Savva Morozov’s Moscow Art Theatre
Savva Morozov was part of the richest merchant family in Russia at the time. The family mainly acquired its fortune through cotton textile mills. Savva followed in the family business, but had a passion for the arts that heavily influenced his charitable contributions. He was once heralded as a “Patron of the Arts” due to his close partnership with the Moscow Art Theater.
Although the museum was not directly founded by Savva, without his patronage the Moscow Art Theatre would not have been possible. The two theater directors, Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko worked to expand the Russian theater scene, but a lack of funds made progress slow. In 1902, Savva funded the building of a new theater and even tried to paint and decorate parts of the building himself. Savva provided, in total, a sum of 500,000 rubles – an enormous amount for the time. However, in 1904, Savva stopped providing funds to the theater due to a change in artistic direction of the museum. His contribution to the arts, while quick and powerful, was short-lived as in the following year he committed suicide due to suspected political and financial issues.
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