Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. Very slight tan to page edges.. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> The Russian Embassy in London welcomes the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in the preparation of this album The Art Collection of the Russian Embassy in London as part of a series of books on the Art Collections in Russia’s Diplomatic Missions and wishes to express thanks to VTB Capital for its generous support of the project. We delight in the opportunity offered by the book to deepen the acquaintance of our guests with the artworks gathered in the embassy and to throw the doors of London’s Russia House open. The historic townhouse occupied by the embassy was built in 1852 by Leices-ter FitzGerald Charles Stanhope the fifth Earl of Harrington. The magnificent gothic revival residence was purchased in 1924 by Lewis Richardson a wealthy South African who in 1930 agreed to give it over to the Soviet Embassy. Since then the house at No. 13 Kensington Palace Gardens has been known as Russia House. While the building remains a distinctively English townhouse Russia House is filled with memories of distant Russia. The spirit within these walls is genuinely Russ-ian largely thanks to the outstanding works of Russian art that they embrace – paint-ings of the highest order unmatched ceramic vases and bronzes. Over the years beginning in the 1930s Russia’s museums have reached into their reserves to give the embassy paintings by the best of Russia’s painters including Boris Kustodiyev Ivan Aivazovsky Igor Grabar and Abram Arkhipov. These masterpieces of Russian art are well suited for the interiors of the mid-19th-century townhouse built by the English architects Decimus Burton and Charles James Richardson. Every social event that takes place at the Embassy whatever the scope or sig-nificance it may have begins with the introduction of guests to these works of art. The effect is positive for they encourage profound respect for our national culture vibrant traditions and great talents. (MP)