RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE 1905-1925
Project based on collections of Russian museums
Exhibitions posters by Malevitch
Art experts agree that Russian Avant-Garde artists were pioneers of abstract and conceptual art as well as of modern design. Avant-Garde art influenced art trends and played an important role in development of art of the 20th century.
This concept presents Russian Avant-Garde as a large group of artists who happened to come across radical art trends in their creative work.
Despite presence of various art schools in the Russian art at the beginning of the 20th century, two main trends determined it’s evolution. First trend was linked with figurative reflection of objects. The second trend — with different abstract shapes of reflection of material world objects. Figurative art included symbolism, futurism, primitivism, expressionism and other similar trends. Each trend was to make art blasts.
Usually figurative and abstract art would co-exist — they would be gathered in the same exhibition or in creative work of a particular artist. The exhibition presents both trends.
At the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century European fine art experienced deep changes. Concrete ways of showing reality objects were replaced by images that weren’t similar with the object they reflected.
Circles and squares, levels and paint spots without volume or a plot became the most innovative way of expressing world-outlook in 1910’s. Art tried to show new perceptions of the world, routine life of people and their knowledge about the universe, as if it was following developments of science and technology. Explosion of scientific and technological knowledge determined various concepts of artists’ world perceptions.
Many artists considered typical 19th century images of portraits, landscapes, historical or everyday life scenes based on recognizable figures and faces as something archaic, as something that didn’t suit intellectual and artistic thinking of people.
Russian Avant-Garde artists highlighted influence of machines on people’s everyday life. Distracting traditional frames of understanding of fine art, intensive development of civilization had an impact on artists. Avant-Garde was a response to the challenge of time. Avant-Garde discovered aesthetics of ordinary objects, which caused revaluation of material world.
At the beginning of the 20th century Russian culture had certain intellectual and spiritual prerequisites for new Avant-Garde art. Avant-Garde was apposed to positivism of traditional art; it was oriented to search for national unique features of art to be different from European art schools of Gogen, Matiss, Sesann, Picasso and Italian futurists. Work of the Russian artists of 1910’s was linked with philosophy and aesthetics of symbolism, which distinguished images of artists at that time. Creative re-making of reality would take place under intuitional inspiration, irradiation and rational consideration of images built by artists. Irradiation and rationalism were closely associated. In opinion of Dmitri Sarabiyanov (the most knowledgeable Russian Avant-Garde expert), "not a "private" goal of aesthetic perfection, that was vital for realism, but the idea of world integrity, unity of spirit and substance; not enlightenment, but strengthening of essence, discovery of unity of the God and a human being — these are general principles of the new art…"
Russian Avant-Garde. 1905-1925. exhibition presents various radical art concepts of the beginning of the 20th century. However the project can not cover all the phenomena of the Russian art of 1900-1920’s. Nevertheless, the exhibition shows variety of features and trends typical for the Russian culture of that period. The highlights include — Kazimir Malevitch, Vasili Kandinsky, Pavel Filonoff, Mikhail Larionov, Alexander Rodchenko, Petr Konchalovsky. Art groups and trends would get shaped around those artists.
The exhibition presents 40 paintings typical for Russian art of the beginning of the 20th century. The exhibition concept covers a large time period and displays highlights in development of numerous art trends of Russian Avant-Garde.
The exhibition includes paintings from famous Russian museums and also rare works of Avant-Garde artists from regional Russian museums, which makes the exhibition even more unique.
Moreover, exhibition posters and catalogues of early 20th century, exhibition pictures and portrait of artists enrich the exhibition.
The exhibition was successfully held in large museums of Italy, Spain, France and Korea.
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