Art of Russian Avant-Garde

about the exhibition

The exhibition «Art of Russian Avant-garde» from collections of Samara Regional Art Museum contains artworks, which divided into three sections. There are works by members of the Jack of Diamonds art group, artists of Malevich’s circle and students of Vkhutemas of the late 1910s — early 1920s.

Canvases by the Jack of Diamonds group members, namely P. P. Konchalovsky, A. V. Lentulov and V. V. Pozhdestvensky, hold a special place in the exhibition. The «Still life with Gloxinia», painted by P. P. Konchalovsky in 1910, asserting colorful, material abundance of the world, appeared in the museum collection from the State Museum Fund in the 1920s (previously was in the Lunacharsky collection). The «Landscape with Red House» by A. V. Lentulov is an undoubted masterpiece. The artwork is not dated. But according to some indications it is referred to the works, executed by the artist in 1917 in New Jerusalem.

The «Fantastic Landscape» («Etchmiadzin») by G. B. Yakulov attracts our attention with its phantasmagoric light. The artwork clearly conveys the author’s closeness to Symbolism and the Blue Rose art group. Water and sky reflect each other in the luminous space. Music of the spheres is heard. E. M. Bebutova, wife of P. V. Kuznetsov, has been also close to the Blue Rose group. Her «Landscape with Palms» rather refers to the Neo-primitivism, despite it contains elements of the cubist deformation.

The «Life in the Grand Hotel» is, undoubtedly, among the most mysterious avant-garde works in the museum collection. The museum obtained the artwork in 1929. At first it was recorded as a work by an unknown artist of the Vitebsk school. Later the work became directly ascribed to Malevich. Many times it was exhibited at the international shows, including Malevich’s solo exhibitions in New York and Moscow. Several years ago, in the lower part of the canvas, Malevich’s signature was found as a result of the special digital camera photo shoot. It helped to confirm his authorship.

Works by O. V. Rozanova in the museum collection consistently reflect the evolution of her creative vision, from the neo-primitivist expressionist «Boulevard» (1911-12) to the suprematist «Flight of the Airplane» (1916). Cubo-futuristic tendencies are embodied in the works «Construction of a House» (1913) and «Fire in the City» (1913). The last one can be included in few purely futuristic works of the Russian avant-garde. The 1913 «Fire in the City» work, painted on a tin plate, is an undisputed masterpiece among all artworks by Rozanova. Its sketch is in the collection of Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum.

Canvases by students of the State Free Art Studios and the Higher Art and Technical Studios of the early 1919-1920s were sent to the Samara museum in 1921-1922. They are of great importance in the museum collection of the Russian Avant-garde. As it is known the State Free Art Studios were changed to Vkhutemas in 1921. Celebrated masters, such as P. P. Konchalovsky, R. R. Falk, A. V. Lentulov, A. A. Osmerkin, V. V. Pozhdestvensky, I. I. Mashkov, A. V. Shevchenko. A. V. Kuprin, D. P. Shterenberg, N. A. Udaltsova, taught at Vkhutemas at different periods. Though many works are not signed, in some cases we can determine in whose studio one or another artwork has been painted, on the basis of stylistic comparison with works by the Russian avant-garde masters.

A special section presents the 1920s artworks by artists, who are directly related to Samara and Samara Vkhutemas.

Samara Regional Art Museum is very proud of its collection of the Russian avant-garde of the 1910s-1920s.