: The Newark Museum is exhibiting the private world of Russia's
last Imperial family in "Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the
Last Tsar and His Family" through January 9. This is the first
exhibition to display the Romanov family's personal belongings
from their living quarters in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye
Selo, 15 miles outside of St Petersburg.
More than 250 precious objects, most of them never before seen
outside of Russia, are being presented in a series of vignettes
that depict the private life of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina
Alexandra and their five children before they met their tragic
fate. The museum's Englelhard Court will be transformed into a
grand room of state, with spectacular chandeliers and drapery
added for the exhibition's duration.
Porcelain, tapestry, paintings and portraits, uniforms and
dresses, icons, decorative arts, textiles, books, photographs and
letters are some of the items from the royal couple's personal
collection that will be displayed. Rare film footage of home
movies and photographs taken by the tsar, an avid amateur
photographer, are included.
At the Newark Museum, the only East Coast venue for this
traveling exhibition, there is also a small selection of Russian
objects from the museum's decorative arts holdings, including
several pieces with Imperial provenance.
Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey, a specialist in Russian decorative arts
and cultural history, is the guest curator. Swezey's longstanding
association with numerous museum and collectors in Russia
afforded her opportunities to select objects that were precious,
unique and rarely seen by anyone other than intimates of the
Romanovs. Many of the artifacts were evacuated to safety and
preserved from destruction by loyal staff before the German
invasion of Russia in 1941; they have not been together since and
have come to light only recently in the wake of political changes
in Russia.
Organized by the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation
in Washington, D.C., "Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the
Last Tsar and His Family" will also be shown at the Cincinnati
Museum from January 29 until May 1.
Imperial Basket of Lilies of the Valley by Faberge, work master
August Holmstrom, circa 1896. Copyright the New Orleans Museum
of Art: Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Loan.
Russian museums lending objects include The State Museum
Tsarskoye Selo, the State Museum Pavlovsk, the State Historical
Museum, the Toy Museum Sergiev Posad and the State Archive of the
Russian Federation. American lenders include The New Orleans Museum
of Arts, Hillwood Museum, the New York Public Library, A La Vielle
Russie, Inc and a number of private collectors.
Highlights include the Faberge "Imperial Basket of Lilies of the
Valley" from the Tsarina Alexandra's Mauve Room; toys from the
playroom of Tsarevich Alexis; the christening gown of Tsarevich
Alexis; architectural drawings and watercolor design for the
family rooms in the Alexander Palace, never before exhibited; and
icons including a recently discovered Romanov family icon.
The museum is at 49 Washington Street and is open Wednesday
through Sunday, from noon to 5 pm. Admission is $5. For
information, www.newarkmuseum.org or 973-596-6550.
