Imaginary Portraits: Prince Igor Opens January 31 at Gallery Met

The group show, the largest exhibition in Gallery Met history, will feature portraits of the medieval Russian ruler by more than 20 artists

A new production of Borodin’s opera Prince Igor,  the first Met performances of the work since 1917, opens on February 6

 New York, NY — New works by more than 20 prominent artists will be featured in Imaginary Portraits: Prince Igor, a group show opening at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met on January 31. Each of the participating artists has created a portrait of the 12th-century Russian warlord Prince Igor, the subject of Borodin’s opera of the same name, who made a significant impact on medieval Russian history but left behind no definitive visual record.

The roster of artists whose work will be featured in the show, the largest exhibition in Gallery Met history, includes many of the most prominent artists of two generations—as well as some surprises. The 23 participating artists are Kristin Baker, John Baldessari, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Francesco Clemente, Peter Doig, Rachel Feinstein, Ryan Johnson, Ragnar Kjartansson, Alex Katz, Thomas Lawson, Raymond Pettibon, Elizabeth Peyton, Peter Saul, Peter Schlesinger, Dana Schutz, Dasha Shishkin, Sophie von Hellermann, Charline von Heyl, and Michael Williams, as well as fashion designer Thom Browne, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, and architect David Adjaye. Imaginary Portraits will be on display in Gallery Met through Saturday, May 10.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Karma Publishing will release a book this spring combining the images from Imaginary Portraits with Vladimir Nabokov’s 1960 translation of “The Song of Igor’s Campaign,” the epic poem that Borodin used as the basis for the opera Prince Igor. More information on the book, which will retail for $25 and be available from Karma’s website (www.karmakarma.org) and other retailers, will be released this spring. 

On February 6, a new production of Prince Igor will open at the Met, where the Russian epic has not been performed since 1917. The staging, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov in his Met debut and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, will star Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role.

Dodie Kazanjian, director of Gallery Met since its opening in 2006, saw in Prince Igor a unique opportunity for a distinctive group show.

“Prince Igor is based on a real figure from the 12th century, and we don’t really know what he looked like,” Kazanjian said. “I’ve always wanted to do a show of imaginary portraits, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The show is a rich mixture of materials and styles, and I’m enormously gratified by the unpredictable responses of these gifted artists.”

Gallery Met, located in the south lobby of the opera house, is open to the public Mondays through Fridays from 6 p.m. to the end of the last intermission and Saturdays from noon to the end of the evening performance’s last intermission. Admission is free and no appointments are required. Gallery Met is closed on Sundays.

For more information on the Met’s contemporary visual arts initiatives, which are organized by Dodie Kazanjian, please visit www.metopera.org/gallerymet.

About Gallery Met

The Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met, located in the opera house lobby’s south side, is a showcase for the contemporary works of art that reaffirms the company’s long history of relationships with major visual artists. Gallery Met, directed by Dodie Kazanjian since its inception in 2006, is made possible through an initial $1 million donation by Marie Schwartz, an Advisory Director on the Metropolitan Opera’s Board.