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View our mosaic by Boris Anrep at Mottisfont Abbey
On display until 13th July 2025
This May, Mottisfont Abbey celebrates the life and work of Boris Anrep. From imperial Russian descent to Parisian bohème, Anrep became one of Britain’s most accomplished and celebrated mosaicists.
Mottisfont Abbey, set within a two-thousand-acre estate, was the home of Gilbert and Maud Russell from 1934 until Gilbert’s passing in 1942. The Abbey a cultural and artistic haven for Russell and her guests. Boris Anrep himself spent time at Mottisfont creating two works in the Abbey: The Holy Trinity (1945) and The Angel of Mottisfont (1946), whose features were based on Maud Russell. Anrep, a larger-than-life character, found in Russell both a devoted patron and a romantic partner.
Included in the exhibition, on loan, is The Spirit of Reasoning, an exceptional mosaic created by Anrep around 1913. Soon after its creation, the mosaic was acquired by the artist Augustus John, who set it into the wall of his house in Chelsea, where it remained until 1970. It is the only example of Anrep’s work to appear on the secondary market since his death and has not been exhibited in public since it was shown in Anrep’s first solo exhibition in 1913.
Anrep’s mosaics imbue a kind of spiritual immanence through the physicality and personification of allegorical figures. The title, Spirit of Reasoning, especially emphasises the artist’s search for—and attainment of—virtue, personified. In fact, The Angel of Mottisfont embodies Anrep’s view of divinity as channelled through Russell, who, having sheltered him during the war, was a heavenly figure in his eyes.
After Anrep’s death in 1969, Maud ensured his ashes were interred in the gardens of Mottisfont, cementing their bond even in death. Their connection—rich with love, art, and memory—remains a central part of Mottisfont’s history, with Anrep’s artistic legacy permanently etched into the fabric of the Abbey.
The exhibition runs until the 13th July 2025. Visit the National Trust website for further details.
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