Russian Decorative Arts

Dr Jane Williams on the of Boris Anrep and Dr Olenka Pevny on the Byzantine Revival in Russian Art

Friday 20 January 2017, 14:00-18:00 V&A, Seminar Room A

Chair: Dr Heike Zech, V&A Senior Curator, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection

The V&A’s rich and diverse collection of Russian and Soviet art includes several works and archives of the émigré artist, Boris Anrep (1883-1969). Anrep moved to Britain in the second decade of the twentieth century and became an active, highly acclaimed member of the cultural scene. His artistic interests lay in the revival of , a subject which was central to the modern movement in Russian art and also attracted interest among artistic modernisers in Britain, notably and the . Anrep worked singlehandedly to revive the mosaic tradition by creating schemes for both religious and secular settings, and his works can be found in public and private spaces in London and around Britain. The most important Anrep work held by the V&A is a large wall mosaic commissioned by for his home in Mallord Street; in need of conservation, it is too fragile for display, but will be discussed in the seminar. The speakers will discuss Anrep’s art, and explain the broader context of the Byzantine revival. There will then be an opportunity to view several Anrep designs and related objects in the V&A collection.

Glass mosaic trade Boris Anrep, Preliminary sample made by the sketch for the Vitreous Mosaic allegorical portrait of Company, London, Earl Jowitt entitled owned by Jesse Rust ‘Open Mind’, 1952 (V&A (V&A A.2-2010) E.678-1970)

Programme

14:00 Welcome – Dr Tessa Murdoch / Dr Louise Hardiman Introduction and Chair – Dr Heike Zech

14:10 Dr Jane Williams – The London Mosaics of Boris Anrep Jane Williams will examine three of Boris Anrep’s mosaic schemes for private residences in London, to exemplify the range and personalised nature of these commissions.

Following an earlier career as a ward sister at the Hospital for Sick Children Great Ormond Street, Dr Jane Williams has recently completed her PhD, ‘The Mosaic Portraits of Boris Anrep 1913-1952’. She teaches History of Art at Wychwood School in Oxford and works as an independent scholar.

14.50 Dr Olenka Pevny – The splendour of Byzantine art and Russia's Neo-Byzantine revival Olenka Pevny will discuss the relationship of early Russian art to Byzantium and the revival of Byzantine art in Russia and Western Europe in the nineteeth and twentieth centuries, thus setting Anrep’s activities in a broader context.

Dr Olenka Pevny is University Lecturer in Early Slavonic Culture and History in the Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages at Cambridge University. Prior to arriving in Cambridge, she was Associate Professor of Byzantine and Medieval Art History and Chair of the Art and Art History Department at the University of Richmond, Virginia. She worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on the exhibition ‘The Glory of Byzantium’, and as an archaeologist in Crimea and Greece. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

15:30 Q&A and Discussion Session chaired by Heike Zech

15:45 Tea Break

16:00 Gallery and Seminar Room Object Sessions Jane Williams and Heike Zech will lead delegates on a visit to the V&A Prints and Drawings Collection to view designs by Boris Anrep and a sample of the type of mosaic he used in his interior schemes.

17:00 Close – attendees have opportunity to join Friday Late events in museum

Optional morning visit to Boris Anrep mosaics

To complement the seminar, there will be a small group visit to view Boris Anrep mosaics in situ in a private house in Chelsea, London SW3. The visit will take place between 11am and 12.30pm. Jane Williams and Antonia Böstrom, Keeper, V&A Department of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass will accompany the group.

Due to the nature of the venue, this group is very limited in numbers and early booking is advised.

Self-guided visits

Seminar attendees may also be interested to view other Boris Anrep mosaics at the following sites in London, all of which are open to the public:

- , SW1P 1QW (Blessed Oliver Plunkett & Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.) - , Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX (Nativity altar panel.) - The , WC2N 5DN (a three staged scheme on the vestibules of the main entrance). - Tate Britain, SW1P 4RG (octagonal Blake mosaic, now the Print shop.) - St Sophia Cathedral, Greek Orthodox Church, Moscow Road (various mosaic schemes of biblical figures, saints and angels). - One New Change shopping complex, EC4M 9AF (three in the basement and one on the roof).

This seminar is one of a series of events highlighting Russian art in the V&A collections, co-convened by Dr Tessa Murdoch, V&A Deputy Keeper of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass ([email protected] ) and Dr Louise Hardiman, Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow 2016-17 and Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre ( [email protected] ).

Booking Information

Please email Milica Budimir ( [email protected] ) by Friday 6 January 2017 to book your place.

Fees: £20 for the afternoon session. There is an additional charge of £10 to attend the morning session.

The programme is subject to change without warning.