Vsevolod Meyerhold Museum Apartment

Museum Foundation

Vsevolod Meyerhold’s apartment is located in building No. 12 in Bryusov Lane . Meyerhold with his wife Zinaida Reich and her two children from Sergei Yesenin moved into housing in 1928. The apartment is located in the first cooperative house for art workers, which was called "House of Artists" and was designed by architect Ivan Rerberg . Meyerhold’s neighbors were actors Sofia Giatsintova , Ivan Bersenev , Anatoly Ktorov . On a visit to the director came the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky , painter Leonid Pasternak , actor Henry Craig , writer Andre Malrault ^{[3] [4] [5]} .

After Meyerhold’s arrest in 1939 on charges of counter-revolutionary activity and the murder of Zinaida Reich, the apartment was divided in two and handed over to the NKVD ^{[4] [6]} . In March 1968, a memorial plaque was erected on the house in memory of Meyerhold, made by the sculptor Nikolan Nikogosyan ^[7] .

In 1989, Meyerhold’s granddaughter Maria Valentei sent letters to the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council , the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office , the KGB of the USSR , the Central Committee of the CPSU with a request to provide the apartment in which Meyerhold lived to organize a memorial museum ^[8] . In August 1990, the Moscow City Executive Committee issued an order to transfer the apartment to the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR to create a museum ^[7] . One half was transferred to the museum free of charge, and the museum bought the remainder ^[4] .

Exposure

The apartment museum was opened in 1991. By this time, the household items of the owners were gone. From stories and photographs, it was possible to restore the atmosphere of Meyerhold’s office. To create an exposition, Maria Valentei turned to Irina Antonova , director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts , Alexander Zinovievich Krein, founder of the Pushkin State Museum , to historians and staff of the Bakhrushinsky Museum. Of the genuine things, it was possible to return the mahogany bookcase, photographs and the director’s cup donated by Igor Ilyinsky’s widow Tatyana Alekseevna Ermeeva ^{[3] [9] [10]} . The son of Peter Konchalovsky, Mikhail Petrovich, presented the museum with a sketch of his father for a portrait of Meyerhold. The artist Nikolai Sokolov handed over to the apartment his portrait of Meyerhold and the portrait of the young director, work by Nikolai Ulyanov ^[11] . The chandelier in the apartment was assembled from 19th-century materials: bronze , glass and crystal pendants. The museum was also presented with books on the history of the theater and a cabinet by an art critic Militsa Pozharskaya ^[12] .

In September 1997, the museum became part of the State Theater Museum named after Alexei Bakhrushin ^[13] .

In 2009, the exhibition “Meyerhold - actor. Actor at the Meyerhold Theater. ” The exhibition was dedicated to the work and personal life of the director ^{[2] [3] [14]} .

In April 2014, on the 140th anniversary of the birth of Meyerhold, the museum opened a new permanent exhibition “Meyerhold. The birth of the play. ” The director’s manuscripts, musical scores , posters, photographs of rehearsals of performances were presented on it. Also, reconstructions of Meyerhold's productions were created - "Forest", " Examiner ", "Masquerade". The exhibition opened with a play based on the story of Daniil Harms “The Old Woman ” ^{[15] [16]} .

Since the opening of the museum, it organizes memory evenings dedicated to artists, including Zinaida Reich, Pavel Markov , Igor Ilyinsky, Nikolai Erdman . Every year, February 2 is the day of memory of Vsevolod Meyerhold ^[17] .

The museum-apartment also hosts lectures, exhibitions and film screenings. In March 2005, the vernissage “ Dmitriev -Meyerhold- Petersburg ” was organized. The opening ceremony was attended by vocalists and artists of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra . In the same year, the museum hosted an evening from the cycle “Bryusov Lane, 12. House of Artists. Meyerhold’s neighbors, ”led by actress Valentina Titova . An exhibition of photographs of buildings and projects of the architect Ivan Rerberg, paintings by Fyodor Rerberg , and graphics by Ivan Rerber was organized ^[18] .

In 2010, the solo performance “Announced. Reading Gogol. "Zinaide Reich and all the actresses of the Meyerhold Theater are dedicated." In 2011, the museum-apartment turned 20 years old. The film “Masha Meyerhold” was presented at the event, telling about the contribution of the director’s granddaughter to the development of the museum ^{[19] [20]} .

In 2016, as part of the “ Night of the Arts ”, the readings “My fate is settled” were read on the works of Alexander Pushkin , prepared by actor Avant-garde Leontyev ^[21] .

• Meyerhold’s granddaughter. A book about the life of Maria Alekseevna Valentey / Makeerova N. - M .: Center named after Sun Meyerhold, 2009 .-- 351 p.
• XX years of the apartment museum Sun. Meyerhold / Makeerova N. - M .: State Central Theater Museum. A.A. Bakhrushina, 2011 .-- 71 p.

Official site of the Meyerhold Museum Apartment