DOCSLIB.ORG

From Siberia to Moscow and Beyond the Artistic Quest of Eduard Gorokhovsky (1929–2004)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
From Siberia to Moscow and Beyond the Artistic Quest of Eduard Gorokhovsky (1929–2004) From Siberia to Moscow and Beyond The Artistic Quest of Eduard Gorokhovsky (1929–2004) Biographical Note Berlin, in 2004. Important museum Eduard Gorokhovsky was born in solo exhibitions include Eduard 1929 in the city of Vinnytsia in Gorokhovsky, the State Tretya- southwestern Ukraine. In 1954 kov Gallery, Moscow, in 1999; he graduated with distinc- Eduard Gorokhovsky: The Limits tion from the Odessa of the Rectangle: My Unlimited Institute of Civil Engi- Space at the State Russian neering (now Odessa Museum, St. Petersburg, State Academy of Civil in 2004; and Eduard Engineering and Gorokhovsky at the Jane Architecture), major- Voorhees Zimmerli ing in architecture Art Museum, New and studying under Brunswick, New A. Postel, T. Fray- Jersey, in 2004–05. erman, G. Gotgelf, Gorokhovsky’s paint- and A. Kopylov; his ings and works on postgraduate work paper are in major assignment took museums around him to Novosibirsk, the world, including where he had his first the State Tretyakov solo exhibition in 1967. Gallery, Moscow; the Gorokhovsky moved to State Russian Museum, Moscow in 1974, where he St. Petersburg; the lived until moving to Offen- Pushkin State Museum of bach, Germany, in 1991. Fine Arts, Moscow; Moscow From 1974 on, Gorokhovsky Museum of Contemporary Art, took part in numerous group Moscow; the Norton and Nancy exhibitions in museums, including Dodge Collection of Nonconform- Ich Lebe–Ich Sehe: Künstler der Achtziger ist Art from the Soviet Union in the Jahre in Moskau, Kunstmuseum Bern, Swit- Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New zerland, in 1988; Russian Art from Lenin to Gorbachev, Brunswick; Kolodzei Art Foundation, New Jersey; Botanik, Brussels, Belgium, in 1988; Russian Jewish Artists in a State Museum of Arts, Dresden, Germany; Jewish Museum, Century of Change 1890–1990, the Jewish Museum, New York, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; the Ludwig Forum of Inter- in 1995; and Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin, Kunst 1950–2000, the national Art, Aachen, Germany; the Costakis Collection, State Historical Museum, Moscow, and Martin Gropius Bau, Athens, Greece; and Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria. 40 | HARRIMAN FEATURED Opposite page: Eduard Gorokhovsky, Oval Portrait No. 4, 1982. Screen- print, 24.21 x 19 in. Right: Gorokhovsky, Novosibirsk, 1967. Watercolor on paper, 16.85 x 24.3 in. All images in this essay courtesy of the Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern Europe- an Art, Kolodzei Art Foundation. www.KolodzeiArt.org BY NATALIA KOLODZEI duard Gorokhovsky developed his signature style in the early 1970s. He was one of the first Soviet nonconformist postgraduate assignment in archi- Nikolai Gritsyuk had graduated artists to use old photographic por- tecture, Gorokhovsky resolved to from the Fine Art department of Etraits, into which he juxtaposed and pursue a career as an artist and the Moscow Textile Institute in 1951 inserted a text, a silhouette, another remained in Novosibirsk for 20 and returned to his native Siberia photograph, or geometric figure, thus years, where he became friends with in 1953. Initially, Gritsyuk painted creating works in which serial images the artist Nikolai Gritsyuk (1922– from nature and created a series of explore personal and cultural mem- 1976). As Gorokhovsky recalled: urban landscapes but, over time, ory, public and private space, inspiring he became more inspired by the multiplicities of interpretation. The Back in the 1950s I was living abstract forms that became the basis photographs provide a framework that and working in Novosibirsk for his works. keeps the artwork in balance, while after graduation. There, in In Gorokhovsky’s Novosibirsk the intruding objects add a certain Siberia, I met people who (1967), the artist was inspired by the intrigue or mystery to the whole. Many introduced me to the sort of natural, architectural, and cultural of Gorokhovsky’s works convey a sense art that was not even men- landscape changes in the vibrant of history or the process of change, tioned in the institute, with its young city—the hydropower plants often alluding to the disappearance strict ideological control. I owe and Akademgorodok—which was of individuality in a totalitarian my discovery of Impression- becoming one of the Soviet Union’s society; the destruction of the family ism, Expressionism, Cubism, leading scientific centers. The unit brought about by the Bolshevik the Russian Avant-Garde, exhibition Eduard Gorokhovsky: From Revolution; a succession of devastating above all, to the remarkable Siberia to Moscow, Selected Works on wars; and the forced relocations dic- artist Nikolai Gritsyuk. I con- Paper, presented by the Kolodzei tated by Stalinist collectivization. sider him my first real teacher; Art Foundation at the Harriman Gorokhovsky was interested in art he opened my eyes to many Institute in 2018, showcased rare from an early age, attending evening things in art. The 20 years watercolors from the 1960s when classes at the Odessa Art School. His I lived in Siberia were good the artist was living and working parents, however, encouraged him preparation for a real under- in Novosibirsk, as well as drawings to pursue a career as an architect. standing of the essence and and artist’s prints from his Moscow But after completing two years of a purpose of art. period emphasizing Gorokhovsky’s HARRIMAN | 41 From left: Eduard Gorokhovsky, Meat gray, sharp outlines, cigarette, and to Moscow. By 1990 Gorokhovsky (The Abattoir), 1965. Watercolor on cap—all contribute to the exhausted had illustrated more than 120 paper, 17 x 24 in.; Gorokhovsky, Worker, and worrisome look of the sitter in books; many of his book illustra- 1968. Watercolor on paper, 20 x 14½ in.; opposition to the glorifying image of tions received numerous accolades Eduard Gorokhovsky, The Stone Pillars of the Soviet worker in socialist real- and awards and were showcased in Krasnoyarsk, 1971. Watercolor on paper, ist style. The Athlete (1976), on other national and international exhi- 15⅞ x 15¾ in.; Gorokhovsky, Athlete, 1975. hand, evokes the work of Russian bitions. A number of Muscovite Lithograph, 15 x 14 in. avant-garde photographers El Lis- nonconformist artists—including Ilya sitzky and Aleksandr Rodchenko. Kabakov, Erik Bulatov, Oleg Vassiliev, Gorokhovsky places positive and and Victor Pivovarov— illustrated artistic and creative search, fostering negative images of the athlete in the books, which allowed them to exper- the conversation on contempo- minimalist interior of a black square iment with formal issues and work in rary and nonconformist art from with the outlined white door. The their own art. the Soviet Union and the place of visual interplay between image and Gorokhovsky joined the Union of printmaking and art on paper. Some geometrical forms was of particular Artists in 1968. In the early 1970s, he of the works from the Harriman importance in Gorokhovsky’s early met Victor Pivovarov, Erik Bulatov, show (including Novosibirsk, Meat works, as well as in his interest in the Oleg Vassiliev, Vladimir Yankilevsky, [1965], The Stone Pillars of Krasnoyarsk continuity of the ideas of the Russian and Ilya Kabakov. In 1974, Gorokhovsky [1971]) were exhibited for the first avant-garde. moved to Moscow and later was able time in the United States. In the Beginning in 1957, Gorokhovsky to acquire a cooperative apartment Worker (1968), the black eye, somber earned his living as a book illustrator, in the Union of Artists’ building near colors, shades of black, blue and which he continued after his move Rechnoi Vokzal where a number of 42 | HARRIMAN FEATURED Ximaio odit lab id et verepudamusa sequi si doluptatque quo blabo. Erferae aut vendandae. Nemquis sam ea que ex erae omnihil mint. Agnatur, sollaut occum invelle nimendigenis es- tiate maios aliquib eribus nonsedicil iurionseque molorep uditatis estrum imoluta temquam aut lab his friends, including Ivan Chuikov, used photographs Victor Pivovarov, and Ilya Kabakov, of his close friends, Some of the works from the also resided. Even though noncon- colleagues, and Harriman show were exhibited for formist artists did not share a single their social interac- the first time in the United States. aesthetic or unifying theme, they tions—for example, were in constant conversation about gatherings of friends art. This sense of the multifaceted and family or birth- spirit of the artistic community is day celebrations. For Gorokhovsky, and the 1977 publication of New Art also alluded to in Group A Group B old archival photographs provide the from the Soviet Union: The Known and (1982), juxtaposing the nostalgic opportunity to “relive” the lives of the Unknown by Alison Hilton and iconography of studio photogra- three generations of an officer’s fam- Norton Dodge, inspired many of the phy from random family archives ily and offer for future generations a nonconformists to continue their in Group A with Group B featuring glimpse into the life of the noncon- own search for new forms of expres- a number of nonconformist art- formist art circles. sion. At the time there were very ists in Kabakov’s studio: Eduard In 1974–75, during Norton Dodge’s limited opportunities for noncon- Gorokhovsky, Francisco Infante, trips to Moscow, my mother, Tatiana formist artists to showcase or publish Erik Bulatov, Oleg Vassiliev, Victor Kolodzei, was able to introduce the their work. Pivovarov, Eduard Shteinberg, Ivan famous collector of Soviet art to a Two more publications on Gorokhovsky Chuikov, Boris Zhutovsky, Vladimir number of nonconformist Muscovite appeared in the magazine A –YA Yankilevsky, and Ilya Kabakov (See artists, including Gorokhovsky. The (Unofficial Russian art review [Paris, inside back cover). Throughout his series of traveling exhibitions orga- New York, Moscow]), published by artistic career Gorokhovsky often nized by Dodge in the United States, Igor Shelkovsky in Paris: one by HARRIMAN | 43 Gorokhovsky combines an excerpt from a Russian newspaper about the Reagan assassination attempt with an unrelated photograph of a woman in a frivolous pose. Galina Manevich in issue 2 (1980) and the other by Ilya Kabakov: “Eduard Gorokhovsky: Reproduction of Reproduction” in issue 6 (1984).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ilya & Emilia Kabakov
    ILYA & EMILIA KABAKOV: NOT EVERYONE WILL BE TAKEN INTO THE FUTURE 18 October 2017 – 28 January 2018 LARGE PRINT GUIDE Please return to exhibition entrance CONTENTS Introduction 3 Room 1 7 Room 2 23 Room 3 37 Room 4 69 Room 5 81 Room 6 93 Room 7 101 Room 8 120 Room 9 3 12 Room 10 5 13 INTRODUCTION 3 Ilya and Emilia Kabakov are amongst the most celebrated artists of their generation, widely known as pioneers of installation art. Ilya Kabakov was born in 1933 in Dnepropetrovsk (now Dnipro) in Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union. When he was eight, he moved to Moscow with his mother. He studied at the Art School of Moscow, and at the V.I. Surikov Art Institute. Artists in the Soviet Union were obliged to follow the officially approved style, Socialist Realism. Wanting to retain his independence, Ilya supported himself as a children’s book illustrator from 1955 to 1987, while continuing to make his own paintings and drawings. As an ‘unofficial artist’, he worked in the privacy of his Moscow attic studio, showing his art only to a close circle of artists and intellectuals. Ilya was not permitted to travel outside the Soviet Union until 1987, when he was offered a fellowship at the Graz Kunstverein, Austria. The following year he visited New York, and resumed contact with Emilia Lekach. Born in 1945, Emilia trained as a classical pianist at Music College in Irkutsk, and studied Spanish Language and Literature at Moscow University before emigrating to the United States in 1973.
    [Show full text]
  • Sculptor Nina Slobodinskaya (1898-1984)
    1 de 2 SCULPTOR NINA SLOBODINSKAYA (1898-1984). LIFE AND SEARCH OF CREATIVE BOUNDARIES IN THE SOVIET EPOCH Anastasia GNEZDILOVA Dipòsit legal: Gi. 2081-2016 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/334701 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ca Aquesta obra està subjecta a una llicència Creative Commons Reconeixement Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons Reconocimiento This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence TESI DOCTORAL Sculptor Nina Slobodinskaya (1898 -1984) Life and Search of Creative Boundaries in the Soviet Epoch Anastasia Gnezdilova 2015 TESI DOCTORAL Sculptor Nina Slobodinskaya (1898-1984) Life and Search of Creative Boundaries in the Soviet Epoch Anastasia Gnezdilova 2015 Programa de doctorat: Ciències humanes I de la cultura Dirigida per: Dra. Maria-Josep Balsach i Peig Memòria presentada per optar al títol de doctora per la Universitat de Girona 1 2 Acknowledgments First of all I would like to thank my scientific tutor Maria-Josep Balsach I Peig, who inspired and encouraged me to work on subject which truly interested me, but I did not dare considering to work on it, although it was most actual, despite all seeming difficulties. Her invaluable support and wise and unfailing guiadance throughthout all work periods were crucial as returned hope and belief in proper forces in moments of despair and finally to bring my study to a conclusion. My research would not be realized without constant sacrifices, enormous patience, encouragement and understanding, moral support, good advices, and faith in me of all my family: my husband Daniel, my parents Andrey and Tamara, my ount Liubov, my children Iaroslav and Maria, my parents-in-law Francesc and Maria –Antonia, and my sister-in-law Silvia.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibition Provides New Insight Into the Globalization of Conceptual Art, Through Work of Nearly 50 Moscow-Based Artists Thinki
    EXHIBITION PROVIDES NEW INSIGHT INTO THE GLOBALIZATION OF CONCEPTUAL ART, THROUGH WORK OF NEARLY 50 MOSCOW-BASED ARTISTS THINKING PICTURES FEATURES APPROXIMATELY 80 WORKS, INCLUDING MAJOR INSTALLATIONS, WORKS ON PAPER, PAINTINGS, MIXED-MEDIA WORKS, AND DOCUMENTARY MATERIALS, MANY OF WHICH OF HAVE NOT BEEN PUBLICLY DISPLAYED IN THE U.S. New Brunswick, NJ—February 23, 2016—Through the work of nearly 50 artists, the upcoming exhibition Thinking Pictures will introduce audiences to the development and evolution of conceptual art in Moscow—challenging notions of the movement as solely a reflection of its Western namesake. Opening at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers in September 2016, the exhibition will explore the unique social, political, and artistic conditions that inspired and distinguished the work of Muscovite artists from peers working in the U.S. and Western Europe. Under constant threat of censorship, and frequently engaging in critical opposition to Soviet-mandated Socialist Realism, these artists created works that defied classification, interweaving painting and installation, parody and performance, and images and texts in new types of conceptual art practices. Drawn from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection at the Zimmerli, the exhibition features masterworks by such renowned artists as Ilya Kabakov, Komar and Melamid, Eric Bulatov, Andrei Monastyrsky, and Irina Nakhova, and introduces important works by under-represented artists, including Yuri Albert, Nikita Alekseev, Ivan Chuikov, Elena Elagina, Igor Makarevich, Viktor Pivovarov, Oleg Vassiliev, and Vadim Zakharov. Many of the works in the exhibition have never been publicly shown in the U.S., and many others only in limited engagement. Together, these works, created in a wide-range of media, underscore the diversity and richness of the underground artistic currents that comprise ‘Moscow Conceptualism’, and provide a deeper and more global understanding of conceptual art, and its relationship to world events and circumstances.
    [Show full text]
  • The State Hermitage Museum Annual Report 2012
    THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT n 2012 CONTENTS General Editor 4 Year of Village and Garden Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, 6 State Hermitage Museum. General Information Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 16 Awards Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, 20 Composition of the Hermitage Collection as of 1 January 2013 Doctor of History 40 Exhibitions 86 Restoration and Conservation 121 Publications EDITORIAL BOARD: 135 Electronic Editions and Video Films Mikhail Piotrovsky, 136 Conferences General Director of the State Hermitage Museum 141 Dissertations Georgy Vilinbakhov, 142 Archaeological Expeditions Deputy Director for Research 158 Major Construction and Restoration of the Buildings Svetlana Adaksina, Deputy Director, Chief Curator 170 Structure of Visits to the State Hermitage in 2012 Marina Antipova, 171 Educational Events Deputy Director for Finance and Planning 180 Special Development Programmes Alexey Bogdanov, Deputy Director for Maintenance 188 International Advisory Board of the State Hermitage Museum Vladimir Matveyev, 190 Guests of the Hermitage Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Development 194 Hermitage Friends Organisations Mikhail Novikov, 204 Hermitage Friends’ Club Deputy Director for Construction 206 Financial Statements of the State Hermitage Museum Mariam Dandamayeva, Academic Secretary 208 Principal Patrons and Sponsors of the State Hermitage Museum in 2012 Yelena Zvyagintseva, 210 Staff Members of
    [Show full text]
  • Shapiro Auctions
    Shapiro Auctions RUSSIAN EUROPEAN AMERICAN FINE ART & ANTIQUES Saturday - September 29, 2012 RUSSIAN EUROPEAN AMERICAN FINE ART & ANTIQUES 1: A MONUMENTAL AND VERY RARE ENGRAVING ILLUSTRATING A USD 10,000 - 15,000 A MONUMENTAL AND VERY RARE ENGRAVING ILLUSTRATING A VIEW OF THE SOLOVETSKII MONASTERY, 1765. Original tool engraving by Dmitry Pastukhov, mid-18th Century copper engraver, printed at the Solovetskii Monastaery, 1320 x 850 mm with margins, printed from seven copper plates, depicting a view of the Monastery in the center, with large figures of SS. Zosima and Savvaty overlooking the Monastery and surrounding buildings, the borders depicting scenes from the lives of SS. Zosima and Savvaty, signed and inscribed with date in Cyrillic in the plate bottom left, 'Shtikhoval na medi Dmitrei Pastukhov 765 pechatan v toy zhe lavry'. Relined on acid-free Japanese paper. Good state, good condition. REFERENCES: N. Sobko, "Slovar Russkikh khudozhnikov," St. Petersburg, 1899, Vol. 3, p. 50; D. Rovinsky, "Podrobnyi slovar' Russkikh graverov XVI-XIX vekov," St. Petersburg, 1895, Vol. 2, p. 759. 2: [XVIII CENTURY RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND HISTORICAL PAM USD 5,000 - 6,000 [XVIII CENTURY RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND HISTORICAL PAMPHLETS, 1771-1790]. A sammelband of nine works, bound in contemporary Russian 1/4 calf. 240 x 180 mm. Untrimmed. PROVENANCE: P.A. Efremov (bookplate); V.I. Klochkov, St. Petersburg Bookdealer (label on back endpaper). Nine very rare limited publications in good condition. Comprising: (a) V. RUBAN, "Nadpis' na vnezapnoe pribytie ego siialte'stva Grafa Alekseiia Grigor'evicha Orlova iz Arkhipelaga v Sanktpeterburg. Marta dnia 1771 goda," Saint Petersburg: Academy of Science, 1771.
    [Show full text]
  • The Golunov Affair
    the harriman institute at columbia university FALL 2019 The Golunov Affair Fighting Corruption in Russia Harriman Magazine is published biannually by Design and Art Direction: Columbia Creative Opposite page: the Harriman Institute. Alexander Cooley Harriman Institute (Photo by Jeffrey Managing Editor: Ronald Meyer Alexander Cooley, Director Schifman) Editor: Masha Udensiva-Brenner Alla Rachkov, Associate Director Ryan Kreider, Assistant Director Comments, suggestions, or address changes may Rebecca Dalton, Program Manager, Student Affairs be emailed to Masha Udensiva-Brenner at [email protected]. Harriman Institute Columbia University Cover image: Police officer walks past a “lone picket” 420 West 118th Street standing in front of the Main Office of the Moscow Police, New York, NY 10027 holding a sign that reads: “I am Golunov” (June 7, 2019). ITAR-TASS News Agency/Alamy Live News. Tel: 212-854-4623 Fax: 212-666-3481 Image on this page: Eduard Gorokhovsky, Untitled, 1988. Watercolor on paper, 21½ x 29½ in. Courtesy of the Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art, For the latest news and updates about the Harriman Kolodzei Art Foundation. www.KolodzeiArt.org Institute, visit harriman.columbia.edu. Stay connected through Facebook and Twitter! www.twitter.com/HarrimanInst www.facebook.com/TheHarrimanInstitute FROM THE DIRECTOR he June arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, the powerful civic T movement in his support, and his subsequent release marked the start of an eventful summer in Russia. In mid-July, Russians took to the streets again, over the disqualification of opposition candidates from the Moscow City Duma election. In this context, we dedicate the bulk of this issue to contemporary Russia.
    [Show full text]
  • The State Hermitage Museum Annual Report 2010 the State Hermitage Museum Annual Report 2010 Contents
    The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT 2010 The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT 2010 conTenTS General Editor a year of two staircases ............................................................. 4 Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the state Hermitage Museum, The State Hermitage Museum. General Information ............... 6 Corresponding Member of the Russian academy of sciences, Full Member of the Russian academy of arts, Awards .......................................................................................... 12 Professor of st. Petersburg state University, Doctor of sciences (History) Composition of the Hermitage Collections as of 1 January 2011 .................................................................... 14 ediTorial Board: Permanent Exhibitions ............................................................... 27 Mikhail Piotrovsky, temporary Exhibitions ............................................................... 30 Director of the state Hermitage Museum Georgy Vilinbakhov, Restoration and Conservation .................................................... 70 Deputy Director for Research Publications ................................................................................. 85 Svetlana Adaksina, Conferences ................................................................................. 96 Deputy Director, Chief Curator Marina Antipova, Dissertations ................................................................................ 99 Deputy Director for Finance and Planning Archaeological Expeditions ......................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Transition in Post-Soviet Art
    Transition in Post-Soviet Art: “Collective Actions” Before and After 1989 by Octavian Eșanu Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Kristine Stiles, Supervisor ___________________________ Fredric Jameson ___________________________ Patricia Leighten ___________________________ Pamela Kachurin ___________________________ Valerie Hillings Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2009 ABSTRACT Transition in Post-Soviet Art: “Collective Actions” Before and After 1989 by Octavian Eșanu Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Kristine Stiles, Supervisor ___________________________ Fredric Jameson ___________________________ Patricia Leighten ___________________________ Pamela Kachurin ___________________________ Valerie Hillings An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Philosophy in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2009 Copyright by Octavian Eșanu 2009 ABSTRACT For more than three decades the Moscow-based conceptual artist group “Collective Actions” has been organizing actions. Each action, typically taking place at the outskirts of Moscow, is regarded as a trigger for a series of intellectual
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Life Between Two Panels Soviet Nonconformism in the Cold War Era
    Life Between Two Panels Soviet Nonconformism in the Cold War Era DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Clinton J. Buhler, M.A. Graduate Program in History of Art * * * * * The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Myroslava M. Mudrak, Advisor Dr. Kris Paulsen Dr. Jessie Labov Dr. Aron Vinegar 1 Copyright by Clinton J. Buhler 2013 2 Abstract Beneath the façade of total conformity in the Soviet Union, a dynamic underground community of artists and intellectuals worked in forced isolation. Rejecting the mandates of state-sanctioned Socialist Realist art, these dissident artists pursued diverse creative directions in their private practice. When they attempted to display their work publicly in 1974, the carefully crafted façade of Soviet society cracked, and the West became aware of a politically subversive undercurrent in Soviet cultural life. Responding to the international condemnation of the censorship, Soviet officials allowed and encouraged the emigration of the nonconformist artists to the West. This dissertation analyzes the foundation and growth of the nonconformist artistic movement in the Soviet Union, focusing on a key group of artists who reached artistic maturity in the Brezhnev era and began forging connections in the West. The first two chapters of the dissertation center on works that were, by and large, produced before emigration to the West. In particular, I explore the growing awareness of artists like Oleg Vassiliev of their native artistic heritage, especially the work of Russian avant-garde artists like Kazimir Malevich. I look at how Vassiliev, in a search for an alternative form of expression to the mandated form of art, took up the legacy of nineteenth-century Realism, avant-garde abstraction, and Socialist Realism.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Aid to the Ilya Kabakov Records 1991 - 2016 (Bulk 1999 - 2003), in the Chinati Foundation Archives
    A Finding Aid to the Ilya Kabakov Records 1991 - 2016 (Bulk 1999 - 2003), in the Chinati Foundation Archives Created by Hannah Yetwin, Archives Research Fellow June 15, 2020 Last Updated: March 23, 2021 The Chinati Foundation 1 Cavalry Row / P.O. Box 1135 Marfa, TX 79843 www.chinati.org Collection Overview Repository: The Chinati Foundation Archives, Marfa, Texas Creator: Staff of the Chinati Foundation Title: The Ilya Kabakov Records Dates: 1991 - 2016 (Bulk 1999 - 2003) Extent: 0.8 linear feet; 2 boxes Author: Finding Aid created by Hannah Yetwin Abstract: The Ilya Kabakov records measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1991 to 2003 with the bulk of the records occurring between 1999 and 2003. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov created School No. 6 in 1993 as a gift to the Chinati Foundation. Chinati’s Kabakov holdings include documentation of correspondence, lectures and writings, materials related to the 2003 temporary exhibition of children’s books and related drawings, press packets, and announcements for Kabakov exhibitions elsewhere. Administrative Information Acquisition information: These records are the property of the Chinati Foundation, created by staff and relevant consultants between 1991 and 2016. Separated materials: Storage media formats are currently housed in original order with their corresponding physical materials - to be pulled for future digitization. Related materials: Early Chinati Records; Post-Judd Records; the Kabakovs’ studio archives Processing information: These records are a mixture of materials that were housed in Apartment 14 prior to it becoming the archive. Original order is not accounted for; intellectual arrangement has been applied according to naturally existing topics within the series.
    [Show full text]
  • Oleg Vassiliev Memory Is a Fickle Thing
    Oleg Vassiliev Memory is a fickle thing. Why do we remember some things and forget others? What is it that brings certain memories to our attention at a particular time? Artist Oleg Vassiliev has grappled with questions such as these for more than 60 years. “Memory is capricious in its choice of subjects,” he explains. “Often one recalls something quite unimportant; at first glance, it seems incomprehensible why memory retains some things and lets others go.” While it is quite common to struggle to remember certain details from our past, it is equally common for an incidental smell, sound, or object to cause some long-forgotten and seemingly insignificant memory to come flooding back with tremendous impact. At other times, memories will suddenly be re-played in our heads for no apparent reason. Oftentimes, these flashes of memory are bittersweet, for while they may take us back to a happy time in our lives, they also serve as stark reminders that the moment has passed and cannot by any amount of will be returned to us. Throughout his artistic life, Vassiliev’s central theme has been memory—how it works and how it is constructed. Vassiliev made the painting depicted on this card, Memory of Kira (2011), approximately a year after the death of his wife. Although Kira had served as the subject of a number of Vassiliev’s paintings, this one has a unique poignancy. As is often the case when we lose someone close to us, the physical absence heightens the vividness of our memories of the person lost.
    [Show full text]
  • Shapiro Auctions
    Shapiro Auctions RUSSIAN AND INTERNATIONAL FINE ART & ANTIQUES Saturday - October 25, 2014 RUSSIAN AND INTERNATIONAL FINE ART & ANTIQUES 1: A RUSSIAN ICON OF HOLY MARTYR PARASKEVA WITH LIFE USD 30,000 - 40,000 A RUSSIAN ICON OF HOLY MARTYR PARASKEVA WITH LIFE SCENES, NORTHERN SCHOOL, LATE 16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURY, the figure of Saint Paraskeva, venerated as the healer of the blind as well as the patron saint of trade and commerce, stands in a field of flowering plants, she holds her martyr`s cross in one hand and an open scroll in the other, a pair of angels places a crown upon her head, surrounding the central image are fourteen scenes from the saint`s life, including the many tortures she endured under Emperor Antoninus Pius and the Roman governor Tarasius. Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel with kovcheg. Two insert splints on the back, one missing, one-half of the other present. 103 x 80 cm (40 ½ x 31 1/2 in.)PROVENANCESotheby`s, New York, June 10-11, 1981, lot 541.Collection of Bernard Winters, Armonk, New York (acquired at the above auction)Bernard J. Winters was a philanthropist and art collector who was captivated by Russian icons. Over a fifty-year period, he worked closely with Sotheby`s, Christie`s, and private collectors to cultivate his collection. His monumental icons, as well as those purchased from Natalie Hays Hammond, daughter of John Hays Hammond, diplomat, were some of his favored items. 2: A RUSSIAN ICON OF THE VENERABLE SERGIUS OF RADONEZH, USD 10,000 - 15,000 A RUSSIAN ICON OF THE VENERABLE SERGIUS OF RADONEZH, YAROSLAVL SCHOOL, CIRCA 1600, the saint depicted holding a scroll featuring an excerpt from his last words to his disciples, "Do not be sad Brothers, but rather preserve the purity of your bodies and souls, and love in a disinterested manner," above him is an image of the Holy Trinity - a reference to his Monastery of the Holy Trinity, as well as to the icon painted by Andrei Rublev under Sergius` successor, on a deep green background with a red border.
    [Show full text]