Hermitage-Guggenheim to open two museums at Venetian

Lisa Snedeker

Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000 | 9:29 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Continuing a trend toward mixing culture and neon, the Hermitage-Guggenheim Museum plans to open in February 2001 with masterpieces from both collections at The Venetian resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

"The Hermitage is one of the greatest museums in the world," said Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, comparing it to the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Organizers said the gallery could house such exhibits as Picasso's early works and Faberge eggs.

The smaller of two new galleries, the 7,660-square-foot structure will replace the VIP lounges off the hotel's lobby.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, it will feature 20 works from the Russian museum and 20 from Guggenheim that will rotate every six months.

For larger displays, plans call for a 63,700-square-foot building between the hotel's casino and the parking garage for large-scale traveling exhibitions, Krens said.

Called the Guggenheim Las Vegas, the new exhibition space is scheduled to open next summer. The inaugural exhibition will be "The Art of the Motorcycle" that opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1998. BMW has agreed to sponsor the exhibit, Krens said.

One of the objectives of the alliance is to make each museum's respective collections accessible to a broader audience.

Because about 35 million people visit Las Vegas each year, it is easier to bring art to them than holding hundreds of exhibits across the country, said Venetian Chairman Sheldon Adelson during Friday's news conference in the Lobby Colonnade attended by motorcycle enthusiasts and actors Dennis Hopper and Lauren Hutton.

"By collaborating with the Guggenheim and Hermitage museums, The Venetian will bring some of the greatest masterpieces ever created to a city that is rapidly being transformed into a world-class travel destination," Adelson said. "Now we can add art to the capital of entertainment."

The significance of the Hermitage-Guggenheim Museum is exceptional for Russian-American cultural relations, said Dr. Mikhail Shwydkoi, minister of culture of the Russian Federation.

"This is a very humanistic project," he said, adding he hopes it will become "the new face of Las Vegas."

The Guggenheim Museum in September confirmed its intent to open a gallery at the Venetian hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

The center would be only the sixth Guggenheim branch in the world, joining branches in New York, Berlin, Venice, and Bilbao, Spain. Joining the venture will be the State Hermitage museum of St. Petersburg, Russia, a museum with origins dating from the 1750s.

The Venetian gallery is a continuation of an art trend started on the Strip by Steve Wynn and Mirage Resorts Inc. in opening the Bellagio with its fine art gallery in 1998.

"I'm delighted to be a catalyst," said Wynn, who added he has been contemplating publicly displaying his extensive private collection again.

The Guggenheim and the Hermitage will join the Phillips Collection of Washington, D.C., which now has a temporary display at the Bellagio's Gallery of Fine Art.

"This is fundamental change," said the megaresort developer and owner of the Desert Inn hotel-casino. "This is not going to go away."

Rob Goldstein, Venetian president, would not reveal the price tag for the venture.

Ticket prices are anticipated at $15 a head with discounts for senior citizens. Children would be free, Goldstein said.