The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922This is the first book to examine the Russian contribution to what we now call the modern movement in art and architecture. It reveals an activity and achievement which have hitherto been almost unknown and unrecognized, but which are now shown to be of the greatest importance. The author has tracked down periodicals, exhibition catalogues, and other documents which are now very rare, and out of them has reconstructed the record of her period. She has supported this with illustrations drawn from all the important Western collections of Russian art and also from the far more important collections in Russian museums, which have never been seen in the West. Artists like Malevich, Tatlin, Rodchenko, are now given their full stature as artists and personalities. They are also seen as powerful formative influences on the continental movements between the wars, particularly the Bauhaus. The story is exciting as well as important. From the pure aesthetic point of view it tells of historic experiments and discoveries. But its greatest interest is in its account of an attempt to integrate art with life and society - an attempt that was pursued with passionate idealism through the revolutionary years which gave the movement's protagonists such a unique opportunity. In its short-lived heyday, music, drama, poetry and all the industrial arts were embraced in an experiment which attacked at the root the problems which still concern the artist today. --from the Publisher. |
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Abramtsevo colony abstract painting activity Alexander Rodchenko architecture artist's collection avant-garde Bakst ballet became began Benois Blaue Reiter Blue Rose Borissov-Mussatov brothers Cézanne colour Construction Constructivism Constructivist contributed costume Cubist Cubo-Futurist culture David Burliuk decorative Diaghilev dynamic early El Lissitzky exhibition figures Filosofov folk-art forms French friends Futurist Gabo Georgy Yakulov Golden Fleece ideas Impressionist influence Inkhuk introduced Kandinsky Kasimir Malevich Knave of Diamonds Korovin Kusnetsov Larionov and Goncharova later Leningrad Lissitzky magazine Mamontov Matisse Mayakovsky Mikhail Larionov modern movement Morosov Moscow Moscow College Munich Mussatov Natalia Goncharova oil on canvas organized painters Paris peasant Petrograd Pevsner Picasso pictorial poets Polenov Popova Portrait Primitivist Rayonnist Revolution rhythm Rosanova Russian art Russian Museum scene sculpture sent Serov Shchukin studies style Suprematism Suprematist Suprematist Composition Symbolist theatre theatrical tradition Tretyakov Gallery typical Union of Youth Vasnetsov Vitebsk Vkhutemas Vladimir Tatlin Vrubel World of Art Yakulov