Lisa (Lisa) Vershbow ( born Lisa Vershbow ; January 1, 1953 , Boston ) - American jeweler , interior designer , art critic and collector . He is one of the founding members of the Washington Guild of Goldsmiths - WGG. Honorary foreign member of the Russian Academy of Arts . Lisa owes her worldwide fame both to her personal hard work and talent, and to her spouse-diplomat Alexander Russell Vershbow (in 2012-2016 he was NATO Deputy Secretary General).
| Fox vershbow | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| A country | |
| Genre | jewelry , interior design |
| Study | |
| Style | jewelry avant-garde |
| Ranks | Honorary Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Arts |
Content
Biography
Young years
Fox is a native of Boston , Massachusetts . One of her great-grandfathers was born in Belarus and in 1905 emigrated to the United States. From a young age, the Fox was distinguished by its artistic taste, sense of style and what is commonly called “smart hands”. The fox created her first piece of jewelry at the age of 14, using improvised locksmith tools. In 1969 - 1971 she took a course in jewelry engineering and design in her native Massachusetts, at the De Cordoba Museum, Lincoln . In 1975, she graduated from the Department of Art History at Connecticut College in New London , Connecticut , with the title of Bachelor of Arts. In parallel with her studies in New London, Fox studied metal artwork at the University of New Mexico.
Star Family
In 1975, she married her fellow Boston countryman and childhood friend, a graduate of Yale University , Alexander Russell Vershbow : “Alas, my parents did not teach me the Russian language . We had a samovar in our house, and I even didn’t know its purpose! However, when I got married, according to tradition, as the eldest daughter in the family, I took the samovar with me as a dowry. ”
The samovar turned out to be a happy talisman. Now Alexander and Fox have two sons: actor Benjamin and biologist Gregory ...
From 1978, before leaving with her husband for Russia, Lisa worked as a jewelry instructor at the Art League School in Alexandria , Virginia .
In 1979, Alexander Vershbow was appointed third secretary of the American embassy in Moscow. The fox first saw Moscow: “We lived here for two years. I remember very well that time: we lived on Donskaya Street , and every day I rolled a stroller with little Ben along the walls of the Donskoy Monastery . ” 1981 was the first exhibition in the capital of Russia.
Upon returning to her homeland in 1981, Lisa again worked as a jewelry instructor at the Art League school. She worked there until 1997 . She participated in the organization of the youth programs of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington .
In 1994-1996, Lisa Vershbow was president of the Washington Guild of Goldsmiths (WGG), one of the founding members of which she is. He is also a member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths - SNAG.
| I like all kinds of art, but above all - applied. When I come somewhere, I am primarily interested in the achievements of applied art, be it ceramics, glass, textiles, etc. (...) In painting, sculpture, we see a lot of new, avant-garde. In applied art this is much less, it basically remains traditional. (...) I feel the need to show that applied art can be as modern as painting or sculpture. I try to bring some new stream to applied art. First of all, this refers to jewelry. |
The brooches and hairpins, necklaces and earrings created by Fox Vershbow are worn by such famous women as Madeleine Albright , Condoleezza Rice , Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush.
| I gave Mrs. Albright a brooch in the shape of an arrow and said that it should be worn if you want to succeed! |
- says the Fox ...
In 1999, Lisa Vershbow participated in the XI International Jewelry Symposium in Tarnovo (Czech Republic). Organized a large number of solo exhibitions.
In 2001 , in connection with the appointment of Alexander Vershbow as the US Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Lisa Vershbow again appeared in Moscow, took an active part in the artistic life of Russia, met Zurab Tsereteli and other famous artists, and often visited the Stroganov Academy.
| I see my mission in bringing together the American and Russian design communities! |
- emphasized the Fox. Lisa Vershbow caused great disappointment in 2003 , when, in connection with the events in Iraq, the American Embassy canceled the exhibition of her jewelry in Veliky Novgorod , scheduled for May 14 at the Novgorod Museum of Fine Arts [1] . In 2004, Lisa Vershbow was a member and member of the organizing committee of the Russian-American exhibition of contemporary art "Two Capitals."
| The combination of color, shape and mechanical knots has been present in the jewelry design of Fox Vershbow throughout her creative career. She combines traditional jewelry techniques - with unconventional materials. So, she combines aluminum and plastic with silver, semiprecious stones and pearls - which makes her work unique. |
- writes the American magazine “Ornament” (Volume 34, No.4, 2011).
| The value of my products is not in the cost of the material - it is quite cheap - but in the artistic idea! |
- says the Fox.
On October 7, 2004, Lisa Vershbow gave a lecture at the Professional Lyceum of Kaliningrad (No. 10) on the theme: “Jewelry Design - An American Look”. The lecture was organized as part of the educational program of the Second Regional Amber Products Competition “Alatyr 2004” ... In the same 2004, Lisa Vershbow visited Taganrog and Starocherkassk , got acquainted with the rich historical and cultural heritage of these cities.
In 2005 - 2008 , in connection with the appointment of Alexander Vershbow as US Ambassador to South Korea, Lisa Vershbow lived in Seoul . In 2005 , Lisa Vershbow was a member of the jury of the Nordic Jewelery Competition in Helsinki .
In 2011, Lisa Vershbow accepted the invitation of the authors of the project “Ideas and Images of Leonardo da Vinci in Contemporary Decorative and Applied Art” Andrei Gilodo and Marina Korosteleva to take part in the exhibition of the same name, which opened on September 2 at the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad. Andrei Gilodo , an academician of the Academy of Art History, an expert of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and head of the metal department of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, described the American designer and her work as follows:
| Lisa Vershbow is a talented and original-minded artist. And most importantly - it refers to those artists who constantly think. That is, they do not just do something with their hands, but they think. Motivation is very important for them: why do they create this or that work? And answering this question, they create works. Therefore, the quality of these works always corresponds to how deeply and how thoroughly they think over the topic that they are asked to create a work or which they choose to create a work on their own. Here are just the brooches of Lisa Vershbow in the context of the Leonardo da Vinci project that have become quite a clear, vivid embodiment of her style. I would like to add that with all personal and personal recognition, Lisa Vershbow very brightly, very effectively and very accurately represents the American jewelry school in the framework of which she was brought up, the jewelry school of the second half of the 20th century and now is the 21st century. It was from this point of view that she chose a very interesting aspect: she saw in engineering, in drawings and notes by Leonardo da Vinci what in the modern world is called design style or design art. For her, Leonardo da Vinci is one of the first designers who was several centuries ahead of his time. |
In 2012, Alexander Vershbow was appointed Deputy Secretary General of NATO , and the couple moved to Brussels .
In the fall of 2016, the Vershbow couple returned to the United States.
Exhibitions
- 1977 Boston , Massachusetts , USA.
- 1981 Moscow, Russia.
- 1986 London , UK .
- 1987 London , UK .
- 1992 Brussels , Belgium .
- 1998 Brussels , Belgium .
- 1999 Antwerp , Belgium .
- 2002 International exhibition "Jewelry Avant-garde". The State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg, Russia.
- 2002 Personal exhibition. Collection "New Arbat". Moscow, Russia
- 2002 Personal exhibition. Yaroslavl , Russia.
- 2002 Personal exhibition. Kaliningrad , Russia.
- 2003 Exhibition "Flower Tornado". Yekaterinburg , Russia.
- 2004 Russian-American exhibition of contemporary art "Two Capitals". Moscow, Russia.
- 2004 Personal exhibition. Kaliningrad , Russia.
- 2010 Personal exhibition. Chelyabinsk , Russia.
- 2010 Personal exhibition. Yekaterinburg , Russia.
- 2011 Exhibition "Ideas and Images of Leonardo da Vinci in Contemporary Decorative and Applied Art". Kaliningrad , Russia.
- 2012 Exhibition "Alexey Baburov - Lisa Vershbow". Khabarovsk , Russia.
- 2013 Exhibition "Jewelry Avant-Garde". Embassy of Sweden. Tokyo , Japan .
- 2013 Exhibition "Color and Form, Contemporary Jewelry - Lisa Vershbow and Her Friends." Yekaterinburg , Russia.
Literature
- Gilodo A., Iglina O. , Two capitals. Contemporary jewelry art. - Moscow, White City, 2004.
- Gilodo A., Perfilieva I., Tikhomirova E. , Masters of the XXI century. - Moscow, Book House, 2004.
- Shapoval S. , Jewelery and diplomacy. - Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, April 9, 2004.
- Carl Little Lisa Vershbow. The Art of Diplomacy. - Ornament Magazine, Volume 34, No.4, 2011.
Notes
- ↑ The official wording read: "In connection with the events in Iraq, the US Embassy considers it inappropriate to travel diplomats to Russian regions."