Date: 06.06.2019
February 7 was the opening day of the exhibition “Oleg Sheintsis. Selected" dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the birth of the famous theatre artist.
Oleg Sheintsis was the co-author of the best performances by Mark Zakharov. Starting in 1980, Sheintsis became the main artist of the Lenkom Theatre and during his short life (1949-2006) managed to accomplish a great deal. He designed more than 70 performances in various theatres in Russia and abroad, created the Golden Mask festival emblem, became a People’s Artist of Russia, and was a laureate of many prestigious theatre awards. Each performance was unexpected and innovative. On the posters he was called the ‘director-scenographer.’ Zakharov noted that it was Scheintsis who formed the aesthetics of the Lenkom Theatre, starting from the logo and official forms, to the pattern of the courtyard gate.
As a scenographer Scheintsis worked very hard, not only in Russia but abroad. He designed performances in London, Tel Aviv, Florence, Sofia, and Bratislava.
Oleg Sheintsis, a professor at the Moscow Art Theatre School (MXAT), was a wonderful teacher who taught students to be not just the designers of the performance, but full-fledged participants in the theatrical process.
Opening the evening, the Director of RSAL Ada Kolganova said that the library was proud of the reader that Oleg Sheintsis was. From his student days, the artist had worked within RSAL’s walls on the set designs of performances. Today, the library stores Sheyntsis’ sketches, and RSAL’s materials were used to create the book Oleg Sheyntsis. Why is an Artist Needed?
Many friends and colleagues of Oleg Sheyntsis came to the opening of the exhibition. Among them were the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Stanislav Benediktov, people’s artists of the Russian Federation V. Rakov, E. Shanina, I. Yasulovich and many others.
All the guests spoke with great affection for Oleg Sheyntsis, his attitude toward work, and the fact that his findings in stage design were on par with the director’s decisions. The speakers warmly thanked Oleg’s wife Lyudmila Kuzmenko, who was his faithful assistant during his lifetime, and today her efforts are aimed at preserving Sheintsis’ artistic heritage.
Many words of gratitude were also expressed to Anahit Oganesyan, the author of the book Oleg Sheyntsis. Why is an Artist Needed?, now in its second reprint. Oganesyan admitted that it was a great honour for her to prepare for publication this book dedicated to the artist’s multi-faceted creativity.
At the opening of the exhibition not only were Sheintsis’ sketches of costumes and scenery presented, but also portraits, and landscapes from the master’s hand, as well as photos from the family archive. Some materials from RSAL’s collections were shown for the first time.
