The Tsars' Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs

February 26 – May 27, 2012

In honor of the 200th anniversary of Fort Ross, SCM will present The Tsar's Cabinet exhibition. Organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary, the exhibition highlights more than 200 years of decorative arts under the Romanovs during the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of the works were designed for use by the tsars' and members of their families, while others illustrate prominent styles of the period. Comprising objects ranging from porcelain services, glassware, enamel, silver gilt, and decorated eggs, the exhibition is a comprehensive and inclusive collection demonstrating the majesty and luxury of the Romanov reign. 

Many of the items are grouped by tsar, which helps to illustrate major social or political trends of each tsars' reign.  For example, Peter the Great and the engagement of the west; Catherine the Great and the Enlightenment; and Alexander and the defeat of Napoleon, among others. The objects and their styles reflect the political forces that shaped each tsars' regime. Each grouping of objects shows the tastes and attitudes of the Romanov family through the magnificent items they owned and commissioned. The exhibition puts these important artistic objects in context, to connect the viewer to the individuals and events that shaped the history of Russia.

Fort Ross was a thriving Russian-American Company settlement from 1812 to 1841. This commercial company chartered by Russia's tsarist government controlled all Russian exploration, trade and settlement in the North Pacific, and established permanent settlements in Alaska and California. Fort Ross was the southernmost settlement in the Russian colonization of the North American continent, and was established as an agricultural base to supply Alaska. It was the site of California's first windmills and shipbuilding, and Russian scientists were among the first to record California's cultural and natural history. Fort Ross was a successfully functioning multi-cultural settlement for some thirty years. Settlers included Russians, Native Alaskans and Californians, and Creoles (individuals of mixed Russian and native ancestry.) The Sonoma County Museum is part of the region-wide celebration of Fort Ross and will be hosting lectures monthly in 2012. For information on the lectures at the Museum, see our web calendar. Information on all of the activities at Fort Ross can be found through this website:  www.fortross2012.org.

Inez Storer: Recent Works

February 25 – May 27, 2012

Inez Storer was born in 1933 in Santa Monica, California. She studied at the Art Center in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California at Berkeley, and the San Francisco College for Women, ultimately receiving her B.A. from Dominican University in San Rafael, California (1970). She received her M.A. from San Francisco State University (1971). Storer's work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions consistently thorough the United States at institutions such as the Reno Museum of Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Monterey Museum of Art, the Fresno Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Missoula Museum of Art, Montana, and The National Museum of Jewish History, Philadelphia.