For Immediate Release
September 6, 2007

Media Contact Only:
Janice L. Kaplan, 202-966-8411
or janicelkaplan@aol.com
Julie Carpenter, 202-243-3918
or jcarpenter@HillwoodMuseum.org

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens Presents
A Quest for Fabulous: Thirty Years of Collecting, 1977–2007

     Decorative art objects, rich in history and ornament, paintings and rare printed works on paper acquired by Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens during the past three decades are featured in its new exhibition, A Quest for Fabulous: Thirty Years of Collecting, 1977–2007, opening Sept. 11. The exhibition, which marks Hillwood's 30th anniversary as a public museum, includes many works which have never been displayed. The exhibition will be on view through Dec. 30.
     Hillwood was the Washington residence of cereal heiress, art collector and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) from 1955-1973. Her collection includes the most comprehensive assemblage of 18th and 19th century Russian imperial art outside of Russia, and one of the country's most important art collections of French decorative art.
     While Hillwood's collection is world renowned, it is lesser known that, in the years since Post's death, the museum has continued to add to the founder's original collection through gifts and acquisitions. Those acquisitions have added depth to the world famous collection, built on its strengths and filled gaps.
     “This exhibition, which pays tribute to Hillwood's 30 years as a public museum, is a celebration of Marjorie Merriweather Post's collection, of its continued growth and of the art of collecting,” said Frederick J. Fisher, executive director of Hillwood. “It is also a celebration of new works given by generous museum donors and of museum purchases—many of which have never before had their moment in the spotlight."
     “ ‘A Quest for Fabulous' is a chance for us and for our visitors to assess these new acquisitions in terms of the collection at large and to think about what they collectively add to our knowledge and understanding of the decorative arts in the countries and periods Mrs. Post favored,” said Anne Odom, curator emerita who organized the exhibition.
     The exhibition, which includes 46 works, will be installed in Hillwood's Dacha, an adaptation of a one-room Russian summer home on the estate. Objects in the Dacha will be arranged by date of production to illustrate the interaction between European and Russian artists and courts. Additional pieces on view in the Georgian-style Mansion will enrich the scope of the exhibition with displays of furniture and costume.
Highlights of the exhibition include:

• A splendid 100-year-old silver kovsh (a Russian drinking vessel with a boat-shaped body), an excellent example of Russian art nouveau or stil moderne and one of Hillwood's earliest acquisitions in 1977.
• A porcelain platter decorated with a brilliant red hawk with outstretched wings and designed by Ivan Galnbek around 1906 for the Kornilov Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg.
• A silver and glass stil moderne chalice made in 1914 and a faience vase, purchased by Hillwood in 2005, that complements remarkable collections of silver chalices and porcelain vases that were made by the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg and were collected by Post.
• Additions to several porcelain services already represented in the collection.
• Rare early 19th century Sèvres empire-style porcelains from France that invite comparisons with Russian ceramics acquired by Hillwood's founder.
• Objects with connections between Russia and Europe, including an early Viennese cup and saucer decorated with the Russian coat-of-arms and a small glass goblet decorated with the Russian double-headed eagle and cross of St. Andrew on one side and the thistle and double-cross of Lorraine on the other.
• Examples of Russian objects that were exhibited in international world's fairs in the second half of the 19th century, including a tall covered silver cup designed by St. Petersburg silversmith Ignatii Szaikov that was displayed at the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations (the Crystal Palace Exhibition) in London in 1851.
• Acquisitions that address the relationship between Russia and the United States such as a Russian malachite mantel clock and an album of watercolors belonging to the family of U.S. Minister to Russia from 1820-1830, Henry Middleton.
• A collection of rare 19th century books, primarily on Russian art, acquired for the Hillwood library by purchase in 2000.
• A sketch by Ilya Repin (Russian, 1844–1930) of an officer and an oil painting of Stepan Kurakin (Russian, 1754–1805) by an unknown Russian artist. This is the first public display of both works.
• An early 19th-century writing table by the workshop of Heinrich Gambs (German, 1765–1831) and Jonathon Ott (German, active 1790–1805). The top of the table is decorated with neoclassical ornaments executed in verre églomisé, or reverse-painted and gilded glass outlined in black on a blue ground. Only three other examples include entire tabletops made from handmade glass, and all are attributed to the St. Petersburg workshop of Gambs and Ott.

NOTE TO EDITORS: High resolution images are available from 202-243-3918 or jcarpenter@HillwoodMuseum.org.