Alexander Shervashidze –scenographer, painter, book illustrator and designer, art critic, and public figure.
On his father’s side he was a descendant of the Shervashidze princely house, the grandson of the last ruler of Abkhazia, Prince Giorgi Shervashidze; on his mother’s side – French.
In St. Petersburg, he took part in the theatrical experiments of Vsevolod Meyerhold and Nikolai Evreinov, and worked alongside Sergei Diaghilev during the productions of the “Russian Ballet.” Contemporary theatrical criticism maintains that the artistic quality of these productions was largely determined by Shervashidze’s scenography. His writings on French art are still considered relevant. One of the most famous figures of twentieth-century ballet – dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar – described him in 1972 as “a participant in the theatrical-artistic revolution of the West.” Salvador Dalí called him “a true representative of European aristocracy.” Friends referred to him as a nobleman, a prince.
At the end of the 1910s, during a short stay on his ancestral estate in Abkhazia, he devoted his efforts to the education of youth and children and to establishing a theatre in Sokhumi. In his will, he bequeathed his creative legacy – more than 500 works, which he signed in Georgian-Abkhaz as Shervashidze–Chachba – to his homeland: Sokhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia.
From 1906 he lived in St. Petersburg, marking the beginning of his career as a theatre artist and scenographer, initially linked with the experimental “New Theatre,” with Meyerhold, later Evreinov, and Diaghilev. In St. Petersburg, Shervashidze headed one of the imperial workshops for theatrical decoration.
In 1918 Shervashidze returned to his homeland, to Sokhumi. Here began his work as a public figure: he participated actively in the activities of the Sokhumi Artistic Society; established theatrical courses where he taught together with V. Kamensky and N. Evreinov, who were in Sokhumi at the time; staged several productions with his students; founded a children’s studio in the building of the Sokhumi Women’s Gymnasium; led a drawing circle; and delivered lectures on art in cities across Georgia and the South Caucasus. He also carried out educational work and, for this purpose, corresponded with Niko Marr.
Because of the political situation, Shervashidze was forced to leave first for Batumi and then for Crimea – Feodosia – where his children and former wife lived. There he received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev, who at that time was directing the second enterprise of the “Russian Ballet” at London’s Covent Garden. In 1920 Shervashidze, together with his wife N. Butkovskaya, departed once again for Europe, this time permanently.
In London, Paris, and New York he mainly worked with Diaghilev’s company (first with Diaghilev himself from 1920–1929, and later with his followers from 1929–1948), but continued to create easel works as well – portraits, landscapes, and still lifes.
In Paris he befriended Pablo Picasso, André Derain, Georges Braque, and Jean Rouault; their participation in the productions of the “Russian Ballet” was also a result of this friendship. The scenic realization of their sketches was carried out with Shervashidze’s direct involvement and supervision. In 1924 Shervashidze painted the stage curtain for Darius Milhaud’s Le Train Bleu, based on Picasso’s The Running Women on the Seashore. The 134-m² curtain is preserved today in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
During these years he created numerous set and costume designs for choreographic performances staged in various cities across Europe and America. Alongside his many scenographic and easel works, Shervashidze also worked in book design.
Shervashidze died in 1968 in Monaco, at a retirement home. He was buried in Nice, in the Russian cemetery. In 1985 his remains were transferred to Georgia, to Sokhumi.
Source – modernism.ge
