Theatrical graphics by Irina Shtenberg from the collection of Elena Zenina 6+

On March 30, the Artifact Gallery Center on Prechistenka will open an exhibition of theatrical graphics by Irina Shtenberg (1905–1985), timed to coincide with the 180th anniversary of the classic version of N. V. Gogol’s play The Inspector General. The exhibition will feature sketches of costumes for productions in 1938 and 1951, created by the artist for the Tbilisi Russian Drama Theater named after A. S. Griboedov, in which she worked as a graphic designer from 1936 to 1956.

The theatrical graphics of Irina Shtenberg are distinguished by the integrity of the images and the careful study of the characters, reflecting the psychology of each character in the play. These sketches are more reminiscent of book illustrations than the usual drawings of costumes for a performance. “We look at her sketches and very vividly imagine each hero of Gogol’s comedy, as if we have a portrait of a real person. This is the magic of Irina Shtenberg as a theater artist and her skill as a painter,” says Elena Zenina.

Irina Valeryanovna Shtenberg was born on October 3, 1905 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi) in the family of a civil engineer, so the family often moved and lived in Kutaisi, then in Baku, then in St. Petersburg. After the 1917 revolution, the Stenbergs finally settled in Tbilisi. Here, Irina first studied at the school of the Caucasian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, then at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts (1923-1926), where her mentors were Gigo Gabashvili, Joseph Charlemagne, Eugene Lansere and Boris Vogel. All of them noted the unusual imagination and skill of drawing of their student. Irina from her youth admired and was a fan of the artistic association "World of Art", whose members, as you know, also gravitated towards the world of theater. But she did not come to the theater right away.

From 1926 to 1936, Irina Shtenberg was engaged in easel painting, created genre drawings, collaborated with various publishing houses in Moscow and Tbilisi as a book illustrator. However, all the works of the artist did not correspond well to the Soviet official theme. The tragedy happened in his personal life. Her husband, a prominent party worker Alexander Nikolaevich Kulidzhanov (father of the famous director Lev Kulidzhanov), was arrested in 1937 and died under unclear circumstances. She didn’t have to think about a successful career, she had to survive in the conditions of socialist realism, so the theater became her salvation.

In 1936, Irina Shtenberg produced her first performance "Tom Sawyer" at the Tbilisi Russian Theater for Young Spectators. From 1936 to 1956 she worked as a graphic designer at the A. S. Griboyedov Theater. But she designed performances in other theaters: in the Theater named after Sh. Rustaveli, the Georgian Theater of the Young Spectator, the Sukhum Georgian Theater, the Theater. Sundukyan, Leninakan Theatre.

Irina Valerianovna has developed her own style of creating stage images. Here is what the art critic Tamaz Belashvili writes in his book Russian Theater in Georgia-170: “Before starting work on the sketches, the artist watched the rehearsals of the performance from the auditorium, at the same time, being a fan of the World of Art, it is logical that she preferred enchanting spectacles, her character was fully expressed when she gave free rein to her fantasies.

In 1957, a personal exhibition of Irina Shtenberg took place in Moscow, where only her theatrical works were presented.

The artist died in 1985 at the age of 80. Interest in Irina Shtenberg’s work arose again at the end of the 20th century, when her works were first presented at Sotheby’s and Phillips auctions. Today her works are kept in private collections and galleries.

Comedy by N. V. Gogol "The Government Inspector" was first staged on April 19, 1836 on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and immediately, in the words of Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, became a “literary, social and moral fact”. But despite the fact that the play was a success and received the approval of Emperor Nicholas I, and the youth, according to the memoirs of Vladimir Stasov, completely dismantled it into quotes, the author himself did not like the production. Nikolai Vasilyevich believed that the public saw not a comedy that denounced the mores of society, but vaudeville. “The performance of The Inspector General made a painful impression on me. I was angry both at the audience, who did not understand me, and at myself, who was to blame for the fact that they did not understand me, ”he wrote later. Therefore, he continued to refine the play, despite the fact that the performance was regularly staged on various stages. Finally, in 1842 the last version of The Inspector General was published, in which all the texts and all the characters of the characters were finally verified and honed. It is this version of the play that has become a classic, known to the widest audience at the present time.

At the exhibition dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the classic edition of The Inspector General, in addition to 40 works of theatrical graphics by Irina Shtenberg, you can see a series of porcelain figurines "The Inspector General" produced at the Leningrad Porcelain Factory for the 110th anniversary of the production, as well as book illustrations and posters for performances of the same name and films of different years.