1073 N Benson Rd
Fairfield, CT 06824
USA
Join author Susan Jaques for an illustrated talk, “The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia” on Thursday, March 2, from 5–6 p.m. in the Diffley Board Room at the Fairfield University Art Museum. The talk will be followed by a reception and book signing of Jaques’ biography, “The Empress of Art” (Pegasus Books, 2016).
Russia’s Catherine the Great was the most ambitious ruler of her day and one of history’s leading art collectors. During her 34-year reign, Catherine II placed Russia squarely on Europe’s cultural map, founding the Hermitage Museum and transforming St. Petersburg into an architectural treasure. In this talk, Jaques explores why art was vital for the tsarina, her passion for architecture, and her highly personal approach to collecting and building. In connection with the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Jaques will also discuss Catherine II’s cultural legacy and the fate of her paintings and palaces in the 20th century.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Susan Jaques graduated from Stanford University with a major in history and earned an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and a member of Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art & Architecture and Biographers International. Jaques lives in Los Angeles, where she is a gallery docent at the J. Paul Getty Museum.