From Clare Sheridan’s Diary
[ the published diary begins with the following ]AUGUST 14TH, 1920. London.
According to Mr. Fisher’s instructions, I called on Mr. M— at his office at 10.30 and introduced myself.He took me in a taxi to Bond Street to the office of Messrs. Kameneff and Krassin. We waited for about twenty minutes in an antechamber . . .
At last the word came and we were ushered into the office of Mr. Kameneff who received me amiably and smilingly. We started off almost immediately, in French, and discussed the subject of his being willing to sit to me. I then asked him if a Soviet Government had obliterated Art in Russia. He looked at me for a moment in astonishment, and then said : “ Mais non ! Artists are the most privileged class.” I asked if they were able to earn a living wage. He replied that they were paid higher than the Government Ministers. He gave me fully to understand that Russia is most appreciative of Art and Talent, and is anxious to surround itself with culture.
Note : The Left press in Sweden, Great Britain, France, and America systematically published information on this subject.
And now as regards Heaven (without inverted commas), or, rather, that which leads to Heaven.
The venerable painter Victor Vasnetsov has been shot. Lappo-Danilevsky, member of the Academy of Sciences, died of starvation. The Academician Smirnov, Professor Vesselovsky, Professor Shliapkin, the Academician Radlov, Professor Fortunatov, the famous botanist Fomintsin, the famous pianist Zilotti, and a number of other eminent men have suffered the same fate. A number of professors have been shot, especially in Kiev. The artistic furniture and fittings of many houses have been destroyed. Articles have been taken from the Winter Palace, from Yussupov Gallery and other collections, and have been sent abroad. The Patriarch’s Collection of Vestments has been looted, churches have been robbed. A number of artists and literary men are languishing in prison. Professor S. F. Platonov, the celebrated historian of Russia, died in prison. In the theatres there is anarchy, and the players are treated abominably, like slaves without any will of their own. School children have had their morals corrupted. Other people’s treasures have been taken and dispersed throughout the provinces and villages, whereby their destruction is insured. During searches in artists’ houses, their colors and appliances are taken away. Balmont, the splendid poet, such writers as Merezhkovsky and Remizov, are perishing. What does it all mean ?On the above quotation : ”Mr. Roerich, one of the leading Russian painters, in his recent pamphlet Violators of Art, refers to the wide-spread Bolshevist propaganda by means of which they are trying to convince the outside world that they are the only friends of true art, science, and culture.” (Boris L. Brasol, Socialism vs. Civilization, New York : Scribner’s, 1920, page 119.) — [WPT]
He decided that the bust had better be started soon, as one never knew what might happen from one moment to the next, “what caprice of Monsieur Lloyd George” might elect to send him out of the country at a moment’s notice, so we decided on the following Tuesday at 10 a.m. Mr. Kameneff then took us downstairs to Krassin’s office. Mr. Krassin seemed very busy and preoccupied, had someone in the room, and didn’t quite know what I had come about, but he agreed to sit to me on the following Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Russian Portraits by Clare Sheridan
London : Jonathan Cape, 1921.
( Or : ) Mayfair to Moscow — Clare Sheridan’s Diary.
New York : Boni and Liveright, 1921.
From The World at the Cross Roads by Boris L. Brasol, 1921