Art in Revolution: Soviet Graphics from the Avant-

Gardeto Socialist Realism

February 9-June 4, 2007

This selection of graphic works from The Wolfsonian Library’s rich holdings of Russian and Soviet materials is presented in conjunction with the New World Symphony’s celebration of the centennial of the birth of Dmitri Shostakovich, a giant of twentieth-century music and one of its most controversial figures.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing civil war, artists in the Soviet Union faced the challenge of creating a revolutionary culture to replace the heritage of Tsarist Russia. Among the most significant movements to emerge in post-revolutionary Russia was Constructivism, which enlisted artists in the project of building a new classless society. Central to the work of Constructivists was applying key principles of the artistic avant-garde—abstraction, and the machine aesthetic, for example —to the practical design of living and working environments and everyday objects.

Already in the 1920s, some artists and Communist ideologues issued strong criticisms of the Constructivists and other exponents of artistic experimentation, and proposed that the proper art for a socialist society should build upon the legacy of nineteenth-century Realism. These criticisms were taken up by Joseph Stalin, who by the early 1930s had established himself as a dictator. From 1932 on, Socialist Realism—which mandated idealized representations of workers, peasants, and the building of socialism, executed in a realistic style—became enshrined as the only appropriate art for the Soviet state. The post-revolutionary period of experimentation was over, and Constructivists faced the choice of conforming, emigrating, or ceasing to work.

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ART IN REVOLUTION

WALL CASE

Book, Russkii revoliutsionnyi plakat [Russian revolutionary posters], 1922Written by Viacheslav Polonskii (Russian, 1886-1932)Published by Gosudarstvenoe izdatel'stvo, MoscowPrinted by 1-aia Obraztsovaia tipografiia M.S.N.Kh., MoscowXC1991.309

Catalog, Erste Russische Kunstausstellung, Berlin, [The First Russian Art Exhibition, Berlin],1922,Cover design attributed to El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)Published by Internationale Arbeiterhilfe, Berlin85.19.224

Book, Russian Placards, 1917-1922, [c1923]Published by Petersburg Branch of the News of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee ("Isvestia CVIK"), Petrograd83.2.678

Book, Dlia golosa [For Reading Aloud], 1923Book designed and illustrated by El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)Written by Vladimir Maiakovski (Russian, 1893-1930)Published by R.S.F.S.R. Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvoPrinted by Tipografiia Lutze & Vogt, BerlinTD1989.284.1

XC1991.309 83.2.678

TD1989.284.1

85.19.224

Book, Pamiatnik III Internatsionala [Monument to the Third International], 1920Illustration by Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin (Russian, 1885-1953)Written by Nikolai Nikolaevich Punin (Russian, Dates unknown)Published by Izd. Otdela izobrazitel'nykh iskusstv N. K. P., PetrogradPrinted by 17-ia Gosudarstvennaia tipografiia, PetrogradTD1989.116.15

Book, General'nyi plan rekonstruktsii goroda Moskvy [General Plan for the Reconstruction of the City of Moscow], 1936Cover designed by Solomon Benediktovich Telingater (Russian,1903-1969)Edited by Ia.S. Tsvankin (Russian, dates unknown)Published by "Moskovskii rabochii"Printed by 1-ia Obraztsovaia tipografiia Ogiza RSFSR tresta "Poligrafkniga", MoscowXC1994.433

Portfolio, U.R.S.S. [Soviet Pavilion] from Exposition 1937: sections étrangères, 1937Boris Mikhailovich Iofan (Russian,1891-1976), architectVera Ignat’evna Mukhina (Russian. 1889-1953), sculptorPublished by Éditions Art et Architecture, ParisXC1991.748

TD1989.116.15

XC1991.748

Periodical, USSR im Bau [USSR in Construction], March 1934Published by Staatlicher Kunstverlag, MoscowPrinted by Gosnak, MoscowXB2006.06.1.9

Brochure, Soviet Ukraine, c. 1930Published by State Publisher for Foreign Trade, MoscowPrinted by Intourist, USSR Travel Co.Gift of Audrey FeldmanXC1997.35.6

Plate 14, Trubka Stalina [Stalin’s Pipe] from Plakat na sluzhbe Oktiabria [Posters in the service October], c. 1934Illustration by Viktor Nikolaevich Deni (Russian, 1893-1946)Published by Ogiz-Izogiz, [Moscow]84.2.53

Book, Fine arts in the U.S.S.R., 1939Written by Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov (Russian, 1881-1963)Published by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow83.2.714.4

XB2006.06.1.9XC1997.35.6

84.2.53

Periodical, Tvorchestvo: zhurnal Soiuzov sovetskikh khudozhnikov i skul'ptorov [Creativity: Journal of the Union of Soviet Artists and Sculptors], 1937Left Busygin stavit novye rekordy [Busygin Sets New Records] Iurii Ivanovich Pimenov (Russian, 1903-1977)Right Zhizn’ kolkhoza [Life in the Kolkhoz], 1937Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov (Russian, 1878-1968)Published by Iskusstvo, MoscowPrinted by 21 tipografiia tresta "Poligrafkniga" im. Iv. Fedorova, Leningrad84.3.8

Periodical, USSR im Bau [USSR in Construction], April 1938Published by Staatlicher Kunstverlag, MoscowPrinted by Gosnak, Moscow84.2.34.15

Catalog, [Vase with portrait of Stalin], from Khudozhestvennyi farfor [Artististic porcelain], 1938Portrait by A.A. Skvortsov (Russian, dates unknown) Reproduction of painting by Isaak Izraelevich Brodski (Russian, 1884-1939)Printed by 21 tip. OGIZa RSFSR tresta "Poligrafkniga" im. Iv. Fedorova, LeningradXC1999.30.10

Periodical, [Statue of Stalin at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition] fromUSSR in Construction, September 1939Sergei Dmitrievich Merkurov (Russian, 1881-1952), sculptorPublished by State Art Publishing House “Iskusstvo”, Moscow-LeningradPrinted by Iskra Revolutsii PrintshopCover printed by Goznak, Moscow84.2.35.7

ART IN REVOLUTION

FLOOR CASE

Plates, Ekstsentrychnyi tanok [Eccentric danse], [in] Anatol' Petryts'kyi: teatral'ni stroï, [Anatol’ Petryts’kyi: theater costume], 1929Illustrated by Anatolii Halaktionovych Petryts'kyi, (Ukrainian, 1895-1964)Written by V. Khmuryi (Ukrainian, dates unknown)Published by Derzhavne vydavnytstvo UkrainyPrinted by Lito-drukarni Derzhavnogo vydavnytstva Ukrainy im. H.I. Petrovs'kohoUkraineXB1990.389

Book, Das entfesselte Theater : Aufzeichnungen eines Regisseurs [The Unshackled Theater: Notes of a Director], 1927Cover designed by El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)Written by Aleksandr Iakovlevich Tairov (Russian, 1885-1950) Published by Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, PotsdamPrinted by Gebr. Feyl, BerlinXB1990.1341

Frontispiece, Most (Sevr) [Bridge (Sèvres)] from Aleksandra Ekster: kak zhivopisets i khudozhnik stseny [Aleksandra Ekster: As Painter and Set Designer], 1922Illustration by Alexandra Exter (Russian, 1884-1949)Written by Iakov Aleksandrovich Tugendkhol'd (Russian, 1872-1928)Published by "Zaria", BerlinPrinted by Preuss-Institut Graphik, BerlinXB1990.2357

XB1990.389

XB1990.1341 XB1990.2357

XB1990.2178

Sheet 17, Teatral’nyi kostium [Theater costume], from Iskusstvo v bytu [Art in everyday life], 1925Illustration by V. Akhmet’ev (Russian, dates unknown)Published by Izd. "Izvestii TSIK SSSR i VTSIK", MoscowPrinted by 1-aia Obraztsovaia tipo-lit Gosizdata, MoscowXB1990.2178

Book, Printsessa Turandot: teatral'no-tragicheskaia kitaiskaia skazka v 5 aktakh [Princess Turandot: A Tragicomic Tale of China for the Theatre in Five Acts], [1923]Illustrated by Ignatii Ignat'evich Nivinskii (Russian, 1880-1933)Written by Carlo Gozzi (Italian, 1720-1806)Published by Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo, Moscow, PetrogradPrinted by 1-ia Obraztsovaia tipografiia "Mospoligraf", Moscow83.2.704

Book, K desiatoi godovshchine Oktiabria: kak ukrashchat’ gorod [For the Tenth Anniversary of October: How to Decorate a Town], c1927Edited by K. Mal’tsev (Russian, dates unknown)Published by Izd-vo AKhRR, MoscowPrinted by 1-ia Obraztsovaia tipo-litografiia Gosizdata, MoscowXB1990.1885

Book, K desiatoi godovshchine Oktiabria: kak ukrashchat’ gorod [For the Tenth Anniversary of October: How to Decorate a Town], c1927Edited by K. Mal’tsev (Russian, dates unknown)Published by Izd-vo AKhRR, MoscowPrinted by 1-ia Obraztsovaia tipo-litografiia Gosizdata, MoscowXC1997.16.10

XC1997.16.10

83.2.704

XB1990.1885