Product Details

• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 6
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: February 23, 1999
• Run Time: 480 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 156127559X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,545 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breadth But Not Depth, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hermitage Masterpieces 1-6 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

After providing an overview of the Hermitage and the lives of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, this series of 18 separate half-hour episodes attempts to provide a history of art based solely upon the paintings in the museum. That approach works where the museum's collection for a given period is strong (notably the programs on Egyptian and Dutch art, especially Rembrandt), but is far less successful in those areas where the museums collection is weaker (e.g,, the Renaissance, Impressionism and Expressionism). The Hermitage is a fine museum, but it's not the Louvre. Its collection offers breadth but not depth.

The narration is painfully bad, the narrator (R. Parsons) being a representative of the psychological school of art appreciation-he repeatedly makes inane comments to the effect of "We can see in her face exactly what this person is thinking."

Of the 18 programs, the final one (focusing on Matisse and Picasso) is the best. Apparently the Communist regime allowed the museum to purchase Picassos, probably because of the strong stand he took against Franco. The Picassos in the museum's collection are both rarely seen and superb. Even Mr. Parson's commentary rises to the occasion.

For the casual or first-time viewer of tapes on the Hermitage, the three-volume set entitled "The Hermitage, A Russian Odyssey," produced by the Christian Science Monitor, is a better buy. Having viewed that, if you still want to see more of the museum's collection, you should then consider buying this set.