Rena Lavery

LLB, MBA, MLit, HonRCM

Mrs Rena Lavery is an art consultant and has been involved in art dealing and curation for over 20 years. She started her educational career at Kings School, Canterbury followed by University College London (UCL), obtaining her LLB Degree in Law, before studying for an MBA at the London School of Economics. Rena qualified as a lawyer and worked in the City of London for ten years. Rena is fluent in four languages: English, Spanish, Italian and Russian.  

Rena's main passion has always been the arts and she studied for a Masters in Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s. Rena specializes in mainly Impressionism and Modern Art and has extensive experience buying and selling several hundred artworks for this period, including works by artists such as Picasso, Modigliani, Renoir, Monet, Turner and van Gogh. 

Since 2010, Rena has been Managing Director of Art Russe which was founded with the aim of developing a greater awareness and understanding of Soviet and Russian cultural contributions between 1917 and 1991 and the period of Socialist Realism. Art Russe has now become the point of reference for this period and has supported exhibitions, lending artworks to international museums and galleries and publishing books and catalogues on key artists and artefacts, for which Rena has been primary originator.  She edited numerous catalogues to support Art Russe’s exhibitions in London, Venice, Moscow and Abu Dhabi. 

Rena has also published an extensive collection of books which includes Fechin (2014), Treasure Box: A Private Collection (2014) and Beyond the Boundaries of Socialist Realism: The Path of National Traditions in the Soviet Art of the Twentieth Century (2015). More recently, Rena has published three books with Ivan Lindsay: Masterpieces of Soviet Painting and Sculpture (2015), Art of the Soviet Union (2018) which comprises of four volumes, and Soviet Women and their Art: The Spirit of Equality (2019). 

Rena is a Founding Patron of the Royal Albert Hall and has been an avid supporter of the arts and music for many years. On 6th March 2019, Rena received an Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music (HonRCM), presented to her by HRH The Prince of Wales, President of the RCM, and is a Founding Patron of the More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign in London. Rena is also an Honorary Director of the Royal Opera House.

Rena loves travelling the globe and her favourite place on the planet is Africa. She enjoys practicing yoga and meditation and adores cooking for her family.