Larisa Grigorieva: Painter of Porcelain

The exhibition presents a selection of works painted by Larisa Grigorieva, one of the leading artists of the Lomonosov, now Imperial Porcelain Factory, in the 1940s-80s.  

Founded in 1744 by Empress Elizabeth, the porcelain factory in St. Petersburg is Russia’s oldest and most prestigious porcelain manufacturer. It was known as Lomonosov under Soviet rule, before reverting to its original name, the Imperial Porcelain Factory, in 2005. A pioneer of Russian porcelain production, it is renowned for its hand-painted hard paste porcelain and fine bone china sets, reflecting centuries of imperial elegance and artistic mastery.  

Larisa Ivanovna Grigorieva (1920–1997) was a prominent Soviet porcelain painter who spent over four decades shaping the visual legacy of Leningrad’s famous Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. Joining the factory in 1945 as an apprentice, she quickly developed a rich, imaginative style under the guidance of avant-garde master Nikolai Suetin. While her career spanned from the post-war era into the late 1980s, her work flourished remarkably between the 1960s and 1980s. Renowned for her intricate hand-painted plates, vases, and tea services, Grigorieva masterfully blended elements of mid-century Soviet modernism with vivid decorative imagery, leaving behind over 300 original designs now preserved in elite institutions, such as the Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

The Museum of Russian Art thanks the artist’s daughter Olga Stariski for donating porcelain pieces painted by her mother, as well as contributing part of her own collection to this exhibition.  

Larisa Grigorieva: Painter of Porcelain is on view in the Robert J. Brokop Gallery October 10, 2026 – February 7, 2027