Theater graphics by Irina Shtenberg from the collection of Elena Zenina. To the 180th anniversary of the classic revision of the play "The Inspector General.

Exhibition March 30 − April 22, 2022
on March 30th at the Artifact Gallery Center on Prechistenka an exhibition of theatrical graphics by Irina Shtenberg (1905-1985) will open to mark the 180th anniversary of the classical edition of Nikolai Gogol's play "The Inspector General. The exhibition will present the sketches of costumes for productions in 1938 and 1951, created by the artist for the Tbilisi Russian Drama Theatre named after A.S. Griboyedov, where she worked as an artist-designer from 1936 to 1956.

Irina Shtenberg's theatrical graphics are distinguished by the integrity of the characters 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 costume designs for the play. "We look at her sketches and imagine every character in Gogol's comedy very vividly, as if we were looking at a portrait of a real person. This is the magic of Irina Stenberg as a theatrical artist and her skill as a painterelena Zenina believes.

Irina Valerianovna Shtenberg was born on October 3, 1905 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi). She studied at the school of the Caucasian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, then at the Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts (1923-1926), where her mentors were Gigo Gabashvili, Joseph Charlemagne, Evgeny Lanceray and Boris Vogel. From her youth, Irina admired and was a fan of the World of Art Art Association, whose members were also known to be drawn to the world of theater.

From 1926 to 1936, Irina Stenberg painted easel paintings, created genre drawings, and collaborated with various publishers as a book illustrator.

In 1936 Irina Shtenberg produced her first production, Tom Sawyer, at the Tbilisi Russian Theatre for Young Spectators. From 1936 to 1956 she worked as a scenic designer at the Griboyedov Theater. However, she has designed productions at other theaters as well: the Rustaveli Theatre, the Georgian Theatre of Young Spectators, the Sukhumi Georgian Theatre, the Sundukyan Drama Theatre and the Alexandrovich Theatre. Sundukyan Theatre, Leninakan Theatre.

In 1957 in Moscow there was a personal exhibition of Irina Shtenberg, which presented her theatrical works. The artist passed away in 1985 at the age of 82.

Interest in Irina Stenberg's work resurged at the end of the twentieth century, when her works were first presented at Sotheby's and Phillips auctions. Today her works are kept in personal collections and galleries.

Gogol's comedy The Inspector General was first staged on April 19, 1836 at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and immediately, in the words of Peter Andreevich Vyazemsky, became "a literary, social and moral fact. But the author himself did not like the production. Nikolai Vasilievich believed that the audience saw not a comedy, denouncing the morals of society, and vaudeville. "The performance of 'The Inspector General' produced a grievous impression on me. I was angry with the audience, I was not understood, and at himself, the former was the fault that I was not understood, - he wrote later. So he continued to refine the play. Finally, in 1842 the last version of The Government Inspector was published, in which all the texts and all the characters were finally verified and polished. It was this version of the play that became the classic, known to the widest audience today.

At the exhibition timed to the 180th anniversary of the classical edition of The Government Inspector, in addition to Irina Shtenberg's theatrical graphics, the porcelain statuettes of The Government Inspector, produced at the Leningrad Porcelain Factory to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the play, as well as book illustrations and posters to the plays and films of the same name from different years will be on display.

Elena Zenina Gallery - one of Moscow's oldest galleries, specializes in art from the Soviet period. In 20 years, its founder, Elena Zenina, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, has held more than 40 major exhibitions. Among them are such outstanding projects as "Genre in the Art of Socialist Realism," "The Artist and his Time," "World of My Hobbies," "The Female Face of Socialist Realism," "Sergey Pichugin. The Golden Palette of Russia", "Propaganda poster and frontline photography", "Masterpieces of the Vladimir School", "My Moscow - the Heart of Russia". In the personal collection of Elena Zenina there are works of various theatrical artists. Among them a special place belongs to Irina Shtenberg and her costume sketches for Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General".