By Associated Press

        LAS VEGAS — A pair of museums created by Russia's State Hermitage Museum and New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation will open at the Venetian hotel-casino on Sept. 16.
The two museums were built by Pulitzer Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas in the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.

   

Russian Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi and Adelson looking at a model of the museum last year.

The 5,733-square-meter Guggenheim Las Vegas will feature "special large-scale exhibitions" and stands between the hotel's casino and the parking garage. The 690-square-meter Hermitage Guggenheim Museum will feature fine art from both the Hermitage and the Guggenheim. The collection at the smaller museum will rotate every six months.

    "The Art of the Motorcycle," which opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1998, will feature more than 130 motorcycles and will open at Guggenheim Las Vegas.

    "Masterpieces and Master Collectors: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings," featuring 45 masterpieces from both the Hermitage and the Guggenheim, will run from Sept. 16 through March 17, 2002, at the Hermitage Guggenheim.

    "Our intention is to use our permanent collections to create a unique cultural experience," says Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage. "We expect to be reaching a new audience, which, after all, is our mission."

    Because about 35 million people visit Las Vegas each year, it is easier to bring art to them than to hold hundreds of exhibits across the United States, Venetian chairman Sheldon Adelson said last fall.

    The center would be the sixth Guggenheim branch in the world, joining branches in New York, Berlin, Venice, Italy, and Bilbao, Spain. The Hermitage Museum has origins dating from the 1750s.

    Ticket prices are anticipated at $15 a head with discounts for senior citizens. Children would enter free.

    The Hermitage Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation closed a long-term cooperation deal last summer, with an eye to building new display space for contemporary art at the Hermitage and building a series of museums all over the world to allow them to hold joint exhibits. Continued 1 | 2 | 3 | Next>>