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Times of Oman
18 hours ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
National Museum hosts 'Neo-Russian Style' exhibition
Muscat — Within the frameworks of "The Russian Seasons,' the National Museum inaugurated today the "Neo-Russian Style" exhibition hosted in collaboration with the State Hermitage Museum, under the patronage of Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion. The exhibition, which will run until 2 November 2025, is dedicated to the bright period in the history of artistic life of the Russian Empire in the 1880s - 1910s, when "the Russian style" in art formed several decades earlier was experiencing its new rise. The features of the Neo-Russian style during the rule of the last emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II manifested themselves in the architecture of St. Petersburg, Moscow, large and small provincial towns of Russia, in works of painting, sculpture, decorative and applied art. Jamal Hassan Al Moosawi, Secretary General of the National Museum, stated in his opening speech that the inauguration of this exhibition comes as part of a series of cultural events under the Russian Cultural Seasons, reflecting the ongoing interaction with cultural and museological institutions in the Russian Federation to strengthen the bonds of cultural and museological cooperation — the most recent of which was the launch of the National Museum's website in the Russian language. He added: "As part of cultural diplomacy, work is underway on a number of joint projects and events with the Russian Ministry of Culture, including the hosting of musical seasons at Bayt al-Greiza this coming October, as well as cooperation with the State Tretyakov Gallery to organize an exhibition on the pioneers of Omani fine art. In the same context, there is also collaboration with the Moscow Kremlin Museums to present the exhibition 'Imperial Russia and the East,' in addition to the launch of a dedicated Omani publications corner at both Chechen State University and the National Library of Russia, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Russian Federation." On his turn, Oleg Vladimirovich Levin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Sultanate of Oman, stated in his speech that the exhibition sheds light on a period of Russian culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known as the peak of the "Russian style", which reflects the diversity of traditions of the Russian Empire as manifested in art, architecture, and daily life. He added that this exhibition represents an important step in strengthening the cultural dialogue between the Russian Federation and the Sultanate of Oman, as it demonstrates how art and tradition can serve as a bridge between nations in the pursuit of preserving the world's cultural heritage. During the ceremony, a video message from Professor Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum, was presented. In his address, he expressed his delight at the opening of the exhibition "Neo-Russian Style", which illustrates the development of Russian culture from the 1880s to the 1910s. The exhibition showcases remarkable examples of applied arts and historical masquerade costumes that were worn at court balls in Imperial Russia. He also referred to the opening of the second exhibition under the Hermitage Museum Corner initiative, entitled "Gifts of the Emirs of Bukhara and Central Asia to the Russian Imperial Court", and expressed his enthusiasm for the forthcoming exhibition in the "Oman Hall" at the State Hermitage Museum. The exhibits include gifts to the Russian monarchs: tray dishes, saltcellars and fans. These items, like a mirror, reflected the idea of the unity of the people, the Church and the Tsar, formulated in the Russian Empire back in the first third of the 19th century as the official ideological triad. Among the exhibits is a silver presentation dish presented to Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna by oilmen from the Absheron Peninsula during their visit to the Caucasus in 1888 CE. The dish was crafted in the Russian style at the renowned jewelry factory of Ivan Khlebnikov. The exhibition also features a silver presentation salt cellar with Lid presented to Emperor Nicholas Il upon his return from his Eastern journey between 1890 and 1891. It was produced at the famous Pavel Ovchinnikov factory in Moscow and gifted to the emperor by artisans from the Southern Ural region. Additionally, the exhibits include a lace fan made from Vologda bobbin lace, featuring the letter "M" engraved on a yellow Stain Pad in Wooden Case. The fan belonged to Empress Maria Feodorovna and it dated 1883 CE. Also, on display is a Portrait of a young woman wearing a traditional Russian outfit, including the kokoshnik headdress, painted by artist Sofya Yunker-Kramskaya, dating back to the early 20th century. Of particular interest are the character costumes designed for the popular Russian-style costume parties of the time and made in the capital's shops by the best tailors for representatives of the imperial family and the highest aristocracy. Such parties were held both in the modest homes of ordinary townspeople and in the luxurious mansions of the Russian nobility, in halls rented for one evening by all sorts of charitable organizations, as well as in the glittering grand ducal and tsarist residences. It was during balls and masquerades, when costumes were the main component of the festivities, that the luxury and splendor of the Russian imperial court were manifested to the full extent. The Yusupov princes whose costumes will be on display at the exhibition were said to be incomparable organizers of masquerades and "historical balls" in St Petersburg. The most famous court masquerade in the Russian style was the grand ball of 1903 in the Winter Palace which specifically symbolized the greatness of the Romanov dynasty and received a wide public response. The luxurious costume of Grand Duchess Ksenia Aleksandrovna, a sister of Emperor Nicholas II, demonstrates the best the specific features of "the Russian style" in the costume of the early 20th century. It is worth noting that the National Museum inaugurated, at the beginning of February this year, the second exhibition within the "State Hermitage Museum Corner" initiative, titled "Gifts of Bukharan and Central Asia Emirs to the Russian Imperial Court." The exhibition marks the first event of the "Russian Seasons" in the Sultanate of Oman. It focuses on the deep and longstanding ties between Russia and the peoples of the East, highlighting the unique gifts presented by Eastern rulers to the Russian Imperial Court. The second exhibition under the "Oman Hall" initiative, organized by the National Museum at the State Hermitage Museum and titled "The Omani Empire Between Asia and Africa," attracted a total of 414,481 visitors between December 2023 and January 2025, reflecting strong interest among visitors in the rich cultural heritage of Oman. The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg is one of the largest museums in the world, housing a collection of over three million artefacts. Established in 1764, it is also one of the oldest museums globally and one of the most important tourist landmarks in Russia. The museum is renowned for its vast complex, including the Winter Palace, a historical landmark in its own right. The museum's collection spans diverse cultures, featuring artworks from Eastern Europe, Russia, Ancient Greece and Rome, the Near and Far East, and Central Asia. It also houses an extensive numismatic collection covering antiquity to modern times, as well as weapons from Western Europe, the Middle East, and Russia, alongside numerous archaeological discoveries. Each year, the museum welcomes approximately (4) million visitors. Its (500) exhibition galleries display over seventeen thousand paintings, (12.000) thousand sculptures, more than 1 million coins and medals, (800.000) archaeological artefacts, and over (360.000) applied arts objects. Additionally, the museum holds more than (600.000) graphic art pieces, making it one of the world's most significant cultural institutions.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Leonard A. Lauder, philanthropist and cosmetics heir, dies at 92
In 2013, he pledged the most significant gift in the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a trove of nearly 80 cubist paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, and Juan Gris. Scholars put the value of the gift at $1 billion and said its quality rivaled or surpassed that of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Pompidou Center in Paris. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up After the gift was announced, he added another dozen major cubist works, The New York Times reported in a profile of Mr. Lauder last year. Advertisement Estée Lauder founded the company that bears her name in 1946 and would become the flamboyant public face of her empire, pitching its lipsticks, bath oils, face powders, and antiwrinkle creams with almost messianic zeal. Leonard Lauder, her eldest son, was the marketing expert and corporate strategist working in her shadow. Advertisement In a business reliant on imagery and mythmaking, his mother, the daughter of a Queens merchant, had created a genteel Hungarian aristocratic past for herself and a name to go with it. Josephine Esther Lauter, the wife of a luncheonette owner, thus became the glamorous Estée Lauder. Leonard Lauder joined his family's enterprise in 1958 after a formative hitch in the Navy and, colleagues said, was instrumental in devising its profitable strategies: developing multiple brands that effectively competed with one another; concentrating sales in high-end department stores as competitors focused on discount chains and drugstores; and driving expansion to untapped markets in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 'My dream,' he wrote in his memoir, 'The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty,' published in 2020, 'was to make Estée Lauder the General Motors of the beauty business, with multiple brands, multiple product lines and multinational distribution.' Estée Lauder's sales, which hovered around $800,000 a year when Mr. Lauder joined the company, soared to more than $16 billion for fiscal 2021, despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as he continued as senior member of the board. The company markets products under some 30 brand names in 150 countries around the world. Shares were publicly sold starting in 1995, but by January 2025 about 85 percent of the voting stock was still owned by members of the Lauder family, along with about 38 percent of the total common stock. Mr. Lauder became the company's president in 1972, was CEO from 1982 to 1999, and was named chair in 1995 and chair emeritus in 2009, when he retired. Along the way, he launched brands including Clinique, Aramis, Lab Series, and Origins. He also amassed a personal fortune of about $10.1 billion, according to Forbes, making him one of the 100 richest Americans. Advertisement He began a lifelong pursuit of art at the age of 6, when he spent his nickel allowance on a postcard of the Empire State Building. 'I can see that postcard today,' he told The New Yorker in 2012, adding that it turned him into a collector for life. He eventually acquired 125,000 postcards -- not the kind tourists buy, but artistic cards with lithographs and vintage photos depicting celebrities from the worlds of sports and fashion as well as images of war and historical events. 'I'm interested in popular culture and that's where postcards come in,' he told the Times in the 2024 profile. 'I love that they're the predecessor for so many things: email, Instagram, social media.' In 2002, Mr. Lauder gave the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston a collection of some 20,000 Japanese postcards to complement the museum's collection of Japanese woodblock prints, considered the most important outside of Japan. Eight years later, Mr. Lauder gave the MFA more than 100,000 postcards from the 1870s through just after World War II. When considering whether to bid on a work of art, he told the Times last year, he heard his mother's voice saying, 'You only regret what you do not buy.' Mr. Lauder for years quietly assembled a world-class collection with a focus on cubism, the movement that revolutionized modern art early in the 20th century. He bought many pieces from the collections of writer Gertrude Stein, Swiss banker Raoul La Roche, and British art historian Douglas Cooper. His collection, given without restrictions, filled an artistic gap for the Met and placed Mr. Lauder in a class with cornerstone contributors such as the Rockefellers and Annenbergs. Advertisement A trustee and later president and chair of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, he gave millions in money and art to the museum, including nearly 50 works by Jasper Johns. In 2008 he gave $131 million, the largest gift in the Whitney's history. That gift transformed the Whitney 'from a provincial New York institution to a world-class museum known for its extraordinary holdings of American art,' Carol Vogel wrote in the recent Times profile of Mr. Lauder. When the Whitney moved from its Madison Avenue location to its current home in the meatpacking district, it named its new building after him. Mr. Lauder, in New York in 1996. He would say of his relationship with his mother: 'It was so love-hate. I was her competitor, her senior partner, her manager." CHESTER HIGGINS JR./NYT Leonard Alan Lauter was born March 19, 1933, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the older of two sons of Joseph and Josephine Esther (Mentzer) Lauter. (The family name was changed not long after his birth.) His younger brother, Ronald, would serve as ambassador to Austria and run unsuccessfully for mayor of New York. In the Depression years, his father owned a small chain of luncheonettes and a silk business. During World War II, he and a partner sold military-style post-exchange supplies. His mother also worked, helping to sell an uncle's homemade face creams and fragrances in the 1930s. His parents, who were divorced in 1939 but remarried in 1942, founded their company after the war and for years struggled to make it profitable. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science in 1950, Leonard Lauder attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received a bachelor's degree in 1954. He joined the Navy, served on two warships and became a lieutenant junior grade. Advertisement After his discharge, he joined his mother's company. Although publicly deferential to her, he shared decision-making with her. She retired in 1995 and died in 2004 at 97. 'It was so love-hate,' he said of their relationship. 'I was her competitor, her senior partner, her manager. . . . I was able to identify what she did that was really good and build on her early success.' Mr. Lauder married Evelyn Hausner in 1959, and they had two children: William, who is chair of the board of Estée Lauder Cos., and Gary, managing director of Lauder Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Mr. Lauder, in 2024. JINGYU LIN/NYT Mr. Lauder's first wife died in 2011. In 2015, he married photographer Judith Glickman. She survives him, as do his sons, his brother, five grandchildren, two great-grandsons, and many stepchildren and stepgrandchildren. In addition to his home in New York, he had homes in Palm Beach, Fla., and Portland, Maine. He was a co-founder and chair of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and, with his first wife, a founder of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. For all his contributions to various causes, Mr. Lauder regarded himself as a frugal man with an eye on the bottom line. 'I use slivers of soap, I reuse paper clips, I use the backside of memos,' he told the Times in 2004. 'You can take the child out of the Depression, but you can't take the Depression out of the child.' Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Observer
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Observer
OMAN-RUSSIA COOPERATION REPRESENTS CULTURAL TIES
The cooperation between Oman and Russia has evolved significantly over the years, particularly in the realm of cultural exchange. This relationship is underscored by a mutual respect for each other's heritage and a commitment to fostering deeper ties through various cultural initiatives. Jamal bin Hassan al Mousawi, Secretary-General of the National Museum, expressed his pride in the cultural and museum cooperation between the National Museum; and various museums and cultural institutions in the Russian Federation, which reflects the depth of historical relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Russian Federation spanning centuries. He noted that this cooperation represents the culmination of both countries' efforts to strengthen cultural and civilisational ties. He stated: "The National Museum maintains distinguished relations with leading Russian museums, foremost among them the State Hermitage Museum, one of the largest and most prestigious museums in the world. This cooperation began in 2014 when Professor Dr Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director-General of the State Hermitage Museum, joined the Board of Trustees of the National Museum. This was followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in 2015, paving the way for numerous pioneering museum initiatives and culminating in the strategic relationship the two museums enjoy today." He pointed out that the qualitative initiatives implemented in cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum include hosting the "Oman Day" initiative in the Russian Federation in 2018, establishing the first "Oman Hall" in 2020 and hosting the "Hermitage Day" exhibition at the National Museum in 2019 for the first time. Additionally, the State Hermitage Museum has received several National Museum staff for training and qualification in various specialised museum fields, a collaboration that continues to this day. He touched upon the second exhibition under the "Hermitage Corner" initiative, titled "Gifts from the Emirs of Bukhara and the Khans of Central Asia to the Russian Imperial Court," which opened this year (2025) at the National Museum. This coincides with the exhibition "The Omani Empire Between Asia and Africa" in the "Oman Hall" at the State Hermitage Museum. Jamal bin Hassan Al Moosawi, Secretary-General of the National Museum He affirmed that these exhibitions enhance cultural exchange between the two friendly nations. He noted that the "Oman Hall" initiative at the State Hermitage Museum aligns with the National Museum's vision to introduce the world to Oman's civilisational, historical, cultural and scientific heritage at regional and international levels. This is one of the objectives outlined in Royal Decree No (62/2013) regarding the establishment of the National Museum and its system. The initiative includes signing long-term loan agreements with global museums to display Omani artefacts, most notably the "Oman Hall" at the State Hermitage Museum, which opened in 2020 and will continue for three to five years. He added that cultural initiatives include "Oman Day," an event lasting three to six months, featuring educational and cultural activities such as seminars, lectures and musical performances. Among its most notable recent events was the exhibition "Splendor of Silver: Treasures from the Omani Court," held at the Moscow Kremlin Museums in 2024, showcasing historical artefacts belonging to the Sultans of Oman in Muscat and Zanzibar. This reflects the National Museum's efforts to promote Omani civilisational and historical heritage globally. He continued: "Strategic cooperation was evident in the tripartite framework for preserving Syrian cultural heritage damaged during the years of crisis, through hosting conservation experts from the Hermitage in Muscat to restore Palmyrene artefacts. These artefacts are part of the archaeological site of Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage Site." He highlighted that, as part of displaying Omani artefacts abroad, the National Museum unveiled the original manuscript of a collection of maritime navigation poems (Al-Safaliya, Al-Mu'allaqiyya, Al-Ta'iyya) by the Omani navigator Shihab Al Din Ahmed bin Majid al Saadi, on loan from the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in St Petersburg in 2021. This made the manuscript available to the public after more than five centuries, as the oldest maritime manuscript in the world written by the Omani navigator himself. Al Mousawi mentioned that in 2023, three cultural cooperation agreements were signed with three museums: the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the Shchusev Museum of Architecture and the Tretyakov State Gallery, on the sidelines of the National Museum's participation in the 9th St Petersburg International Cultural Forum. Regarding cooperation with the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow, he announced ongoing efforts to organise an exhibition of Russian avant-garde art in the Sultanate of Oman, scheduled for late 2025. He noted that this exhibition stems from the great interest in avant-garde and abstract art in Oman. Additionally, the Tretyakov State Gallery will host an exhibition organised by the National Museum in June this year (2025) to promote modern Omani visual arts in Moscow. He praised cooperation with St Petersburg State University through the launch of a dedicated "Oman Publications Corner" in 2022, which enriches the knowledge of Arab studies students about Oman's civilisational and intellectual aspects. He also expressed his pleasure at signing an agreement to establish an "Oman Publications Corner" at the Chechen State Pedagogical University. For his part, Professor Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director-General of the State Hermitage Museum and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman, stated that cultural relations between the Russian Federation and Oman have seen significant enhancement and development in recent years. Major museums in both countries, particularly the State Hermitage Museum and the National Museum of Oman, play a pivotal role in this trajectory, he affirmed. He added that cooperation between the Hermitage and the National Museum began with the latter's establishment in 2013. Since then, staff from the National Museum in Muscat, especially conservators, have regularly visited St Petersburg to participate in practical training programmes organised by Hermitage experts. He noted that in 2018, the State Hermitage Museum hosted the first "Oman Day," featuring an exhibition and accompanying programmes. The following year, the National Museum of Oman hosted "Hermitage Day." In 2019, agreements were signed between the two museums to regulate artefact loans for temporary exhibitions in both Russia and Oman. He mentioned that in 2020, the Winter Palace hosted the exhibition "Oman: Land of Frankincense," displaying archaeological treasures dating from the third to the first millennium BCE, discovered in Oman over the past 50 years. In 2021, the Hermitage inaugurated the "Oman Corner," a unique innovation allowing regular exhibitions of National Museum artefacts. The same year, the National Museum in Oman officially opened the exhibitions "Islamic Civilisation in Russia" and the "Hermitage Corner," operating on the same principle. Professor Piotrovsky affirmed that cooperation between the two museums extends beyond expert exchanges and temporary exhibitions. For example, in 2021, restorers from the Hermitage's Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Sculpture and Semi-Precious Stones completed the restoration of several Palmyrene funerary inscriptions displayed at the National Museum. He pointed out that in 2023, an official ceremony was held at the National Museum in Muscat to hand over a carved stone lintel dating to the mid-fourth century CE to the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic. This was achieved through cooperation between the Hermitage, which enjoys close ties with the British Museum and the National Museum of Oman. He mentioned that in 2025, the Hermitage Corner at the National Museum of Oman hosted the opening of the exhibition "Gifts from the Emirs of Bukhara and the Khans of Central Asia to the Russian Imperial Court," featuring Hermitage artefacts. This exhibition marked the first event of the "Russian Seasons" festival, a major arts and culture festival in Oman, including exhibitions from leading Russian museums, concerts, workshops, lectures and film screenings. He pointed out that in February2025, the Hermitage hosted the premiere of the documentary 'The Khanjar', produced by RT Arabic in cooperation with the National — ONA
Muscat Daily
05-03-2025
- General
- Muscat Daily
Omani exhibition in Russia draws over 400,000 visitors
By OUR CORRESPONDENT St Petersburg, Russia – The second exhibition within the Oman Hall Initiative at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, titled The Omani Empire between Asia and Africa, attracted 414,481 visitors between December 2023 and January 2025. Visitors from around the world expressed admiration for the unique museum collections, which showcased Oman's rich history and its influence as a maritime empire. The exhibition featured 28 artefacts from the Al Yaruba and Al Busaidi periods, highlighting Oman's role in connecting the Arabian Peninsula, West Asia, and East Africa from the 17th to the 19th century. Following the success of the first Oman Hall exhibition, inaugurated on 2 June 2021, this latest edition reaffirmed the strong cultural ties between Oman's National Museum and the State Hermitage Museum. The State Hermitage Museum, one of the world's largest and oldest museums, houses over three million masterpieces and welcomes around 5.3 million visitors annually. The State Hermitage Museum
