Russian and Soviet Views of Modern Western Art
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Russian and Soviet Views of Modern Western Art 1890s to Mid-1930s EDITED BY ILI A DORO NTC H E N KO V TRANSLATED BY CHARLESROUGLE CONSULTING EDITOR NINA GURIANOVA UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 RUSSIAN CRITICISM BEFORE THE REVOLUTION: 1890S-1917 I Facing Europe: Impressions, Contacts, and Criticisms 27 1 Mark Antokol'skii, "Notes on Art" (1897] 28 2 Igor' Grabar', "Decline or Renaissance? A Survey of Contemporary Trends in Art" (1897] 30 3 Vladimir Stasov, Nineteenth-Century Art: Painting (1901 ] 32 4 Vasily Kandinsky, "An Artist's Text" (1918] 34 5 Andrei Belyi, On the Border of Two Centuries (1930) 35 6 Pavel Muratov, "On Grand Art" (1907) 36 7 Sergei Diaghilev [and Dmitrii Filosofov], "The Bases of Artistic Judgment" (1899] .... 40 8 Sergei Diaghilev, "European Exhibitions and Russian Painters" (1896) 41 9 Sergei Diaghilev, "The Exhibition in Helsingfors" [18991 42 10 Vladimir Stasov, "Exhibitions" [1898] 43 11 Grigorii Miasoedov, Letter to Vladimir Stasov (1898) 45 12 Vladimir Stasov, "The Court of Miracles" (1899) 46 13 Igor'Grabar', "Around European Exhibitions" (1904) 48 14 Vasily Kandinsky, "A Letter from Munich" (1909-10) 50 11 Western Influences: Symbolism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and the Golden Fleece Exhibitions 55 15 Ivan Konevskoi, "Bocklin's Painting" (1900) 57 16 Alexandre Benois, "Maurice Denis" (1901) 59 17 Igor' Grabar', "Around Europe" (1902) 61 18 Alexandre Benois, "An Artist's Conversations: 1. On Impressionism" (1899) 62 19 Igor'Grabar', "Around Europe: Letters on Contemporary Art" (1902] 64 20 Georgii Plekhanov, "The Proletarian Movement and Bourgeois Art" (1905) 65 21 Stepan laremich, "The Autumn Salon" (1904) 67 22 Alexandre Shervashidze, "Cezanne" (1905) 68 23 Maksimilian Voloshin, "Aspirations of the New French Painting" (1908) 69 24 Petr Konchalovskii, Letters from Paris to Il ia Mashkov (19081 71 25 Pavel Muratov, "The Golden Fleece Salon" 11908) 74 26 Igor' Grabar', "Moscow Exhibitions" 11909) 75 III Matisse, Picasso, and the Shchukin and Morozov Collections 77 27 lakov Tugendkhol'd, "S. I. Shchukin's French Collection" 11914) 81 28 Natal'ia Severova [Nordman], Intimate Pages 11910) 89 29 Vasilii Kamenskii, "KARTINiia" (1914) 92 30 Sergei Makovskii, "French Artists in the Morozov Collection" (1912) 93 31 Boris Ternovets, "The Museum of Modern Western Art in Moscow (The Morozov Section)" (1922-23) 96 32 Nikolai Breshko-Breshkovskii, "The Salon" (1910) 100 33 Alexandre Benois, "The Salon'and Bakst's School" (1910) 100 34 H'ia Repin, "The Izdebsky Salon" (1910) 101 35 lakov Tugendkhol'd, "The Autumn Salon" (1910) 102 36 Boris Ternovets, Letter to Nadezhda Shamshina (19111 103 37 Alexandre Benois, "Moscow Impressions" (1911) 104 38 Boris Bugaev [Andrei Belyi], "Stamped Culture" (1909) 105 39 Boris Anrep, "Apropos of an Exhibition in London with Participating Russian Artists" (1913) 106 40 Alexandre Benois, "More on New Trends in Art" (1912) 108 41 S. Khudakov, "Literature, Art Criticism, Debates, and Lectures" 11913) 110 42 Sergei Bulgakov, "Beauty's Corpse (Apropos of Picasso's Paintings)" (1915) 111 43 Ivan Aksenov, Picasso and the Environs (1917) 114 IV Cubism and Futurism 127 44 E. Dmitriev, "What Is Cubism?" (19121 129 45 lakov Tugendkhol'd, "A Letter from Paris" (1912) 131 46 Georgii Plekhanov, "Art and Social Life" (19121 132 47 David Burliuk, "Cubism (Surface—Plane)" (1912) 133 48 Nadezhda Udal'tsova, Diary (1912-13) 137 49 Mikhail Matiushin, "On Du Cubisme by Metzinger and Gleizes" (1913) 138 50 Aleksandr Shevchenko, The Principles of Cubism and Other Currents in Painting from All Ages and Nations (1913) 144 51 Nikolai Kulbin, "Cubism" (1915) 145 52 Kazimir Malevich, "On New Systems in Art: Statics and Speed" (1919) 149 53 Nikolai Punin, "Escapes from Cubism" (1923) 153 54 Sillart, "Boccioni's Futurist Sculpture Exhibition" (1913) 156 55 Genrikh Tasteven, Futurism: Toward a NewSymbolism 11914) 158 56 Velimir Khlebnikov and Benedikt Livshits, "On Marinetti's Visit to Russia" (1914) . 160 57 Nikolai Berdiaev, The Crisis in 4rM1917) " 162 58 R. la. [Roman Jakobson], "Futurism" 11919] 163 V Art and Nationality: Polemics and Reactions 167 59 Sergei Makovskii, "Art Survey" [1910] 168 60 lakov Tugendkhol'd, "The'Russian Seasons'in Paris" (1910) 171 61 Alexandre Benois, "Icons and the New Art" (1913) 173 62 David Burliuk, "The Noisy'Benois'and the New Russian National Art" (1913) 174 63 Natal'ia Goncharova [Il ia Zdanevich], Foreword to the Goncharova exhibition catalogue (1913) 175 64 Aleksei Grishchenko, On the Ties of Russian Painting to Byzantium and the West, 13th-20th Centuries: Thoughts of an Artist 11913) 177 65 Mikhail Le Dantiu, "The Painting of the Everythingists" (c. 1914) 180 66 Georgii lakulov, Benedikt Livshits, and Artur Lourie, 'We and the West" (1914) 184 67 Vladimir Mayakovsky, "Russia. Art. We" (1914) 185 RUSSIAN AND SOVIET CRITICISM AFTER THE REVOLUTION VI The International of Art and the Great Utopia 189 68 Clara Zetkin, Reminiscences of Lenin (1924) 190 69 Aleksandr Bogdanov, "Our Critique. Essay One: On Artistic Heritage" (1918) 191 70 Vladimir Friche, "The Art of the Labor Commune" (1918) 192 71 Decree of the Soviet of People's Commissars on the Nationalization of the Sergei Shchukin Art Gallery [1918) 193 72 Pavel Muratov, "The Museum of Western Art in Moscow" [1920) 194 73 Vasily Kandinsky, "The Museum of the Culture of Painting" [1920) 195 74 Varvara Stepanova, Diary Entry 11919) 196 75 Nikolai Punin, "The Third International" [1919) 197 76 Konstantin Krainii [Umanskii], "The International of Art (The Tasks Confronting the International Union of Fine Arts Workers)" (1919) 199 77 Vasily Kandinsky, "The Great Utopia" (1920) 199 78 IZO Editorial [1921) 201 79 Abram Efros, "We and the West" (1920) 202 80 Nikolai Punin, Tallin /Against Cubism) [1921) 203 81 Jansen, "On the Exchange of Art Exhibitions with Western Europe" (1921) 204 82 Boris Arvatov, "Toward Proletarian Art" (1922) 205 83 Pavel Muratov, "Predictions" (1922) 207 84 Vasilii Chekrygin, "On the Emerging New Phase of All-European Art" (1922) 209 85 Viktor Perelman, "From the Wanderers to Heroic Realism" (1923) 210 86 Nikolai Punin, "A Response to French Artists" (19241 212 87 lakov Tugendkhol'd, "Once Again on French Artists and Us" (1924) 212 88 Nikolai Punin, "The USSR and French Artists" (1924) 214 VII New Visions of Western Art 215 89 R. la. [Roman Jakobson], "Letters from the West: Dada" (1921) 218 90 El [Lazar] Lissitzky, "Exhibitions in Berlin" (1922) 219 91 Leon Trotsky, "Futurism" (1923) 221 92 Vladimir Mayakovsky, "A Seven-Day Inspection of French Painting" (1923) 222 93 Aleksandr Rodchenko, "Rodchenko in Paris: Letters Home" (1927) 231 94 lakov Tugendkhol'd, TheArtistic Cutture of the WesUl 928) 232 95 la. T-d [lakov Tugendkhol'd], "The Art of Contemporary America" (1928) 236 VIII Expressionism and George Grosz 239 96 Vladimir Weidle, "Notes on Western Painting: 1. The End of Expressionism" (1923) . 240 97 Boris Arvatov, "Expressionism as a Social Phenomenon: Apropos of Eckart v[on] Sydow, Die deutsche expressionistische Kuttur und Maleri (Berlin, 1920)" (1922) 243 98 Nikolai Radlov, "Introduction" to Georg Marzinski's The Expressionist Method in Painting [1923] 244 99 Nikolai Tarabukin, "Apropos of the German Art Exhibition" (1924) 246 100 Osip Brik, "Ecce Homo" (1923) 248 101 Abram Efros, "George Grosz" (1923) 249 102 Viktor Pertsov, "Foreword" to the Russian translation of George Grosz and Wieland Herzfelde's Art Is in Danger: Three Essays 11926) 254 103 Anatolii Lunacharskii, "Art Is in Danger" 11926] 255 IX Creating a Model for Revolutionary Art 257 104 Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov, "On the New Realism in Connection with Western European Trends in Art" (1925) 258 105 Abram Efros, "Revolutionary Art of the West (The State Academy of Artistic Sciences Exhibition)" [1926) 260 106 Ivan Matsa (Janos Macza), The Art of Contemporary Europe [1926] 262 107 Anatolii Lunacharskii, "Discussion on AKhRR" (1926) 266 108 Emelian laroslavskii, "Against Leftist Phrase Mongering and Unfair Criticism [Apropos of Comrade A. Kurella's Article)" (1928) 267 109 Alfred Kurella, "From 'Russia's Revolutionary Art' to Proletarian Art: Responses and Questions for the Critics" 11928) 268 110 Aleksei Mikhailov, "Diego Rivera" (1929) - 269 111 Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov, "Militant Art: John Heartfield, Proletarian Artist" (1932) . 272 X Changing Views of Western Art 275 112 Boris Ternovets, "The Contemporary French Art Exhibition in Moscow" (1928) 277 113 Ts. Plotkin, "The French in Moscow" (1928) 280 114 Nikolai Punin, Vladimir Vasit'evich Lebedev (19281 283 11 5 Sergei Romov, "From Dada to Surrealism: On Painting, Literature, and the French Intelligentsia" (1929) 285 116 Sergei Romov, "Contemporary French Painting" (1929) 286 117 Frida Roginskaia, "Against the Cult of the French" (1930) 288 118 Ivan Matsa (Janos Macza), "To the Highest Level!" (1931) 290 119 Aleksei Mikhailov, "Comrade Bogorodskii's Trip Abroad" (1931) 292 120 Dmitrii Lebedev, "The Museum of Modern Western Painting Must Live!" (1930) .... 293 121 Osip Mandelstam, "A Journey to Armenia: The French" (1933) 294 122 D. Mel'nikov, "Cezanne and Cezannism" (1921) 296 123 David Arkin, "RIobert] Fal'k and Moscow Painting" (1923) 297 124 Nikolai Tarabukin, "The Still Life as a Problem of Style" (1928) 299 125 Nikolai Punin, "Mikhail Larionov's Impressionist Period" (1928) 301 126 Amshei Niurenberg, "The Pissarro Exhibition: Letter from Paris" (1929) 302 127 Aleksandr Severdenko, "Response to an Impressionist" (1929) 302 128 Anatolii Lunacharskii, "The Painter of Happiness: On Viewing Renoir's Canvases" (1933) 303 XI The End of an Era 305 129 Polikarp Lebedev, "Against Formalism in Soviet Art" (1936) 306 130 Nina lavorskaia, "An Eyewitness Account of the Closing of the Museum of Modern Western Art" (1988) 307 Chronology 311 Acronyms 323 Selected Bibliography 325 List of Illustrations 331 Index 333 .