‘Hermitage Museum Exhibition’ in the eyes of Doctor Zhivago actors

‘Hermitage Museum Exhibition’ in the eyes of Doctor Zhivago actors. April. 04, 2018 08:13. by Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com.
“Appreciating the splendid culture of Russian imperial family and aristocrats makes me feel as if I were traveling Russia at that time,” said musical actress Lee Jung-hwa. “It was beautiful but at the same time I could connect with the pain people at that era had to suffer,” said musical actor Kang Pil-seok.

This is how Lee and Kang felt on Tuesday about the “From Classicism to Impressionism: Three Centuries of the French Act,” held at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul. They each play the role as radical revolutionist Pasha (Kang Pil-seok) and Zhivago’s wife Tonya (Lee Jung-hwa) at the musical “Doctor Zhivago,” which came back in six years since its first performance in Korea. The musical, which is based on a novel with an identical title, is set on the Russian Revolution of October 1917, depicting the turbulent lives of Yuri Zhivago, a poet and doctor, and characters surrounding him.

Lee and Kang visited this exhibition to experience the essence of Russian culture. The Hermitage Museum of Russia is one of the three major museums of the world that proudly exhibits some three million collections. Completed in 1762, the museum was once used as the residence of the emperor until the Russian Revolution of 1917 and named as the “Winter Palace.” The museum, in particular, holds the most French artworks in the world following France.

The exhibition is expected to help visitors to have an opportunity to meet a total of 89 pieces of French paintings, sculptures and drawings, including paintings collected by Russian empress Ekaterina II (1729-1796) and impressionist paintings purchased by Russian businessmen in early 20th century. “Visitors will be able to feel the taste, cultural atmosphere and traces of Russian aristocrats,” said Kim Seung-ik, an art and science researcher of the National Museum of Korea. The exhibition will run through April 15.