Overview

In December 1998, USC Rare Books and Manuscripts acquired the artistic archives of Nicolai Remisoff from Gordon Hollis of Golden Legend, Inc., who had acquired the collection from Katherine Remisoff, the widow of Nicolai Remisoff's son Leonid.

Nicolai Remisoff was born St. Petersburg, Russia in 1884 and died in Palm Springs in 1975. He was a theatrical designer, painter, muralist, and architectural consultant. Remisoff's artistic style, which has been termed "Russian Vogue," had significant impact on the fashionable theaters and magazines of the 1920s. Along with Boris Aronson and Nicolai Roerich, Remisoff was one of the noteworthy 20th-century stage designers to emerge from Russia and to settle in the United States and achieve success. In addition to the Rare Books and Manuscripts of the University of Southern California Libraries, Remisoff's artwork is currently held by the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library (122 letters scattered throughout numerous collections), the Art Institute of Chicago (7 pieces of artwork), and the Tobin Wing at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas (a notebook of costume and set designs for the Chauve-Souris and a set of designs for Le Coq d'Or).

Thanks to Mr. Hollis for the research notes upon which this website is based.

Biography of the Artist

Filmography and Ballet Credits

Aspects of the Archive