St. Petersburg

Abramovich Buys $400 Million Private Island in Russia

Filed under: Art, Wealth

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is splashing out around $400 million to buy a private island in the heart of historic Saint Petersburg with plans to build an art museum there housing his incredible collection, the London Daily Telegraph reports. Abramovich, one of the richest men in the world, has quietly established himself as the world's leading collector of modern and contemporary art thanks to the influence of his beautiful young girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, the paper notes. New Holland island, which he has just acquired, is a crumbling 300-year-old former military base which belonged to the Russian admiralty. Abramovich plans to transform the 18th century warehouses into a cultural and commercial center in Russia's old imperial capital, including space for his amazing art collection, starring the record-breaking $86.3 million Francis Bacon triptych he bought in 2008, monumental works by Lucien Freud, Pablo Picasso and more.

Tags: art, contemporary art, Dasha Zhukova, Francis Bacon, island, Lucien Freud, museum, private museum, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire, St. Petersburg

Salvador Dali Museum Opening in St. Petersburg, Florida, Her Royal Highness Infanta Cristina of Spain to Attend

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Art

The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida

On the auspicious date of January 11, 2011 (1/11/11) at 11:11 AM, the new Salvador Dalí Museum will open in St. Petersburg, Florida, with a grand opening party to be attended by Her Royal Highness Infanta Cristina of Spain as guest of honor.

St. Petersburg, Florida may seem like an unlikely home for Dali, but the Dali Museum actually originated there in 1982 after St. Petersburg offered financial support to collector and industrialist A Reynolds Morse and his wife Eleanor Reese to house their already substantial collection. Today, the museum contains more Dali masterworks than any other museum in the world and has the largest collection outside of Spain. The annual attendance is over 200,000 people per year, bringing an economic impact of an estimated $50 million to St. Petersburg.

The opening of the new, visually stunning $36 million building will double the current space of the Dali Museum to 66,450 square feet. Construction began in December 2008, and the attractive, innovative structure can reportedly withstand a category five hurricane. The roof is 12-inch thick solid concrete. The walls are 18 inches. All this is to protect the precious Dalis, of course, of which there will be 2,140, including 96 oil paintings.

The Dali Museum will be occupied throughout 2011 with a special exhibit called Viva la Revelacion!, displaying all paintings and highlighting other major works from the permanent collection to celebrate the new building. An Education Gallery will feature student exhibits and invite visitors of all ages to explore Dali's illusions and visual experiments.

Gallery: The New Dali Museum - St. Petersburg, Florida

Tags: Cristina of Spain, Dali, Dali Museum, Florida, Infanta Cristina, Salvador Dali, St. Petersburg

Gazprom Tower To Get A Green Fur Coat

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Russian energy company Gazprom, has created a new design for their Gazprom tower which is set to go up in St. Petersburg, Russia. The design isn't that much different than the original, whose height and modernism has ruffled the feathers of those who want St. Petersburg to retain its historic charm. The tower does have one major difference, the addition of what is called a "green fur coat" to help insulate the building. The glass tower will have double walls which will sandwich hundreds of trees and plants to provide heat in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer. The design by architectural firm RMJM will regulate the temperature in the building and provide significant energy savings. The exterior will be clad in temperature-color changing glass panels.

The construction of the Gazprom tower hasn't been approved yet and it looks like public opinion on the project is pretty low. The Journal of Turkish Weekly cites a recent poll that showed that more than 40 percent of residents would prefer to block the skyscraper project. Construction is planned to start later this year with completion scheduled for 2012.

Source

Tags: gazprom, gazpromtower, russia, st. petersburg, St.Petersburg