 The book provides readers with an unprecedented tour of the most stunning and architecturally significant palatial homes of Russia's nobility, many not previously photographed and inaccessible to visitors. Morel shows unparalleled access and meticulous research that went into writing the book and gives a glimpse into these private residences that are unsurpassed in their historical importance and artistic grandeur.            

 Video of the lecture in English is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzUL74B_VcY

Thierry Morel is a curator, author, and board member of the Hermitage Museum Foundation (USA). A Rhodes Scholar, he was educated at the universities of Paris and Oxford, where he graduated in law and history of art. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge and has done extensive research on the history of art collections and art provenance in Europe. He wrote and produced plays and films, among them Private View, a ten-part series of TV documentaries on art collectors. In 2013, he curated the groundbreaking exhibition Houghton Revisited and edited and contributed to the catalog Houghton Revisited: The Walpole Masterpieces from Catherine the Great's Hermitage.