About BEMAF

The Beilin-Makagon Art Foundation (BEMAF) is the product of thirty years’ dedication to forming an internationally important collection of works by artists and artisans of Imperial Russia, particularly master silversmiths and enamelers such as Fabergé and Feodor Rückert as well as artisans at the Imperial Porcelain Factory and the students and faculty of Russia’s innovative art colleges and institutes. Over a dozen now independent nations once fell within that empire’s geographical borders, including Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. The collection encompasses objects from many of these nations, but particularly works made in Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus, an area where many Jewish artists lived in the Pale of Settlement.

BEMAF was officially formed to promote the appreciation, preservation, and study of this art and to bring wider attention to a rich and complex cultural tradition, particularly its influence on and collaborative dialogue with European, American, Middle Eastern, and Asian art. The foundation leadership seeks to accomplish these goals through participation in exhibitions, publications, educational programs, digital resources, and the promotion of scholarly dialogue among specialists from around the world.