Author Topic: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibition  (Read 44724 times)

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Sarai_Porretta

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"At Home with the Last Czar" exhibition
« on: May 05, 2004, 08:10:09 PM »
From the New York Times Arts Briefing (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/arts/06ARTS.html?ei=5062&en=4aa6448d73fd6c9f&ex=1084420800&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1083805651-1wgnndlX2LqEf2r5iHJYEA):

"CZARIST TREASURES Bound for Newark next fall as part of a three-city United States tour, the exhibition "Nicholas & Alexandra: At Home With the Last Czar and His Family" will be previewed at the chancery of the Russian Embassy in Washington today, the 136th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas II. A project of the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation, the show, featuring more than 250 objects from five major Russian museums and some American collections, among them the Fabergé imperial "Lilies of the Valley Basket" from Alexandra's Mauve Room, a Marie Antoinette tapestry that was a gift from France, an imperial porcelain service and the personal photo albums of the czar and czarina, including pictures they took. The exhibition will have its world premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., from May 29 through Sept. 5, before moving to the Newark Museum from Sept. 29 through Jan. 9, 2005, and to the Cincinnati Museum Center from Jan. 29, 2005, through May 1."

Offline Merrique

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2004, 08:59:22 PM »
This is absolutely wonderful.I can't wait until the exhibit comes to Cincinnati so I can see all of these wonderful treasures.I is a happy camper right now! :) ;D ::)
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Sarai_Porretta

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2004, 07:16:37 PM »
I found a bigger list of the wonderful objects being shown at this exhibition at this link: http://www.artandantiques.net/Spotlight.htm?CD=782&ID=1473

It reads, in part:

"Included in the show and representative of the Russian empire is a uniformed Fabergé statuette of Kamerkazak Kudinov, a Cossack palace guard, which sports diamond and sapphire studded piping down his uniform; noblesse oblige reveals itself in a satin embroidered apron that Alexandra, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, wore when hosting charitable events—and into whose pockets she reportedly tucked token contributions."

"An official 1896 portrait of Nicholas II by Ilya Repin places the tsar amid flowering plants on a summer veranda. He wears a similar military uniform, replete with epaulets and medals, in a photographic portrait that pairs him, seated, with a standing Alexandra wearing a cap-sleeved gown decked with flower garlands in a verdant interior."

"Nicholas II was an amateur photographer, and his family portraits abound in this show. Many family letters complementing the photographs help to establish documentary flavor. Sketches of furniture arrangements, floor plans, as well as period watercolors of palace interiors help visitors imagine what the palace—one of eight the family occupied—looked like before the Bolshevik Revolution. "

"Closely held details of the couple’s daily life include flatware and an etched amethyst glass tea set. An Art Nouveau– influenced 1904 English-made table lamp and ashtray speak to influences from without. Books from Alexandra’s library include a 1912 edition of Omar Khayyam’s The Rubaiyat inscribed “For my darling Alix, [from] Nicky.” "

"...children’s toys occupy a large segment of the exhibition, perhaps because they were overlooked by ensuing rulers with bigger prerogatives than the playroom."

"If “Nicholas & Alexandra” boasts a share of objects that invite viewers to read closely between the lines, one such example is the textile Alexandra commissioned in France in 1900: a Gobelin tapestry reproduction of Marie Vigée-Lebrun’s portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children."

Janet_W.

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2004, 10:51:39 PM »
Thank you, Sarai!  A friend and I are planning to visit the exhibit in late July or early August. I'm thinking about it daily with great anticipation!

Offline Merrique

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2004, 07:30:04 PM »
In case anyone is interested here are a couple of websites with some information about the exhibit.

http://www.museumofnewmexico.org/exhibits.cgi?_fn=Show+Exhibit&_recordnum=334


http://www.russiansummer.com/
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Almedingen

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2004, 09:47:07 AM »

For those of you who will be seeing it in Cincinnati, Ohio:

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/02/18/nich021804.html

Nick_Nicholson

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2004, 10:54:29 AM »
This is a bit strange.  This exhibition closed several years ago.  I thought Broughton was out of business.  Why on earth is it coming to Cincinatti?

It is not the same exhibition currently in Santa Fe and organized by the Russian American Cultural Cooperation Foundation which will be in Newark later this year.

Nick
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Nick_Nicholson »

Offline Merrique

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2004, 04:11:17 PM »
Maybe the Cincy Post article is wrong.At least I hope it is.I just sent them an email to see what they say about it.But I'm pretty sure after reading Nick's post that that article is wrong.
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Almedingen

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2004, 12:56:52 PM »
I did some more research and it looks like the Cincinnati Post was wrong.  (Whew!  It gave me a scare there for a minute).

Here is a list of where the exhibition will be with dates and places (I wonder what the catalog will be like that they mention):

http://home.hiwaay.net/~christel/exhibitions.html

Here is the site for New Jersey (It has some nice pictures):

http://www.newarkmuseum.org/NicholasandAlexandra/index.html
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Almedingen »

Offline Merrique

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2004, 05:36:16 PM »
Thank you very much for posting those links Almedingen.
I was curious to see some of the things being shown at this exhibitI thought that the cincy post article was wrong.I sent them an email about it but as yet haven't gotten a response yet.It's kinda funny how we on this forum know more about this exhibit than a newspaper does lol. ;D
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Sarai_Porretta

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2004, 10:25:37 AM »
I would like to know if a catalogue is available for this exhibition and how I can purchase it. I would really love to have it, but seeing as how I can't make it to the exhibition, perhaps alternatively someone can pick one up for me (to be reimbursed for the cost and shipping, of course)?

Sarai_Porretta

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2004, 11:53:45 AM »
Melissa,
You are too kind! I have just sent you my information via IM. Thank you very much ;D

Sunny

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2004, 12:20:32 PM »
Melissa, you are too kind (and am I glad :-))
Have just sent an IM.

Thank you,

Sunny

Offline Merrique

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2004, 07:36:30 PM »
Melissa you are very kind.I would like a catalogue also.I've just sent you my info in an im.It is so great of you to offer to do this. :D
Don't knock on Death's door....ring the doorbell and run. He hates that.:D

nerdycool

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Re: "At Home with the Last Czar" exhibit
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2004, 10:41:39 PM »
I work at a newspaper, and they're running a story about the exhibit. It comes from the Associated Press and there's a picture that goes with it of Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey, guest curator, who is standing in front of the "Marie Antoinette with her Children" tapestry. I can't post the picture, but here's the article for those who are interested. It's a little more in-depth about the activities going on.

SANTA FE (AP) — Its nickname is the City Different, but the same things draw visitors to Santa Fe year after year: blue skies, brown buildings, a heady jumble of cultures, and art, art, art.
But this bastion of all things Southwestern is offering tourists a new twist this summer — a season-long celebration of Russia.
Anchoring ‘‘Russian Summer’’ will be the world premiere of an exhibit devoted to the last royals to rule Russia.
‘‘Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the Last Tsar and His Family,’’ is on display daily at the state-owned Museum of Fine Arts, just off the downtown plaza, through Sept. 5.
It features furniture, clothing, paintings, textiles, toys, family photo albums and fabulous art objects — think jewel-encrusted religious icons — assembled from five Russian museums and private collectors.
The items are displayed in tableaux that represent the private quarters in the Alexander Palace, the Romanovs’ principal residence before they were exiled to Siberia during the 1917 revolution. Nicholas, Alexandra and their five children were murdered in 1918.
‘‘This is a first,’’ said the exhibition’s curator, Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey. ‘‘This is looking at Nicholas and Alexandra and their family at home.’’
Santa Fe is the only city west of the Mississippi to host the exhibit, which was organized by the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation in Washington, D.C. It will travel to Cincinnati and Newark before heading back to Russia next year.
City and state officials and Santa Fe businesses are using the exhibit as a springboard for a citywide festival of Russian performing and visual arts — from bluegrass to ballet to Ukrainian egg decorating.
Visitors can view 19th century Russian photographs, the works of Russian impressionists and wood carvers, and an exhibit on the people and landscape along the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
Lecture-lovers can listen to ruminations on the problems of contemporary Russia and the resilience of the Russian spirit. Or take a weeklong seminar on Dostoevsky at St. John’s College.
Or, they can kick back in the hotel lobby with a shot of Stoli and a good book.
‘‘I always have one copy of Robert Massie’s ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’ in stock, but I wouldn’t ordinarily go into summer with 50-plus,’’ said Dorothy Massey, owner of Collected Works, an independent bookstore preparing for a deluge of Russia-hungry readers.
Swig, a hip martini bar, has dreamed up drinks in keeping with the ‘‘Russian Summer’’ theme — with names like Cosmo-naut, Red Square, and KGB. For the truly hardy, there’s Crime and Punishment.
‘‘That’s on the stronger side of things,’’ explained general manager Patrick Padilla, describing a concoction of high-octane rum, bourbon, vodka, Cointreau ‘‘and a splash of Coca-Cola for color.’’
Hankering for a hit of faux-Russian zaniness? The Flying Karamazov Brothers, jugglers and comedians extraordinaire, will be at the Lensic Theater — a film and vaudeville palace reborn as a performing arts center — the first week in July.
There’s things for kids, too. The hands-on Santa Fe Children’s Museum is featuring dancing, puppet-making and Russian fairy and folk tales.
Several hotels are offering special packages that include passes to the museum exhibit.
Kenneth Pushkin, who sells 20th-century, Soviet-era Russian art from his gallery on leafy Canyon Road, hopes the summer’s events will create a lasting interest in Russian culture.
‘‘It’s a good place to start, just to present it as fun ... and that’s how you can endear people and build interest and build the cultural bridges that we’re talking about,’’ said Pushkin, who spends half his time in Russia and heads a charitable organization that supports orphanages and other projects there.
Pushkin, a distant relative of Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, is also producer of the major entertainment events that bracket Russian Summer: the Grammy-nominated Russian bluegrass group ‘‘Bering Strait’’ on Memorial Day weekend, and the American premiere of a new version of the ballet ‘‘Onegin’’ on Labor Day weekend. "