A unique series by Paul Scheurich ended up in the Bakhrushin Museum

“Russian Ballet” collected in the collection

The Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum bought “Russian Ballet” – one of the best series of the famous German porcelain artist Paul Scheurich, created by him under the impression of the production of “Carnival” during the seasons of Sergei Diaghilev. The author accurately and plastically captured the characters of Mikhail Fokine’s ballet in costumes created by Lev Bakst. The production premiered in 1910 in Berlin. A hundred years later, the Russian museum decided to replenish its holdings with the legendary porcelain series, and recently all five figurines ended up in its collection.

In the “Russian Ballet” series there are five figures: Pierrot (played by the then beginning director Vsevolod Meyerhold), Eusebius (Fedor Sherer), Estrella (Lyudmila Shchollar), Kiarina and a pair sculpture of Harlequin (Leonid Leonov) and Columbine (Tamara Karsavina). Paul Scheurich created the figures in 1913, when he became the chief artist of the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, the very first and most famous porcelain manufacturer in Germany. It was one of his first works in a new role, which brought him worldwide fame. Largely because this porcelain is not only a work of art, reflecting incredible ballet movement, but also a documentary work. If you compare the photographs of the characters in Fokine’s production with the figurines, the accuracy of the details of the costumes and the portrait resemblance to the actors are obvious. At the same time, the artist was able to capture the character of the characters – their deliberate puppetry and grotesqueness, which Fokin incorporated into the plot about street theater.

The sculptures quickly became a bestseller and remain so to this day. In addition, their creation is a special chapter in the author’s life. The fact is that soon after the creation of the Russian Ballet, Paul Scheurich almost went crazy. Signs of mental illness appeared around this time and worsened with the outbreak of the First World War. As a result, in 1914 the artist had to leave the Meissen manufactory. Only in 1918 was he able to come to his senses. But having returned to business, he was able to make a real creative breakthrough, creating many cycles in the style of the new Rococo. And the first sign of his author’s style is considered to be “Russian Ballet”.

Since 2010, the Bakhrushin Museum has been collecting the famous series, which is considered a collector’s rarity. Most recently, we managed to obtain three missing figures, including a paired sculpture of Harlequin and Columbine. They plan to present porcelain in the Russian Seasons hall of the Main House of the Bakhrushinsky Theater District, which will open this year.

“Our museum recently purchased three figures,” says the museum’s chief curator Victoria Zhuravleva. – They are marked “D”, which means they belong to an early edition. The series was very popular and was produced successfully in subsequent decades. But early editions are very rare.