Fabergé Revealed

Riggs Ward Design collaborated with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to create an expanded and newly designed gallery showcasing the museum’s Fabergé collection, revealing more of the objects than ever before. As part of VMFA’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the project built on a three-part initiative including a catalogue, a complementary exhibition, and the permanent gallery, Fabergé Revealed.

The gallery presents exquisite objects created by Karl Fabergé and his studio in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for the aristocracy and nobility of imperial Russia. Visitors encounter enameled picture frames and clocks, gold cigarette cases and cane tops, rock crystal animals and flowers, and jewel-encrusted brooches and boxes that still inspire fascination, much as they did in the windows of Fabergé’s stores in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and London. The design invites visitors to appreciate the artistry, craftsmanship, and rich history of these remarkable objects.

RWD worked closely with VMFA and the project’s lead scholar, Géza von Habsburg, to develop the conceptual design, overall style, color palette, and early renderings for the Fabergé permanent galleries. These early design efforts informed the detailed construction drawings produced by Glavé & Holmes Architecture, ensuring the gallery’s final realization harmonized with both the collection and the museum’s vision.