Alexander Shervashidze – an Abkhaz scenographer, painter, illustrator, art critic, and cultural figure – was born on December 24, 1867, in Feodosia, Crimea. He was the nephew of Prince Mikhail Shervashidze, the last ruling noble of Abkhazia. His father, Konstantine Shervashidze, an officer in the Russian Imperial Army, was exiled from Georgia following his involvement in the 1832 conspiracy of Georgian nobility against the Russian Empire. After the Abkhaz uprising of 1866, the Shervashidze family was forbidden from returning to their homeland. Settling in Feodosia with his French wife, Konstantine made a home far from his native land – and it was there that their first son, Alexander, was born.
The Choice
Rejecting the path of a military career, Alexander Shervashidze enrolled as an independent student at the prestigious Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in 1891. Upon completing his studies in 1895, he set his sights on Paris – then the epicenter of avant-garde thought – where he continued his artistic training in the ateliers of Fernand Cormon and Académie Julian. There, he immersed himself in the treasures of the city’s museums and the emerging pulse of modern French art. Shervashidze quickly became a member of the Russian Art Circle in Paris and took part in the celebrated Mir Iskusstva (“World of Art”) movement between 1895 and 1899. He developed close ties with Paris’s vibrant artistic and literary elite, forming friendships with figures such as R. Gil, A. Golstein, Alexandre Benois, Valentin Serov, Alexey Tolstoy, Nicholas Roerich, Valery Bryusov, and Konstantin Balmont. During this Parisian period, he produced a number of easel paintings – primarily portraits – including Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Portrait of His Wife, Self-Portrait, Friends, Night Approaches, and In the Garden. His work was regularly featured in group exhibitions across the French capital. In 1899, Shervashidze returned to St. Petersburg alongside art historian Igor Grabar and painter Valentin Serov. Yet his bond with the Parisian art world remained unbroken: as a member of the Montparnasse artists’ committee, he continued to travel back and exhibit in the city throughout 1904–1906 and again in 1911–1912.
Theater Artist and Scenographer
In 1906,Alexander Shervashidze was appointed set designer for the Imperial Opera House in St. Petersburg – a moment that marked the official beginning of his prolific career as a theater artist and scenographer. Over the following decade, he designed more than 50 productions across pre-revolutionary Russia. From the outset, Shervashidze’s work reflected the avant-garde spirit of the “New Theater” movement. He collaborated with seminal directors such as Vsevolod Meyerhold, later contributing to productions by Nikolai Evreinov and Sergei Diaghilev. Hallmarks of this theatrical revolution – the merging of audience and stage, and a fascination with medieval theatrical forms – found vivid expression in his early scenographies. One emblematic example is Tristan and Isolde, staged at the Mariinsky Theatre. By 1917, Shervashidze had become chief decorator for nearly all imperial theaters in St. Petersburg – a testament to his artistic stature. Yet he never confined himself to the proscenium. Alongside contemporaries like Lansere and Roerich, he continued painting historic stage interiors and contributing costume designs for St. Petersburg’s fashionable soirées, where celebrated actors modeled his sketches brought to life.
Ties to the Homeland
Though hiscareer unfolded across the great cultural capitals of the Russian Empire and Europe, Shervashidze never lost sight of his Georgian-Abkhazian roots. In St. Petersburg, he sought out fellow Georgians and played an active role in the city’s Georgian cultural life. He maintained close ties with relatives, including members of the Shervashidze and Dadiani families residing in the imperial capital. In the early 1900s, the artist also hosted the Nakashidze family from Batumi at his Paris residence – a connection he preserved for years. Yet the most cherished bond remained with his brother Vladimir, and his cousin, the poet and public intellectual Giorgi Shervashidze (son of the last Prince of Abkhazia and Princess Alexandra Dadiani). The death of his cousin in 1918 became the catalyst for Shervashidze’s return to Sukhumi, his ancestral home. There, he began a new chapter – as a cultural leader and educator. He joined the city’s Artistic Society, co-founded a theater program with Evreinov and Kamensky, and established a children’s studio in the local girls’ gymnasium. He led drawing circles, delivered lectures on art across Georgia and the South Caucasus, and worked closely with historian and linguist Nicholas Marr in his educational pursuits.
To Europe – Forever
As political turmoil intensified, Alexander Shervashidze was forced to relocate – first to Batumi, then to Feodosia in Crimea, where his former wife and children resided. It was there that he received a pivotal invitation from the legendary impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who commissioned him to design the sets and costumes for all Russian opera and ballet productions touring Europe. In 1920, Shervashidze left for Europe with his wife, N. Butkovskaya – this time, never to return. The following year, he was named honorary chairman of the newly revived Mir Iskusstva (“World of Art”) exhibition. While he settled primarily in Paris, his talent took him across the continent – frequently invited to London, Brussels, Madrid, and Monte Carlo. His scenographic work during this period was dominated by collaborations with Diaghilev’s celebrated Ballets Russes – from 1920 to 1929 with Diaghilev himself, and later, between 1929 and 1948, with his artistic successors. Among his most acclaimed productions were: Nikolai Gogol’s The Marriage and The Government Inspector (Brussels, 1922); Nikolai Evreinov’s The Merry Death (Paris, 1922); The Triumph of Neptune by G. Berners with choreography by George Balanchine (London, Covent Garden, 1926); Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (choreographed by Petipa – U.S. tour, 1936–1944) One particularly notable cultural moment came in 1945, when the French ballet company staged Shota Rustaveli in Monte Carlo in support of the Georgian-language newspaper Kartuli Sakme (“The Georgian Cause”).
This four-act choreographic epic, based on Rustaveli’s The Knight in the Panther’s Skin, was created by Nicolas Evreinov and Serge Lifar – the latter dedicating the ballet to Georgia’s national poet. Sets, costumes, and the iconic curtain were co-designed by Alexander Shervashidze and S. Nepokoitchitsky. The premiere took place at Monte Carlo’s National Theatre on May 5, 1946. The ballet was later performed in London in 1947 and revived by Lifar at the Paris Grand Opera in 1950. Its final staging took place in Paris in 1963 – a poignant tribute to a legacy shaped by exile, memory, and vision.
A Talent of Many Dimensions
Alexander Shervashidze’s multifaceted legacy was widely recognized in his lifetime. Today, his scenographic works are preserved in the museum collections of Europe’s most esteemed theaters. He was rightly regarded as a creative co-author of many of Sergei Diaghilev’s visionary ballets – a collaborator whose artistic contribution shaped the visual language of early 20th-century stagecraft. His name appears frequently in articles and memoirs published across European languages, where his cultural contributions are remembered with admiration. Shervashidze’s body of work defies categorization: he illustrated Russian folk tales and songs, designed book covers – including one for V. Kamensky’s work on Evreinov and for M. Voloshin’s Demons and the Deaf-Mutes – and created visual identities for autobiographical anthologies of modern Russian prose writers. Beyond the stage, he produced numerous easel paintings – portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. One of his most celebrated portraits features the striking Georgian ballerina Tamar Tumanishvili. His writings on French art remain relevant to this day, including essays on Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Alexandre Benois. In Paris, he formed friendships with key figures of the modernist movement – Pablo Picasso, André Derain, Georges Braque, and Jean Rouault – and was instrumental in inviting them to contribute to the creative universe of the Ballets Russes. In 1924, he painted the stage curtain for Darius Milhaud’s Le Train Bleu, inspired by Picasso’s Two Women Running on the Beach. This 134-square-meter masterpiece is now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Serge Lifar, one of ballet’s most iconic dancers and choreographers of the 20th century, once described Shervashidze as “a participant in the theatrical and artistic revolution of the West.” Meanwhile, Salvador Dalí hailed him as “the true embodiment of European aristocracy.” And to the Great Russian director and theater theorist Nikolai Evreinov, “Prince Alexander Shervashidze was the personification of Eastern knightly nobility – a rare virtue in our time.”
Testament
In the final years of his life, Alexander Shervashidze resided in a home for the elderly. In 1958, already advanced in age, he wrote from Monte Carlo to his daughter in Sukhumi: “…I only ever thought of my work, and so little of myself. When my career as a stage designer came to an end, I was left with nothing.” Yet, despite the hardships and financial decline, Shervashidze made a profound gesture: he bequeathed his entire creative archive to his homeland, refusing any compensation in return. In 1958, the State Museum of Fine Arts of Georgia received, as a gift, his personal archive and nearly 500 original works – each signed in both Georgian and Abkhazian: Shervashidze-Chachba. The collection encompassed everything from technical stage sketches and economic calculations to complete works of fine art, along with correspondence with fellow artists, posters, and promotional materials – a lifetime in documents and designs, carefully preserved.
Rediscovered
Shervashidze’s legacy remained largely overlooked in his native land until 1985, when the first solo exhibition of his work was held in Tbilisi. Much of his most significant work, however, was housed at the Sukhumi Art Gallery – a repository that fell under occupation after the Abkhaz War. On January 21, 2023, a fire broke out at the gallery. Among the irretrievable losses were over 300 of Shervashidze’s works – paintings, sketches, and scenographic pieces, painstakingly preserved for decades. “I packed these parcels with my own hands,” Shervashidze had once written. After this act of generous donation, and the tender words he left behind, the venerable artist lived another ten years. He died at the age of 101 in Monte Carlo, and was initially buried in Nice at the Russian cemetery. In 1985, his remains were repatriated to Sukhumi. In one of his final reflections, Shervashidze wrote: “The history of our art is the story of the individual’s struggle against the often obscure weight of tradition – the principle of renewal confronting the rigid conservatism of collective dogma. Yet the individual is just as essential to art as tradition itself (Pull quote). Tradition shows the way – it reflects the will and desire of a people. The individual gives it shape. Tradition lives through the individual.”
This May, the State Museum of Fine Arts of Georgia will host a commemorative exhibition of Alexander Shervashidze’s works. Many of the pieces on display have never before been seen by the wider public – a long-overdue tribute to one of Georgia’s most cosmopolitan and visionary artists.
MANANA KVACHAKHIA, NATO MARSHANIA (members of the archival research expedition)
