News Release

As part of Baltimore's VIVAT! St. Petersburg celebration, a citywide arts festival commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, Evergreen House is presenting A Russian's Winter in Baltimore: Léon Bakst at Evergreen, 1922-1923. Opening Feb. 9, the exhibit will highlight Evergreen's Bakst Theatre, the only extant private theater designed by avant-garde Russian-born artist Léon Bakst. A free opening reception for the public will be held Thursday, Feb. 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at Evergreen, 4545 N. Charles St. in Baltimore.

Alice Warder Garrett and her husband, John Work Garrett, were living in Paris between 1914 and 1917 when they met Bakst, who was designing costumes and stage sets for Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. The friendship between the artist and the Garretts would continue for a decade, with Alice Garrett ultimately acting as an agent for the exhibition and sale of Bakst's works in the United States from 1919 to1924. After moving to Evergreen, the Garretts invited Bakst to Baltimore in 1922. Bakst stayed for six months, designing Evergreen's theater, costumes and three stage sets. A Russian's Winter in Baltimore tells the personal story of the artist and his patron and includes works by Bakst collected by or made especially for Alice Garrett as well as Bakst's textile designs from the collection of the Maryland Institute College of Art. The newly conserved "Chansons Orientales," one of three Bakst stage sets designed for the Evergreen theater, will be displayed for the first time in 70 years. The conservation of the set was funded through a Heritage Preservation Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Evergreen is also the primary lender to the Baltimore Museum of Art for its contribution to VIVAT! St. Petersburg, The Brilliance of Bakst: Theatre and Textile Designs from Baltimore Collections, which runs Feb. 12 to May 4. The Brilliance of Bakst exhibit features the original stage set "Seville Street Scene" created for use at Evergreen, as well as designs for the decoration of the theater.

A Russian's Winter in Baltimore: Léon Bakst at Evergreen, 1922-1923 runs through May 25 and is made possible through funding from the Richard C. von Hess Foundation. Admission to the exhibit is $3. Guided tours of the house and the exhibit are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for students. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Web at www.vivatfest.com. For more information on the Evergreen exhibit, call 410-516-0341, or visit www.jhu.edu/historichouses.