The exhibition “Princess Maria Tenisheva in the Mirror of the Silver Age”, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the outstanding representative of the Russian Silver Age, was opened in June 24 in the State History Museum. Our museum took part in that project together with the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Bakhrushin Theatre Museum, the Moscow State Art History, Architecture and Natural Scenery Museum-Reserve “Kolomenskoye”, the All Russia Museum of Applied, Decorative and Folk Art (Moscow), Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Smolensk State Museum-Reserve, the State Russian Museum and the Scientific Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Art (St. Petersburg), the Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel, the Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N. Radishchev, the Tula Museum of Fine Art, the Kirov Regional Art Museum named after V.M. and A.M. Vasnetsov. The unique exhibits were loaned by the Paris Museum of Applied and Decorative Art and French collectors. M.K. Tenisheva was an outstanding representative of intellectual and artistic aristocracy of the late 19th – early 20th century. She was a well known founder of the Talashkino Art Center organized a hundred years ago in her estate near Smolensk. That Center was, to some extend, followed the example of the Abramtsevo Artistic Circle. It was in Talashkino that the branch of modern style, called national romantic, was formed.

Тenisheva was a talented artist, actively experimenting with enamel. She was a collector; a patron, supporting many famous artists; an organizer of exhibitions; a publisher, etc. She played an important role in Russian museology. In 1911 the Museum “Living History” based on her collection was opened in Smolensk. It was housed in the building specially designed by S.V. Malutin. In 1900, she took an active part in the organization of the art exhibition in the Russian Pavilion of the World Exhibition in Paris.

The exhibition in the State History Museum demonstrated many aspects of M.K. Tenisheva’s activity in the context of the complicated, but most interesting epoch. There one could see works of the famous artists of the late 19th – early 20th century – M. Vrubel, N. Roerich, S. Malutin, A. Benua, works produced by Maria Klavdiyevna Tenisheva herself. Many exhibits were unknown to the public at large, some of them were displayed for the first time.

The exhibition presented ten remarkable items from our museum. Among them there were the unique cupboard door made to the design of N.K Reurikh, fine sculpture “A Monk with a Candle” of A.P. Zinoviev, works of M.K. Tenisheva, etc. The article for the exhibition catalogue, which was to be presented in September 11, was written by Gorozhanina S.V., director of the Museum of Russian Folk and Decorative Art (a branch of the Sergiev Posad State History and Art Museum-Reserve).