20.07.2012
An Exhibition of Caricatures by Paul Robert
An exhibition of graphic art by Paul Robert — the actor, playwright, and member of a French company which performed at the Mikhailovsky Theatre before the revolution — can be seen in the Second Circle foyer.
Robert worked in the theatre for over thirty years, and took part in the French company’s final performance before it returned to France on 3 March 1918. That performance brought the85-year history of Le Théâtre Michel in St. Petersburg to a close.
Paul Robert arrived in St. Petersburg in October 1885 as a négociant (wine merchant), but commerce held no great interest for him, and he soon found work teaching French to the children of General Veretennikov. At the same time, he learnt Russian and took up drawing, painting, and singing. With excellent diction and a talent for acting, as well as good recommendations, Robert was accepted by the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where audiences soon fell in love with him and started calling him ’our Paul Robert’.
Robert continued to accumulate stage experience and hone his talent, and was singled out by Emperor Nicholas II, from whom he received a number of valuable gifts. The actor was on friendly terms with the best-known figures in Russian culture of the time: Chaliapin, Glazunov, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Robert was a member of the Society of Russian Artists and took an active part in its annual exhibitions. Some of Robert’s works were purchased by Empress Maria Fedorovna.
In St. Petersburg in 1896, Robert published a book entitled Our French Actors: Caricatures and Autographs of Actors of the Mikhailovsky Theatre. This was followed in 1903 by All St. Petersburg in Caricatures, with 48 illustrations by Robert. The exhibition features over 30 of the artist’s works that are a spontaneous depiction of the life of the celebrated company, as well as the morals and fashion of his time. Paul Robert’s caricatures and sketches of theatrical life, both onstage and backstage, provide a good idea of what the Mikhailovsky Theatre was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The exhibition will run until the end of the season.
Robert worked in the theatre for over thirty years, and took part in the French company’s final performance before it returned to France on 3 March 1918. That performance brought the
Paul Robert arrived in St. Petersburg in October 1885 as a négociant (wine merchant), but commerce held no great interest for him, and he soon found work teaching French to the children of General Veretennikov. At the same time, he learnt Russian and took up drawing, painting, and singing. With excellent diction and a talent for acting, as well as good recommendations, Robert was accepted by the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where audiences soon fell in love with him and started calling him ’our Paul Robert’.
Robert continued to accumulate stage experience and hone his talent, and was singled out by Emperor Nicholas II, from whom he received a number of valuable gifts. The actor was on friendly terms with the best-known figures in Russian culture of the time: Chaliapin, Glazunov, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Robert was a member of the Society of Russian Artists and took an active part in its annual exhibitions. Some of Robert’s works were purchased by Empress Maria Fedorovna.
In St. Petersburg in 1896, Robert published a book entitled Our French Actors: Caricatures and Autographs of Actors of the Mikhailovsky Theatre. This was followed in 1903 by All St. Petersburg in Caricatures, with 48 illustrations by Robert. The exhibition features over 30 of the artist’s works that are a spontaneous depiction of the life of the celebrated company, as well as the morals and fashion of his time. Paul Robert’s caricatures and sketches of theatrical life, both onstage and backstage, provide a good idea of what the Mikhailovsky Theatre was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The exhibition will run until the end of the season.
