Johnny Stuart

Who was Johnny Stuart?

John Spencer Innes Stuart, known as Johnny Stuart was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, an author and expert on Russian art, known for his interest in the British motorcycling rocker movement. Stuart founded the Russian department at Sotheby's London auction house in 1976, developed it to its leading position in the market and was considered the leading expert in Russian art outside of Russia.

The son of a farmer, Stuart was educated at Eton School, converted to Russian Orthodoxy at the age of 18 and studied Slavonic Studies at St John's College, Cambridge.

He co-curated an exhibitions of Russian icons "Gates of Mystery" at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1990, and was an advisor for their 1994 "British Street Style" exhibition to which he loaned items from his collection.

Stuart wrote the seminal book on the rocker movement and his knowledge of British youth culture made him a guru for actors and pop stars including the Rolling Stones, Oliver Tobias, George Michael, Gary Numan, Billy Idol, Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats, Paul Simonon of The Clash, and Kylie Minogue, many of whom he befriended. "Rockers, Kings of the Road" became notorious at the most shoplifted book in London.