Something Beautiful

The Hermitage Drawings of Edward Hau

I've loved the drawings by Edward Petrovich Hau of the Hermitage and Winter Palace ever since I first discovered them more than ten years ago. It's been several years since I last looked at them but, having done so last night, I find that they still retain their charm.

Hau made this set of 111 watercolors of the Royal living quarters during the 1850s-1870s. They can be viewed at two different sites:

Complete set of 111 drawings (official Hermitage site)

Complete set. This site has far the superior presentation.

Feeling skeptical? Try just this one painting of the Antechamber of the Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolayevich. (Be sure to check out the zoom.)

Imperial drawing room (modern t-shirt?)

I promised an acquaintance a home-decorated t-shirt several months ago.  But I've been stuck, in part, on what image to use for it. 

Now I think that problem may be solved.  He told me that he likes architectural kinds of things, interiors as well as exteriors.  So I am thinking that perhaps this scrumptious Drawing room used by the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna might be just the ticket.

The Raspberry Study of Empress Maria Alexandrovna is quite stunning in its own way. 

Malachite Room (Hermitage)

The Malachite Room of the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, was used as an official drawing-room of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, wife of Nicholas I.

Hermitage watercolors by Hau

As mentioned earlier at this weblog, the website of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, has 110 masterful watercolors by Edward Petrovich Hau, made in the 1860s. My last attempt to provide links to a few of them foundered. Today, however, linking seems possible after all --

The Rotunda

The Small Church

The Cathedral

The Turkish Room in the Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo

The above links all take you to the page with the zoomable version of the work. Also available are 800x600 and 1024x768 images of each.

Edward Hau's Watercolors

Edward Hau's watercolors, The State Hermitage Museum, 110 works.