Nabokov via the prism of butterflies

By Luisa Schulz

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: July 18, 2012 (Issue # 1718)

Fans of Vladimir Nabokov will know that the eminent Russian-American writer was not only a gifted writer, but also a passionate lepidopterist. A new exhibition at the city’s Nabokov Museum opening this Sunday pays tribute to this passion, attempting to see his works through paintings of his beloved butterflies.

“It is not impossible that had there been no revolution in Russia, I would have devoted myself entirely to lepidopterology and never written any novels at all,” Nabokov once said. He saw butterflies as his main interest, followed by literature. This has inspired more than 40 artists, most of them members of the avant-garde St. Petersburg Academy of Immortal Contemporary Art, to produce artwork on that theme in his honor.

“The idea for the project emerged a long time ago, but only materialized now,” said Felix Volosenkov, the project’s author. Due to the small space of the gallery, the width of the paintings is restricted to 50 centimeters, but vertically they can be as high as the ceiling.

Not all the paintings show butterflies, however. The theme has also been interpreted as a symbol for Nabokov himself, who, with his complex word games and synesthesia, was as volatile and metamorphosis-loving as the insects, and for his equally elusive characters.

“Butterflies” runs from July 22 through Aug. 10 at the Nabokov Museum, 47 Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa. M. Sadovaya/Admiralteiskaya.