The Mauve Boudoir: A History

by Greg King

In 1919 Soviet authorities in Petrograd open the former Shuvalov Palace to the public.  Visitors were led through the extravagantly decorated rooms to see for themselves the “decadence” of the former ruling class.  What had once been embraced as a visible expression of refinement and taste was now cited as aristocratic indulgence; of useless, obscene frippery and sentimental souvenirs collected while peasants starved and crowded into rooms as if to insulate the privileged occupants from the growing unrest beyond the double-paned windows.¹