SHARING YOUR FAMILY'S ARTISTIC HERITAGE.
INSPIRING THE WORLD WITH THEIR STORIES.
A free online platform of virtual art exhibits and mini-stories
celebrating the artistic heritage of families like yours.
The origin of Skaya House is the artistic heritage of my family.
The purpose of Skaya House is to celebrate yours.
My name is Katherina Komisarjevsky. My family is a 150-year dynasty of unconventional writers and artists who transformed the opera, theatre and dance stages in Russia, Italy, Paris, Britain and the United States and made great contributions to the arts and to art history.
The focus of this website is not me but a little story about myself reveals why I created it.
So, let me share something very personal with you…
Despite this family legacy, it often felt far away and I have been uncertain about my own path for much of my life. Even so, a love of the arts and a creative spirit was always there. After retiring from the commercial real estate finance industry, I decided to reconnect with the passions of my youth and get back to the family roots.
What I found is that, unbeknownst to me as a younger woman, these ancestors had shaped who I am. One thing I have been sure of for as long as I can remember is that, on the other side of every “leap” and “fall” is the next level of my life. And researching the generations of the Komisarjevskys – their historical work and influence – revealed a birthright, not only of creativity, but also of trusting in myself when things are not easy.
So I named this Skaya House.
After all, the five letters “skaya” attached to the end of a Russian name speak to “belonging,” and, coupled with the word “house,” it speaks volumes to the emotions and history of where our values came from.
“Leap, Fall, Recover”… my grandmother, Ernestine Stodelle Komisarjevsky Chamberlain
Just as my heritage – the family’s creative expressions and their values – is a treasure for me and for all those who carry the Komisarjevsky name, you, too, have something in your family history that you treasure.
Maybe it is a tradition of performing arts, like mine. Or it might be a heritage of poetry, painting, pottery, photography or hand embroidery. Whatever it may be, it is special and no doubt holds simple, yet cherished, lessons about life that touched your heart.
I invite you to celebrate it.
Skaya House was created to share the artistic heritage of families like yours and the life lessons behind it in a way that speaks to our generation. So write to me. Be the one the tell your family’s unique story.
Through our online studio of virtual art exhibits and mini-stories – let’s celebrate your family’s artistic heritage and inspire the world.
The Vera Komissarzhevskaya Theatre, St. Petersburg, named after my great aunt
Born of noble birth in 1832, Fyodor left behind the prospect of a lucrative career in law to follow his dreams and became a principal tenor in the Italian and Russian opera. To him “The voice is the language of the heart, singing its most eloquent expression.” He became a mentor to Stanislavsky and a close friend of such luminaries as Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky. His daughter, Vera, and his son, Theodore, were both trained by him for a life on the stage. He is buried in his beloved Italy, alongside John Keats and other revered artists.
“If we are to speak of Komissarzhevsky’s nature, of his very essence… It is the rare gift of a man’s faith in fate, in his place on earth.”
- Victor Borovsky
Daughter of Fyodor and Mariya Nikolaevna Shulgina, Vera was one of the most celebrated actresses and theater managers of the late Russian Empire. Her fame was such that, when she died of smallpox in 1910, her funeral was attended by vast crowds and, it is said, mourners gathered at stations to cast flowers as the train passed by carrying Vera to her final resting place. One of the major theatres of St. Petersburg, founded by Vera and her brother, Theodore, still bears her name.
"... she always seemed by some inexplicable magic to be much more than merely the person she was representing."
- Theodore Komisarjevsky
Son of Fyodor and Princess Marie Kourtsevich, Theodore Komisarjevsky escaped from Russia during the revolution. Undeterred by obstacles or opinions, he had his greatest success in London after having been displaced from his homeland. A preeminent theatre director in Imperial Russia and an unconventional artist, he brought his vision to British audiences and beyond. His contributions, sometimes controversial, were transformative to the stage. He was prolific in his creative works, which included authoring many books, producing films, staging plays, operas and operettas, composing music for those productions, drawing and painting sketches of the set, décor and costumes for the stage and even designing theatre houses themselves.
He "showed us previously unknown possibilities of the theatre."
- Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Ernestine was a liberated woman before there were liberated women. She met Theodore Komisarjevsky in New York while she was performing in a dance and they were later married. While he was an acclaimed creator himself, Ernestine was a true artist in her own right. Graceful in every move, she was a pioneering modern dancer, poet, published author and teacher, who performed with Doris Humphrey and was often paired with José Limón. In 1929, as a young woman, she joined the dance company started by Ms. Humphrey and Charles Weidman and never looked back. In addition to her success as a dancer, she went on to author literature, including books about her mentor Ms. Humphrey and the legendary Martha Graham. She taught classes in the History of Dance and Aesthetics as an adjunct professor at NYU. She opened a dance studio as a teenager and continued to teach dance in Connecticut well into her 80’s. While her accomplishments in the art of dance fill those who love her with pride, it was the way she lived that was the greatest lesson for her family, friends and students. She was full of life and joy and dreams – dreams in her heart she was determined to follow, taking chances and testing her limits with a great poise that only comes from trusting your instincts.
"It is a life worth living."
- Ernestine Stodelle Komisarjevsky Chamberlain
Be the first to see your family's artistic heritage exhibited in our virtual studio.
Discover the latest art and mini-stories celebrating other families like you.
Get inspired by their art, heartfelt stories, and simple philosophies of life.
Let these exhibits and our blog posts be your muse – stirring the artist within you, sparking interesting philosophical conversations or a deeper connection with those you love.
A catalogue raisonné is a printed scholarly collection of an artist's accepted body of work. Producing a raisonné can take years or even decades.
Skaya House is leading the effort to systematically incorporate all of the Komisarjevsky family's artistic works to compile an official catalogue raisonné. We continue to gather images, references and material on artworks by the family in private and public collections.
To submit information about any of the Komisarjevsky family's work, please contact us at inquiries@skayahouse.com. All information associated with works of art in the catalogue raisonné is strictly confidential and wishes for anonymity will be respected.
To see if there is a catalogue raisonné on a specific artist, a search may be performed online through the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) Catalogue Raisonné Database.
We all love to connect based on what we have in common. Yet, because we are each unique, celebrating how we are different is what keeps us bonded together.
As family & friends
As a community
As a society
At its most fundamental, it is about human rights. It is dignity and respect for everyone – no exceptions. It is compassion for people we do not understand. To do otherwise is to give ourselves over to the lowest part of our being.
At its highest level, celebrating our differences is the realization that acknowledging someone else’s gifts, talents and perspectives does not diminish our own. It is a spirit of open-mindedness and an awareness that insight and inspiration can come from anywhere and anyone. It is searching for the beauty in each individual, because it's there. It is coming together and using our differences to create greater meaning, greater change, greater beauty and greater unity.
From a creative standpoint, this is at the heart of collaboration.
It is in this space – together – that we can do so much more.
We can each elevate the moment we are in, however it unfolds, by treating others and ourselves with kindness and dignity. We want to make that moment more beautiful because we were there.
There is no substitute for personal authenticity and strength of character to live congruently with who we truly are.
Struggle is part of the human experience but life’s greatest challenges are catalysts for personal revolution and paradigm shifts. They are our gurus to bettering ourselves and the life we live. At Skaya House, our spirit of determination moves us ever forward.
Yes, we must test the boundaries of our abilities and push through to create something meaningful but there are people along the way that help us get where we are. And everyone needs a little help sometimes. Recognizing people’s contributions to our growth opens our eyes to the importance of staying humble and giving back.
This doesn’t mean being close-minded or that we make decisions without thinking it through. It means we listen very closely to what our instincts are saying is authentic and we trust that voice. We know mistakes are inevitable and we will use them to hone that intuition and clear our path.
Your family's artistic heritage will be exhibited right here in the Skaya Studio.
Let’s celebrate it and inspire the world.
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