The Art World of Nadezhda Dobychina

Nadezhda Dobychina (1884–1950) was a gallery owner, curator, museum worker, and collector. Dobychina played an important role in the cultural life of pre-revolutionary and Soviet Russia. She continued her work during the years of wars and revolutions, embodying the “thread that connects days,” so essential for understanding the history of art in the first half of the 20th century. Her contemporaries spoke of her in many ways, accusing her of greed and attributing her numerous love affairs; Alexander Benois and Maxim Gorky, Nikolai Roerich and Igor Grabar, Sergey Prokofiev and Vyacheslav Karatygin consulted with her.