Russian avant-garde and folk art. Russian avant-garde

At the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the movements appeared in Russia, which originated from modernism and was called the “Russian avant-garde.” Literally it sounds like avant - “ahead” and garde - “security”, but it went through the so-called modernization and sounded like “advanced detachment”. In fact, the founders of this movement were the 19th century, who propagated the denial of any foundations that were basic for all times of the existence of art. The main goal of avant-garde artists was the denial of traditions and unwritten laws of artistic skill.

Avant-garde and its movements

Russian avant-garde is a combination of Russian traditions with some techniques of Western European painting. In Russia, avant-garde artists are those who painted in the style of abstractionism, suprematism, constructivism and cubo-futurism. Actually, these four trends are the main directions of the avant-garde.

Artistic features and aesthetics of the avant-garde

The avant-garde movement is characterized by certain features that distinguish it from other movements:

• Avant-gardists welcome any social changes, such as revolutions.
• The current is characterized by a certain duality, for example, rationalism and irrationality.
• Recognition, admiration and admiration for scientific and technological progress.
• New forms, techniques and means not previously used in the artistic world.
• Complete rejection of the fine art of the 8th century.
• Denial or recognition of traditions, established principles in painting.
• Experiment with shapes, colors and shades.

Wassily Kandinsky

All avant-garde artists of the 20th century are the “children” of Wassily Kandinsky, who became the founder of the avant-garde in Russia. All his work is divided into 3 stages:

• During the Munich period, Kandinsky worked on landscapes, creating such masterpieces as “The Blue Rider”, “The Gateway”, “The Bay Shore in Holland”, “The Old Town”.
• Moscow period. The most famous paintings of this period are “Amazon” and “Amazon in the Mountains”.
• Bauhaus and Paris. The circle is used more and more often compared to other geometric shapes, and shades gravitate towards cold and calm tones. Works from this period are “Little Dream in Red”, “Composition VIII”, “Small Worlds”, “Yellow Sound”, “Bizarre”.

Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich was born in February 1879 in Kyiv into a Polish family. He first tried himself as an artist at the age of 15, when he was given a set of paints. Since then, for Malevich there was no matter more important than painting. But the parents did not share their son’s hobbies and insisted on getting a more serious and profitable profession. Therefore, Malevich entered the agronomy school. Having moved to Kursk in 1896, he makes acquaintance with Lev Kvachevsky, an artist who advises Kazimir to go to study in Moscow. Unfortunately, Malevich was twice unable to enter the Moscow school painting. He began to learn the craft from Rerberg, who not only taught the young artist, but also took care of him in every possible way: organized exhibitions of his works, presented him to the public. Both the early and late works of K. Malevich are pompous and emotional. Like other Russians, he combines decency and indecency in his works, but all his paintings are united by irony and thoughtfulness. In 1915, Malevich presented to the public a series of paintings in the avant-garde style, the most famous of which is “Black Square”. Among the many works, both fans and avant-garde artists highlighted “Some Malicious”, “Rest. Society in Top Hat", "Sisters", "Lingerie on the Fence", "Torso", "Gardener", "Church", "Two Dryads", "Cubo-Futuristic Composition".

Mikhail Larionov

He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. His mentors were: famous painters, like Korovin, Levitan and Serov. IN early work Larionov, one can trace notes characteristic of the work of Nesterov and Kuznetsov, who are by no means avant-garde artists and their paintings do not belong to this movement. Such trends as folk art and primitivism are also characteristic of Larionov. There are military notes, for example, “Resting Soldiers” and the theory of ideal beauty, illuminated in the paintings “Venus” and “Katsapskaya Venus”. Like other Soviet avant-garde artists, Larionov took part in the exhibition “Donkey’s Tail” and “ Jack of Diamonds».

Natalia Goncharova

Initially, Goncharova studied sculpture and only over time switched to painting. Her first mentor was Korovin, and during this period she delighted exhibitions with her paintings in the spirit of impressionism. Then she was attracted by the theme of peasant art and tradition different nations and eras. This became the reason for the appearance of such films as “Evangelists”, “Harvesting Bread”, “Mother”, “Round Dance”. And the paintings “Orchids” and “Radiant Lilies” became the embodiment of the idea of ​​immortal art on canvas.

Olga Rozanova

Like most artists, Rozanova after graduating from college came under the influence of other painters. Avant-garde artists introduced the young talented girl to public life, and over the 10 years of her activity she took part in a large number of exhibitions and designed a lot of books and productions. Rozanova went through several stages of creativity, changing styles and directions.

Ivan Klyunkov (Klyun)

The creative path of Ivan Klyun changed dramatically after meeting Malevich. Even before meeting him, the artist studied French painting and visited the exhibition “Jack of Diamonds”. After the fateful meeting, Klyun replenished his collection with the paintings “Gramophone”, “Jug” and “Flying Landscape”. The artist performed later works in the style of figurative painting, creating compositions, still lifes, and illustrations.

Alexandra Exter

Exter became an artist thanks to where fate brought her together with such world-famous artists as Picasso, Jacob, Braque, Apollinaire, among whom were avant-garde artists.
After the trip, Exter began to paint in an impressionist style and the result of her work was the paintings “Still Life with Vase and Flowers” ​​and “Three female figures" Over time, pointillism and cubism began to appear in the works. Alexandra presented her paintings at exhibitions. Later, the artist devoted a lot of time to non-objective compositions and painting screens, lampshades, pillows, as well as decoration theatrical productions.

Vladimir Tatlin

Tatlin began studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and then at the Penza School art school. But due to frequent absences and poor academic performance, he was expelled without receiving a diploma. In 1914, Tatlin already exhibited his works at the exhibition “Jack of Diamonds” and “Donkey’s Tail”. Basically, his paintings are associated with everyday fishing. The meeting with Picasso played an important role in the change of direction: it was after it that Tatlin began to create in the style of cubism and in the style of “Larionov’s influence.” His creations reflected structures made of wood and iron and became fundamental to the constructivist movement in the Russian avant-garde.

El Lissitzky

Lissitzky first came into close contact with painting at the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, where he worked since 1916. At that time, he not only illustrated Jewish publications, but also actively participated in exhibitions held in Moscow and Kyiv. The author's works harmoniously combine handwritten scrolls and world of art graphics. Upon arrival in Vitebsk, Lissitsky became interested in non-objective creativity, designing books and posters. El's brainchild is “prouns” - three-dimensional figures that are the basis for furniture production even today.

Lyubov Popova

Like most artists, Popova went through a multi-stage path of development: her early works were made in the style of Cezanne, and then features of cubism, fauvism and futurism appeared. Popova perceived the world as a large still life and transferred it to canvas in the form of graphic images. Love paid special attention to the sounds of colors. This is what distinguished her work from the work of Malevich. When designing theatrical productions, Popova used the Art Deco style, which harmoniously combined avant-garde and modern. The artist tended to combine the incongruous, for example, cubism with the Renaissance and Russian icon painting.

The role of the Russian avant-garde in history

Many of the achievements of the avant-garde artists are still used in modern art, despite the fact that the avant-garde itself as a movement did not last long. The main reason for its collapse lies in the many directions that avant-garde artists created. Avant-garde as an art made it possible to develop the photo and film industry, and allowed us to develop new forms, approaches and solutions to solving artistic problems.

Novgorod State University

named after Yaroslav the Wise

Abstract on the discipline:

"History of Russian Art"

Subject:"Russian avant-garde. Main directions and masters."

Completed by student gr.2371:

Tsvetkova A.A.

Checked:

Robezhnik L.V.

Velikiy Novgorod

1. Introduction.

1.1. The concept of avant-garde. And its differences from modernism…………..….…………....3

2. Main part.

2.1. Russian avant-garde its goals and aspirations…………….…….….………………...6

2.2. The main directions of the avant-garde…………………………….…………….…......7

2.2.1 Abstract art ( abstract art)………………………..…..8

2.2.2. Suprematism…………………………………….…………………..10

2.2.3. Constructivism……………………………..….………………….…10

2.2.4. Futurism………………..……….…………………………………....11

2.2.5. Dadaism…………..…………….……………………………………. 12

2.2.6. Surrealism………………………………………………………...13

2.2.7. Expressionism……………………………….….……………..…14

2.3. V.V.Kandinsky………………………………………………………………16

2.4. K.S.Malevich…………………………………………………………….……..19

3 .Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….……21

4. References………………………………………………………………………………….…….….22

1. Introduction.

The concept of avant-garde. And its differences from modernism.

As it turns out, a popular bear trap, ideally suited to prey on budding art critics, is the question: “What is the difference between avant-garde and modernism?

This issue is still controversial; There are several strong traditions of understanding the differences between avant-garde and modernism. There is only one way out: to use the version that seems most intelligible and logical.

Firstly, chronologically modernism preceded the avant-garde. Avant-garde is a product of the revolutionary era of the early twentieth century, while modernism arose at the end of the nineteenth.

Secondly, attention should be paid to the origin of the term: the first ranks of the army were traditionally called the “avant-garde”; to be “in the vanguard” means to be ahead of everyone, and in a risky, combat situation. The term, as you can see, is taken from military vocabulary. And for good reason.

The utopian goal - a radical transformation of human consciousness through the means of art - was inherited by the avant-garde from modernism; however, the avant-gardeists went further, suggesting that through art it was possible to reorganize not only consciousness, but also society.

And finally, if modernism was primarily an aesthetic rebellion, a revolution within art, not against the tradition itself, but within it, then the avant-garde is a rebellion against the artistic tradition itself, as well as against any traditions. To quote Lev Rubinstein: “Modernism seems to accept the basic values traditional art, but is engaged in updating artistic means in solving the so-called eternal problems of art. In this sense, it is the same traditional art, but using a new language to describe the same thing. Avant-gardeism constantly creates another art, renewing not its means, but the object of art itself. Moreover. Avant-garde implies an active social position of the artist, which was, by and large, out of the question before. Revolutionary in nature, the avant-garde tends to be combined with radical political beliefs; for example, it is common knowledge that many surrealists were communists. And the Russian avant-garde, as we know, set out in orderly ranks to serve the cause of the October Revolution. This, of course, did not end well...

In general, it’s sad and funny to trace two fundamentally different ways which led to the crisis of the avant-garde. In liberal Western society By the middle of the century, the avant-garde gradually lost the pathos of “confrontation,” and with it “utopian” optimism and revolutionary energy; The avant-garde, contrary to its nature, has become an aesthetic tradition - one of. In a totalitarian situation (primarily in the USSR and Hitler’s Germany), the avant-garde was declared anti-people (or “degenerate”) art and was simply banned, erased by censorship from the history of art.

However, rather than lament the “end of the avant-garde,” I note that many of its ideas, strategies and ambitions were resurrected, rethought and adopted by radical artists of the nineties.

Vanguard(-ism)- (French avantgardisme, from avant-garde - vanguard) The conventional name of artistic movements and the mentality of artists of the 20th century that united them... which are characterized by the desire for a radical renewal of artistic practice, a break with its established principles and traditions (including realism), the search for new, unusual in content, means of expression and forms of works, the relationship of artists with life. The contradictory movements of avant-gardeism reflected the most acute social antagonisms of the era, reflected confusion and despair in the face of social catastrophes and the desire to find new ways of aesthetic influence on real life. Features of avant-gardeism in the 20th century. manifested themselves in a number of schools and movements of modernism, which developed intensively in the period 1905-30s. (fauvism, cubism, futurism, expressionism, dadaism, surrealism, abstract art, a number of rationalist movements of modernism, etc.). In fact, it was a revolutionary movement, but in the 30s it died out as a popular movement. Only after the 2nd World War 1939-45 in the art of a number of Western countries. Europe and Lat. In America, along with the strengthening of the position of realistically “engaged” art, there is a revival of avant-garde tendencies. Neo-avant-gardeism emerges, now completely within the framework of modernism.

The main representatives of this movement in Russia are V. Malevich, V. Kandinsky, M. Larionov, M. Matyushin, V. Tatlin, P. Kuznetsov, G. Yakulov, A. Exter, B. Ender and others.

2. Main part.

2.1.Russian avant-garde, its goals and aspirations.

Like the trends of modernism that preceded it, the avant-garde was aimed at a radical transformation of human consciousness through the means of art, at aesthetic revolution, which would destroy spiritual inertia existing society, - at the same time, his artistic and utopian strategy and tactics were much more decisive, anarchic and rebellious.

Not content with creating exquisite “foci” of beauty and mystery, opposing the base materiality of existence, the avant-garde introduced into its images the rough matter of life, the “poetics of the street”, the chaotic rhythm of the modern city, nature, endowed with a powerful creative-destructive force, he more than once declaratively emphasized in in his works the principle of “anti-art”, thereby rejecting not only the previous, more traditional styles, but also an established concept of art in general. The avant-garde was constantly attracted by the “strange worlds” of new science and technology - from them he took not only plot and symbolic motifs, but also many designs and techniques. On the other hand, art increasingly included “barbaric” archaism, ancient magic, primitiveness and folklore (in the form of borrowings from the art of blacks in Africa and popular popular print, from other “non-classical” spheres of creativity, previously outside the framework of the fine arts). The avant-garde gave unprecedented urgency to the global dialogue of cultures.

2.2. The main directions of the avant-garde.

In principle, avant-garde phenomena are characteristic of all transitional stages in the history of artistic culture and individual types of art. In the twentieth century, however, the concept of avant-garde acquired the meaning of a term to designate a powerful phenomenon of artistic culture, covering almost all of its more or less significant phenomena. With all the diversity and diversity artistic phenomena included in this concept, they have common cultural and historical roots, a common atmosphere that gave birth to them, and many General characteristics and car presentation trends. Avant-garde is, first of all, a reaction of artistic and aesthetic consciousness to a global, not yet encountered in the history of mankind, turning point in cultural and civilizational processes caused by scientific and technological progress (STP) of the last century. The essence and significance for humanity of this avalanche-like process in culture is still far from being fully understood and adequately comprehended by scientific and philosophical thinking, but in many ways it has already been expressed quite fully in artistic culture in the phenomena of avant-garde, modernism, postmodernism.

The avant-garde is an extremely motley, contradictory, even in some ways fundamentally antinomic phenomenon. It coexisted in an irreconcilable struggle among themselves and with everything and everyone, but also in constant interaction and mutual influence of currents and directions, both affirming and apologizing certain phenomena, processes, discoveries in all spheres of the cultural and civilizational field of their time, and sharply those who denied them.

The characteristic and general features of most avant-garde phenomena include their conscious sharpness experimental nature; revolutionary-destructive pathos regarding traditional art (especially its last stage - new European) and traditional cultural values ​​(truth, goodness, holiness, beauty); a sharp protest against everything that seemed to their creators and participants to be retrograde, conservative, philistine, bourgeois, academic; in the visual arts and literature - a demonstrative rejection of what was established in the 19th century. a “direct” (realistic-naturalistic) image of visible reality, or a mimetic principle in the narrow sense of the word (see: Mimesis); an unbridled desire to create something fundamentally new in everything and, above all, in forms, techniques and means of artistic expression; and hence the often declarative-manifestative and shocking-scandalous nature of the presentation by representatives of the avant-garde of themselves and their works, trends, movements, etc.; the desire to blur the boundaries between traditional forms of art for modern European culture, the tendency to synthesize individual arts (in particular, based on synesthesia), and their interpenetration.

Description of the presentation by individual slides:

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Modernism Symbolism Constructivism Foreign art: Programming Cubism Fauvism Primitivism Futurism Surrealism Dadaism Pop art Questions: What trends and styles have we met? What are the main distinctive features new styles, trends and historical background for their emergence?

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What can you tell us about this art direction? Avant-garde (French advanced + detachment) is the name of a number of movements in the art of the 20th century, breaking with the existing norms and traditions of realism. Avant-garde artists view art as a special aesthetic sphere devoid of social significance and constantly experiment in search of new forms.

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The history of the Russian avant-garde begins in 1910. Russian artists created their own national style. Old Russian icon painting, folk pictures, the primitivism of children's drawings helped them create a new artistic reality. At the end of 1910, an exhibition called “Jack of Diamonds” was organized in Moscow, and in 1911, societies that existed until 1917 were organized under this name. “Jacks of Diamonds” expressed their protest against artistic stagnation. Landscapes and portraits of Russian avant-garde artists became something close to still life. “Tambourine Departures” did not strive for monumentality, for a fresco, using at best the form of a panel, bringing it closer to a sign.

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The first exhibitions of the “Jack of Diamonds” witnessed the fact that Russian painting began to enter the avant-garde movement. It becomes programmatic, project-based, accompanied by a manifesto or oral declaration, and supported theoretically. In the writings of the avant-garde artists one can hear echoes of their contemporary scientific discoveries or philosophical concepts. The type of artist developed is that of a rebel, a Protestant. A work of art creates new reality. Kandinsky, Larionov, Goncharov, Malevich, Tatlina, Matyushin, each of them is independent, independent, and unique.

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With all the originalities and well-known advantages of Russian painting of the 18th-19th centuries. its representatives cannot be defined as innovators. Avant-garde was unusual for Russian art. All the more surprising is the rapid formation of innovative painting. Painting has stepped towards the last word in artistic invention. The revolutionary impulse that swept Russia in the 1900-1910s played some role. In a situation of revolutionary intensity, avant-garde artists have the opportunity to taste the joy of denying everything that immediately preceded them. In the very work of the avant-garde artists, who, putting forward certain ideas, brought their implementation to the extreme. This tendency is characteristic of Larionov, Malevich, Tatlin... In Russia, the utopianism of the avant-garde movement manifests itself in isolation from previous experience. It is expressed in the idea of ​​a path through art to an ideal new world.

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It is no coincidence that Russian avant-garde artists nurtured the idea of ​​the fourth dimension, being interested in the ideas of C. G. Hinton and P. D. Uspensky, trying to adapt their teachings to creative purposes. The utopia of the avant-garde is akin to many utopias great history art. The largest of them - the utopia of the Renaissance - struck humanity so strongly. A man who felt power over the world and gained the taste of managing it was born during the Renaissance. The avant-garde gave a new outbreak to this thirst for power, although it would seem to be returning to where the Renaissance emerged from. But in their impulse they put forward a new one - their own ideal concept of world order. For Malevich, Kandinsky, Filonov, the process of creating a painting was close to a sacrament. The creator-artist became like a deity, became an exceptional person, at least the “chairman of the globe” (as the poet Velimir Khlebnikov called himself).

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In other European countries, early avant-gardeism was not so diversely embodied. But even the greatest of them - Picasso or Braque - come close to each other, but their creative concepts do not lie on the same long distance from each other, which separates the work of Malevich from Tatlin, Tatlin from Filonov, and Filonov from Chagall. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A number of stylistic options and ideological and artistic movements unfold in the time period. In this way, the potential of diversity, which owes its origin rather to situation than to tradition, is fully realized. In Russia, perhaps more than anywhere else, in the 1910s. a situation has arisen that is suitable for self-realization. The waves of that picturesque and poetic storm, which was ready to wash away all previous cultural institutions. The exhibitions, staged in a farcical manner, were followed by debates where heated debates flared up. Artists and poets undertook tours, trying to spread ideas and examples of new creativity throughout the cities and villages of Russia. Russian avant-garde painting has absorbed national traditions Russian culture.

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Abstract art of Vasily Vasilyevich Kandinsky (1866 – 1944). Abstractionism (French abstraction) is a movement in painting, sculpture and graphics of the 20th century. Abstractionists refused to depict real objects and phenomena; the works are a combination of geometric shapes, color spots and lines. He abstracted reality, encrypted the object with a non-objective form or, conversely, maintaining bridges between objectivity and non-objectivity.

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The first sketches and paintings written in the vicinity of Munich created the impression of the vastness of the surrounding world and amazed with the unusual brightness of the color scheme. The romantic elation of early landscapes and genre scenes from folk life is characteristic of the works of this period. “The Blue Rider” (1903), racing on a horse against a green landscape, is ideal romantic image, which can be considered as an epigraph to Kandinsky’s work. The blue horseman, symbolizing power over irrational psychic energy, was perceived as a manifestation of a higher spiritual principle.

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The main subject of the artist’s experiments was the space in which he tried to build new relationships between the real and abstract worlds. The destruction of objectivity was a prelude to the artist’s bold abstraction. In the article “Steps” (1918), Kandinsky emphasized that “objectivity is harmful to my paintings.” Despite the lack of plot, in the objectless world he created it was still possible to recognize the outlines of real objects: horsemen and ladies in crinolines, houses, towers and bells, fountains and cannons. In the landscapes one could discern mountains, clouds, trees, animals...)

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What are his artistic principles? creative manner? “Lake” (1910) V. V. Kandinsky.

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In the painting “Lake” (1910), objective and non-objective principles coexist. The rest of the answer lies with the viewer, who may take the blue stripes to represent water, and the stripes at the top to represent the sky. Reality and fantasy are intricately intertwined in the picture. We can easily discern in it the smooth surface of the water, boats with oarsmen, and the silhouette of a castle on the shore. These subjects are painted against a background that explodes with bursts of bright color. Some of them illuminate the abyss of space, others, on the contrary, enhance the impression of mystery. The lines, like zigzags of lightning, burst out onto the surface of the canvas; Then they rush inward, luring viewers into their bowels of bizarre interweavings of abstract forms, creating a special, “supersensible vibration.” “The “chorus of colors” really bursts into the soul from nature.” “Lake” (1910) V. V. Kandinsky.

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What are the artistic principles of his creative style? “Composition VI” (1913) V. V. Kandinsky.

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“Composition VI” evokes the impression of the infinity of space opening before the viewer. The absence of a specific gesture did not mean complete absence content. The artist himself connected it with the Old Testament Flood. Wide stripes of rich and bright shades smoothly and softly flow into each other. Various options also attract our attention. color combinations: light and dark, pale and bright. The internal movement of color and line expresses the complex and intense life of the human spirit. The viewer is drawn into the spontaneous whirlpool of the beauty of the lines, he himself becomes a participant in that worldwide catastrophe that transforms earthly and heavenly chaos into perfect harmony. What impression did your acquaintance with his works make on you? “Composition VI” (1913) V. V. Kandinsky.

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“Analytical Art” by Pavel Nikolaevich Filonov (1883 – 1941). Creates the essay “The Ideology of Analytical Art,” which proclaims the “principle of doneness.” The artist must give maximum effort to the work. Students say that he finished his paintings with a thin brush, starting to fill the canvas from one edge and reaching the opposite. The principle of “madeness” is implemented, for example, in the painting “Cowsheds” (1914).

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The fate of Pavel Nikolaevich Filonov is truly dramatic. During his life, he did not sell any of his paintings, believing that everything he created should belong only to the people. Ten years before his death, poor and half-starved, the artist continued to paint without interruption, sometimes for several days in a row. Misunderstood, rejected by his contemporaries, forgotten by some students, unable to exhibit, he still dreamed of handing over his paintings “to the state, so that a museum of analytical art could be created from them.” In 1941, Filonov died in besieged Leningrad, having caught a fatal cold during his regular duty at an air defense post. ...the volcano of lost treasures is quartered, great artist, an eyewitness to the invisible, a troublemaker of the canvas - this is how the poet A.E. Kruchenykh wrote about him. True recognition came many years later. Now Filonov’s paintings are the pride and decoration of any exhibition and art galleries. In the manifesto “The Ideology of Analytical Art” (1914-1915), Filonov wrote: “...I replace the ancient, confusing concept of the word “creativity” with the word “madeness.” In this sense, “creativity” is the organized, systematic work of a person on material.”

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Filonov believed that the white field of canvas or paper is an invisible part of nature, on which the artist must cultivate, draw with line, color and form the visible and invisible spiritual essence of the world around us. The viewer viewing the painting should see how an artistic image is created, just as a tree grows (“the movement of the organism against the mechanism”). The “seeing eye” of a person perceives the color and external shape of bodies. The “knowing eye” comprehends the hidden internal movement of atoms. The image is created by the artist from frequency to general. He can start work from any point on the canvas, finishing every micron of the image. He encouraged his students to work “only with a small brush with a sharp end... as if you were working with a sharp pencil and were afraid of dulling it and breaking it. Then from under your brush what will remain on the canvas is not a stupid, deceitful stroke... but a piece of that material, that matter, of which everything in nature consists. Draw each atom persistently and accurately!” At the same time, he could return an infinite number of times to what had already been written in order to express the very essence of this or that phenomenon. That is why a number of his works are called “formulas” (“Form of Imperialism”, “Formula of the Petrograd Proletariat”, “Formula of the Komsomolets”).

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What are the artistic principles of his creative style? “Formula of Spring” (1918 – 1929) P. N. Filonov.

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This picture is a clear example of pictorial harmony achieved on the basis of the “analytical” system and with the help of “Madeness” techniques. We won't see any green trees or streams, but it has everything that this time of year creates. The most complex curves of shapes, crystals of color shimmering in the sun give birth to a magnificent harmony in the imagination musical rhythms, a bright extravaganza of colors that can awaken in the soul a spring feeling of renewal of nature. The painting really became a clear confirmation of the artist’s manifesto: “I know, I analyze, I see, I intuit that in any object there are not two predicates, shape and color, but a whole world of visible and invisible phenomena...” “Formula of Spring” (1918 – 1929) P. N. Filonov.

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“The Feast of Kings” has become a symbol of the artist’s creativity and difficult life. “The Feast of Kings” is a metaphor for the era, deployed on a grandiose scale. The gloomy and domineering dead, sedately sitting on thrones, majestically and importantly eat vegetables. Some kind of devilish flame glows ominously behind their backs, “illuminated by the fury of grief like the ray of the moon” (B. Khlebnikov). Half-skeletons, half-corpses suck out the flesh and blood of the entire living and sensory world. This feast of temporary power is gloomy and feverish. The compositional and coloristic structure of the picture is designed to emphasize the eerie reality. Dark color scheme bursting with bright blue, red and yellow colors. But there is also an enlightening beginning in it, a faint hope for the triumphant energy and beauty of life. “What impression did your acquaintance with his works make on you? “Feast of Kings” (1913) P. N. Filonov.

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Suprematism of Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (1878 – 1935). His path led to the main discovery - Suprematism (lat. highest). He wrote: “I tell everyone: give up love, aestheticism, suitcases of wisdom, because in the new culture your wisdom is blind and insignificant! I untied the knots of wisdom and freed the consciousness of paint! I overcame the impossible and made abysses with my breath. We, Suprematists, throw your way! Hurry!” How do you understand these words?

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He tirelessly studied and tested the traditions of old masters, searched for and honed new painting possibilities. Malevich's first paintings were made in a bright impressionistic manner (“Flower Girl”, 1903). These hobbies were replaced by “peasant primitivism” (“Mower”, 1911; “The Face of a Peasant Girl”, 1912; “Harvesting Rye”, 1912; “The Carpenter”, 1912; “The Reaper”, 1912). The peasant types he created seem static and ponderous, their appearance clearly gravitates towards some conventional volumes and forms. From bold searches the path led to discovery - Suprematism. The main components of the artist’s creativity were color and geometric shapes. In his fundamental work “Suprematism. The world as non-objectivity" Malevich defined the tasks and goals of his work as follows: "An artist can be a creator when the forms of his painting have nothing to do with nature. And art is the ability to create a structure arising from relationships and colors, and not on the basis of the aesthetic taste of the beauty of the construction position - but on the basis of weight, speed and direction of movement...

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The most valuable thing in painting is color and texture - the pictorial essence, but this essence has always been killed by the plot. Painters must abandon the subject and things if they want to be pure painters... Painting is paint, color, it is embedded inside our body. Her outbursts are frequent, great and demanding. My nervous system is colored by them. My brain is on fire from their color." According to the artist, in Suprematist paintings, one element (square, cross, rectangle, circle) could act as the main object, but he did not deny the possibility of creating more complex compositions with the simultaneous use of geometric shapes, floating in space.

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What are the artistic principles of his creative style? The action of the “Black Square” is associated with its ability to concertize infinite, universal space within itself, transform into other universal formulas of the world, express everything in the universe, concentrating it all in the form of a geometric and black surface. “Black Square” (1913) K. S. Malevich.

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Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin (1885 – 1953) is the founder of pictorial constructivism. He not only fell under the influence of Malevich, but he became his constant competitor and adversary. Tatlin showed a special interest in the human figure and its turns. He often turns the model's head, contrasting its movement with the movement of the body. He resolutely reinforces these poses, forcing the contour lines to stretch and the entire figure to spring back. In his works there already exists a real space, not separated by at least a small degree of convention from the surrounding space. The surface of an object is real - it does not need aesthetic interpretation, it is and should be purposeful. In a few years, his work will combine art, technology and science. He showed ingenuity, practical acumen, and expediency, which is characteristic of engineering thought. Tatlin became the founder of constructivism. His experience was picked up by Rodchenko, Stepanova, the Stenberg brothers and others, who became pioneers of modern design with Tatlin.

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What are the artistic principles of his creative style? The red color is neutralized by white spots on the canvas along the brown outline. In this painting he combined the primitive with artistic sophistication. “The Model” (1913) V. E. Tatlin.

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The fate of the Russian avant-garde artist Life and creative path each of the avant-garde artists of the 1910s. was more or less connected with the events that took place in Russia, with the revolutions of 1917, with the change of power. In the 1920s new associations of artists arose, new generations came who managed to join the avant-garde principles, although work in this direction could not last long, since by the 1930s. The very possibility of the existence of avant-garde art disappeared. However, there was still an option that testified to the rapprochement of the avant-garde with the then dominant ideology. At first, many artists turned out to be leaders and members various kinds commissions and departments of the People's Commissariat of Education, became the heads of museums of modern art. But this could not last long. The so-called left artists came to understand the incompatibility of avant-garde creativity and the ideology of the totalitarian regime. Malevich realized this a few years after the revolution, a little later Tatlin realized this incompatibility.

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Despite the fact that the avant-garde shared and developed the ideas of revolutionary utopianism, the very principles of totalitarianism were infinitely far from it. The totalitarian principle was also opposed by the variety of forms of avant-garde manifestations, which were based on the expression of the individual characteristics of each participant in the avant-garde movement. The main thing was that the avant-garde arose not from ideas of social transformation, but from the need of the artist-creator to comprehend through art the essence of the world and existence, his own meaning and purpose. It is easy to verify this by reading the theoretical works of V.V. Kandinsky, K.S. Malevich, P.N. Filonov, O.V. Rozanova and many others. Their theoretical research is almost as interesting and important as their own work, and together they form a body of profound ideas. The situation in the 1920s differs in that previously the avant-garde movement was dominated by creative personalities, and now to a greater extent - groups and schools. If Malevich in the 1910s. there were followers, then in the 1920s. he is surrounded by students.

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The Russian avant-garde is a unique phenomenon in the history of world culture. Russia, which has begun to develop new artistic ideas, came to the forefront European art and became one of its recognized leaders. The works of Russian avant-garde artists occupy a place of honor in the exhibitions of the largest museums in the world.

The past Olympic Games in Sochi were a pleasant surprise. The opening and closing ceremonies showed the whole world all the charm and beauty of Russian art. And these were not bears in the forest, not “Alyonushka by the Lake” and not “Ships in the Storm”, but the Russian avant-garde, which still causes ridicule and controversy among the ordinary unprepared viewer.

Stage directors and directors brought to life in literally and the Suprematism of Malevich, and the abstractions of Wassily Kandinsky, and the flying city of Chagall.

For Western viewers and museums, the Russian avant-garde is the best that was and is in Russian art. All exhibitions are gladly accepted in Europe and across the Atlantic. The Russian avant-garde truly inserted itself with bright colors into the history of world art.

When today someone complains that traditions have been lost, and modern Art speaks about something incomprehensible in an incomprehensible language, do not forget that art is always a part of life, and whether we like it or not, it surrounds us. It is important to understand that the art of the twentieth century in its new forms relies, first of all, on intellectual activity - text and image are closely interrelated. Own texts and books by such representatives of avant-garde movements as Malevich, Kandinsky or Piet Mondrian were a very important component of creativity. Therefore, when a viewer comes to the halls of twentieth-century art, some kind of preparation is needed, or at least interest and desire to understand the intentions of these artists. Not everyone wants to make extra efforts and delve into this - it is human nature to follow a simpler path, and those familiar forms that cause a purely emotional reaction are closer and more understandable to him.

In the 30s in the USSR, the works of avant-garde artists were quickly hidden and removed from the collections of museums and meetings; all this became a secret from the viewer for many 50 years.

At the state level, a ban was imposed on the public display of works by Russian avant-garde artists, and this ban remained in effect for fifty years. Repeated attempts were made to write off this material as unnecessary, and then museum staff delayed the compilation of lists and started paperwork just to prevent this irreparable loss.

Now imagine - for fifty years this art was not presented in the permanent collections of museums, in school textbooks, and was not talked about at all. As a result, several generations have grown up with the feeling that this is unfamiliar, incomprehensible, unnecessary and causes rejection. This is a completely natural reaction. If you remember the school textbooks of older generations, Levitan, Vasnetsov, Savrasov were sure to be there. But there was no Malevich, Filonov, Tatlin.

And the general impression was that there was nothing like that here, and it was unclear why it had to be hidden. The ideological component disappears from consciousness, and this question arises constantly.

I want to note that society is entering a very important stage of understanding what the Russian avant-garde is. And in this regard, what happened at the opening of the Olympics is significant - the most striking and characteristic images of the Russian avant-garde were involved in the fantastic show, and Suprematism was heard. For the first time since 1936, the state rehabilitated the avant-garde at the international level. In a sense, this is no less important than the victory of our team. In the West, all museums are happy to host exhibitions of the Russian avant-garde, and people line up to see them. Not all viewers are keen experts on this material, but this is accepted because it unique phenomenon, and with this we entered the history of world art. And returning to our situation, even if a person does not like or understand the avant-garde, he must realize that it is valuable, it is our property and it is a matter of the country’s prestige. It seems to me that this was clearly heard at the Olympics.

The evolution of the Russian avant-garde allows us to roughly distinguish three periods in it. The first occurs in 1910-1915. and is known under the name of Cubo-Futurism. The second period lasts from the end of 1915 to 1924 and marks the heyday, the highest rise of the avant-garde. Suprematism, constructivism, and industrial art and other movements were added to cubo-futurism in these years. The third period covers 1925-1932, when the avant-garde spreads to all types of art. However, in general, it gradually fades away and in 1932, due to the dissolution of all independent associations, it ceases to exist.

The emergence of the Russian avant-garde occurs against the backdrop of an exceptionally intense artistic life - both internal and external - that Russia has led since the end of the last century. During these years, numerous exhibitions of the latest trends are organized foreign art. Many Russian artists make pilgrimages to Paris and other Western centers.

The Blue Rider group appeared in Munich (1911), in which Russian artists (W. Kandinsky, A. Jawlensky) played an active role. In Russia itself there is a great diversity of artistic movements. The central place is occupied by the “World of Art”, which unites supporters of the most different styles- from Old Russian to symbolism. To his right are supporters of the realism of the Itinerants. To the left are the currents of modernism, and to the left of them is the emerging avant-garde.

The main centers of formation of the Russian avant-garde were the St. Petersburg “Youth Union” (1909-1917) and the Moscow “Jack of Diamonds” (1910-1916), which included many future avant-garde artists: N.I. Altman, V.D. and D.D. Burliuki, K.S. Malevich, V.E. Tatlin, P.N. Filonov, M.Z. Chagall, A.A. Exter. The first avant-garde association proper was Gileya, founded in 1912 by D. Burdyuk, which included some of the above, as well as poets V.V. Mayakovsky. V. Khlebnikov. A.E. Twisted.

Unlike the Western avant-garde, the Russian avant-garde was able to unite cubism and futurism into cubo-futurism, and within it - painters, poets and critics, among whom poets set the tone. Their common basis was the premonition of imminent and inevitable upheavals, the result of which would be the birth of a new world and a new humanity. They saw their task in active actions to bring these events closer. Hence the destruction or bizarre mixture of traditional genres and styles, the denial of aesthetic taste, the desire of the futurists to isolate poetic language in its pure form, freeing it from generally accepted meanings and meanings, from everything that connects it with the old world, or to create a completely new, “abstruse” » language - with new words, grammar and syntax.

The main figures of cubo-futurism in poetry were V.V. Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and V. Khlebnikov (1885-1922). The first launched his “attack” on the traditional classical art, as well as on the contemporary trends of modernism - symbolism and acmeism, although he experienced some influence from A. Blok and A. Bely. He was one of the most decisive reformers of poetic language.

His new language It is distinguished by its bright expressiveness, it is filled with deep drama, powerful energy and sharp dynamism, it has an original graphic structure thanks to the use of a “column” and a “ladder”. Proclaiming the dictatorship of form, V. Mayakovsky sought to fill his works with relevant life content and meaning. In the poems of the pre-October period - “Cloud in Pants”, “Spine Flute”, etc. - the poet expressed his complete rejection of the old world. After the revolution, the themes and genres of V. Mayakovsky’s work expanded significantly. In the play "Mystery-bouffe" he gives "heroic, epic and satirical image of our era." He also creates lyrical poems “I Love”, “About This”, poems “ Good attitude to horses”, etc. V. Mayakovsky had a great influence on domestic and world poetry.

V. Khlebnikov became one of the most radical reformers of poetic language. He equally showed an irresistible passion for experimentation. He was also an ardent advocate of the maximum convergence of science and poetry, seeing in this the way to create a “new mythology” and a “superlanguage” of the future man.

He approached his new, super-rational, “absentient” “superlanguage” through the destruction of classical verse, through the rejection of the rational word-concept, crushing it into component elements endowed with a vague figurative meaning, and putting together new words from them. The concrete results of his experiments were the poems “The Spell of Laughter” and “Lubho”.

V. Khlebnikov had great hopes for his premonitions of a “new cosmic consciousness.” Like no one else, he went far beyond poetry and art, developing the idea of ​​a global reorganization of the world. This side of his work found expression in the book “Time is the Measure of the World”, as well as in the works “Marchand Trumpet”, “Swans of the Future”. Like A. Blok, V. Khlebnikov viewed the revolution as historical retribution for the past and a breakthrough towards a radical reorganization of the Universe on new principles. He dreamed that in the future new world a global brotherhood of people would be established and the harmony of people with nature would be restored. The poet expressed his ideas about the future world in the poem “Ladomir”. V. Khlebnikov assigned a special role to the poet in the reorganization of the world. He defined this role as messianic, saving. He saw the poet as a kind of seer, opening the way to mastery of the numerical “laws of time.” V. Khlebnikov had a great influence on world poetry.

In connection with the first period of the Russian avant-garde, it is also necessary to highlight the work of V.V. Kandinsky (1866-1944), M.Z. Chagall (1887-1985), P.N. Filonov (1883-1941).

V. Kandinsky is developing a version of non-figurative painting that is different from cubo-futurism, inspired by expressionism and calling it abstract. He outlined his understanding of such painting in his work “On Spirituality in Art” (1911). Trying to find “new forms” that are “eternal” and “pure”, to reveal the “pure language” of painting, Kandinsky does not dare to completely expel the subject from it, believing that this would lead to its impoverishment expressive means, for “the beauty of color and form... is not a sufficient goal of art.”

The main components of his work are: the idea of ​​a synthesis of arts, according to which painting should contain poetic and musical beginning, poetry - musical and picturesque, music - picturesque; the primacy of spirituality in art; finally, the search for new means of expression, among which a special role is given to the color spot, line, and decorative ornamentation. The content of Kandinsky's works are philosophical and religious theme Christ, the Apocalypse, the collapse of the old world and the birth of a new one, the struggle of light and dark forces etc., where good defeats evil. He prefers to call his works "improvisations" and "compositions".

M. Chagall also does not break with traditional painting, combining it with neo-primitivism and expressionism, being influenced by cubism, futurism and surrealism. His bright, colorful, fantastic paintings, bordering on the absurd - “Me and the Village”, “Above the City”, etc. - are often inspired by biblical themes and plots and poeticize everyday life.

P. Filonov, in his “analytical art,” develops an original theory of “organic form.” Influenced by Expressionism and Cubo-Futurism and using the language of geometric forms, he also does not abandon figurativeness. The novelty of his method lies in the fact that the elements and forms that make up his paintings are organically dependent on each other, they seem to “grow” out of each other. In his works - “Flowers of the World Blooming”, “Man in the World”, etc. - the artist makes visible what usually remains invisible: germination, growth, flowering and withering.

The second period of the Russian avant-garde began in December 1915 - together with the exhibition “Zero-Ten” held in Petrograd, which showed the famous “Black Square on a White Background” by K. Malevich, which signified the emergence of a new movement - Suprematism, which was joined by the majority cubo-futurists - I. Klyun, I. Puni. L. Popova, N. Udaltsova, A. Exter and others.

The Suprematism of K. Malevich (1878-1935) became a turning point in the evolution of the avant-garde, including the foreign one. The artist reveals the originality of the new movement in his work “From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism” (1916). What the Cubofugurists and Kandinsky did not dare to do, Malevich does without hesitation, ridding painting of subject, plot, meaning and content. He defines Suprematism as “absolute”, “pure”, “objectless creativity”, “pure pictorial art colors”, “creativity of self-sufficient pictorial forms”.

Malevich notes that society has never considered painting as such; it has always seen it only as a means of depicting the surrounding world and repeating nature. Any attempts to identify and approve purely pictorial plasticity were punished by public opinion. Malevich acutely feels that art lags behind the rapid progress of science and technology. He believes that at this stage the creation of plotless and objectless, purely pictorial plastic forms becomes the main and only goal.

Purpose contemporary artists- to invent completely new “sign-forms”, and concerns about objectivity and common sense should be entrusted to photography and cinema. These forms should not repeat already existing things, but come out of nothing. Their only source is creativity and creative will. Malevich believes that creativity should generally supplant labor, which seems to him a relic of the old world. He proclaims “the primacy of color over the thing.” For him, the most valuable thing in painting lies in color and texture. In this he sees a picturesque essence, which in the past was always killed by the plot. He calls for depriving form of meaning and content.

Rejecting the realism of the old world, striving to be absolutely modern and create something completely new, Malevich nevertheless calls his art first “abstruse realism”, then “cubo-futuristic realism” and, finally, at the stage of Suprematism - “new pictorial realism”, or “realism” picturesqueness."

His creativity rests primarily on intuition. At the same time, he does not oppose it to rational understanding. Malevich notes that “in art you need truth, but not sincerity.” In this regard, Suprematism means not only superiority over all previous art, but also an elevation above the opposition of the rational and the irrational.

The evolution of Suprematism in painting was fleeting - only four years (1915-1919), although three periods are sometimes distinguished in it: “black”, “color” and “white”. The first two - “black” and “colored” - develop in parallel, covering approximately two years (1916-1917). The symbol of the “color period” is the “Red Square”, which, unlike the “Black Square”, contains more movement and tension. In general, both squares embody movement in Suprematist space, which is an infinite, cosmic space, where there is no up and down, no landmarks, due to which the movement itself is difficult to distinguish, it appears as “dynamic peace.” In this sense, Suprematism can be defined as “painting of space.” Malevich himself also called himself “chairman of the space.”

The “White Period” covers about three years (1917-1919). During these years, variations of the cross occupied a significant place in Malevich’s work. He already called the “Black Square” an “icon,” thereby indicating the presence of a religious motif in his art. With the appearance of the cross, this motive is further strengthened. At the same time, Malevich experiments with disappearing and emerging pictorial plans, exploring the very limits of the existence of painting, and finally creates “White Square on a White Background” (1918), testifying to the absolute liberation of color and the complete dissolution of form.

In this work, the tendency coming from the impressionists and P. Cezanne really reaches its highest point, after which the next step for painting would be a movement into the “white abyss”, “endless white”, into oblivion. Malevich takes this step, abandoning painting in favor of philosophical and theoretical reflections, believing that at this stage of Suprematism the question of painting disappears, that “painting has long been obsolete, and the artist himself is a prejudice of the past.”

He also explains his cooling towards painting by the fact that “you can’t get with a brush what you can with a pen.” In Malevich’s work “On New Systems in Art” (1919) and others, Suprematism goes beyond painting and becomes the philosophy of modernity, “pure knowledge,” “the beginning of a new culture.” Malevich is actively developing the idea of ​​synthesis of all forms of intellectual and spiritual activity: art, science, philosophy and religion. Suprematism acts simultaneously both as a form of objective knowledge and as a method of world reorganization. It overcomes the limits of art and develops into a universal type of human activity, into a comprehensive way of life creation and life organization.

Malevich has no doubt that “nature will be defeated,” that all countries and the entire globe will be rebuilt. Malevich's departure from painting was not supported by his followers. He finds himself isolated and leaves Moscow for Vitebsk, where he organizes the group “Unovis” (Confirm the gels of the new art, 1920-1922), which included L. Lisitsky, N. Suetin. I. Chashkin, taking the position of “utilitarian suprematism,” which meant a variant of constructivism.

Constructivism emerged as a special movement by the beginning of 1921, but its actual birth occurred earlier and was associated with the work of V.E. Tatlin (1885-1953), who was the main figure in this current. As an original artist, he declared himself with a series of reliefs and counter-reliefs (1914-1916). Created under the influence of French Cubism, they, however, had a significant difference: there was nothing mimetic in them, they did not correspond in any way to real objects and were built from pure geometric shapes.

Tatlin's reliefs had about the same significance for sculpture as Malevich's Suprematism for painting. They expressed the essence of constructivism, in which the traditional categories of form and content give way to the concepts of material and structure. The form remains, but takes on a different nature. In counter-reliefs it arises from space and time. The shape comes closer and practically coincides with the design.

It appeared in such specific forms as festive decoration streets and squares, poster graphics and posters, collages and photomontages, modeling of sports and work clothes, fabric painting, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned constructivists, N. Altman, A. Gan, G. Klutsis, K. Medunetsky, and the Stenberg brothers actively worked there. I. Chashnik et al.

In the fate of the Russian avant-garde important role played by such educational and scientific centers as GINKHUK (1921-1926), INKHUK (1920-1922), VKHUTEMAS-VHUTEIN (1920-1930)

I don’t want to draw conclusions, it’s simple and clear that the Russian avant-garde was a fleeting but unique and completely inimitable phenomenon. There was nonconformism and new wave, but their power cannot be compared with the first wave of the Russian avant-garde of the 20th century.

The Russian avant-garde breaks much more radically with traditional aesthetics and art, creating art that approaches pure, absolute creation. In such art, the artist no longer needs any external model, be it a person, nature or any object. He does not imitate anything, does not copy anything, but shows the ability to create based on certain primary elements, principles, or, like God, from nothing.

The Russian avant-garde most fully realized the desire of Western modernism and the avant-garde to experiment and search for something new. This was facilitated by the fact that he unconditionally accepted modern science, the revolutionary achievements of which became an inspiring example for him in his own creative quests.

The classical Russian avant-garde is a phenomenal phenomenon of the beginning of the last century, covering all areas of art: from painting and architecture to design and printing. And where do they get their inspiration from now? modern masters all over the world, if not from the Russian avant-garde?

Wassily Kandinsky

Was it only the impressionistic “Haystack” by Claude Monet that made the lawyer Wassily Kandinsky take up painting professionally? Probably, the Vologda expedition, during which he was amazed to find himself inside a peasant hut-picture, and the discovery made by world science about the division of the atom, suggesting the “disassembly” of the world into intangible particles, and Wagner’s opera “Lohengrin”, during which Kandinsky clearly saw the colors of sounds. Whatever the reasons, the ex-lawyer went down in the history of world art as a theorist of Russian abstract art, despite the fact that he died a citizen of France.

Kazimir Malevich

A different metaphysics of color, a rejection of the literal perception of reality, a transition to “pure” planes - Malevich’s theory of Suprematism initially did not find understanding among his fellow Cubists, but this did not prevent it from becoming a world concept of avant-garde creativity. The “black square” has become the “zero of forms”, allowing one to escape “from the circle of things”. In addition to fundamental works on the theory of Suprematism and recognized world masterpieces, Malevich’s authorship belongs, for example, to the design of a mug with a square handle - very uncomfortable, but very original.

Vladimir Tatlin

The founder of Russian constructivism was a passionate opponent of Malevich. According to one of the tales, he allegedly knocked the chair out from under the Suprematism theorist and suggested that he sit on color and geometry. Tatlin advocated the connection between art and life, and his revolutionary ideas inspired by the German Dadaists. The Tatlin Tower, although it remained only a project, is still considered today one of the symbols of the world avant-garde. The design of the iron monument, including seven rotating spiral buildings various shapes, was intended as a symbol of the unification of people who ceased to understand each other during construction Tower of Babel. The monument to the Third International also had a practical purpose - members of the Comintern were supposed to work in it.

Pavel Filonov

In an attempt to counter Malevich’s method and Tatlin’s “pictorial anecdote,” in 1914 Filonov and his comrades published “Made Pictures” - a manifesto of analytical art with the main idea of ​​“persistent drawing of each atom.” In 1936, the leader of the Russian avant-garde was accused of “formalism.” At that time, “Filonovism” appeared - a symbol of non-proletarian art. Filonov’s works adorn only the walls of his modest home, and he himself is starving, irregularly receiving the pension of a “third-class researcher.” Pavel Nikolaevich died in the first days of the Leningrad siege on the roof of a house during his regular duty during German air raids. His theories would have a significant influence on subsequent generations of artists and writers.

El Lissitzky

The man who created the new kind creativity in the Land of Soviets – design –
and together with Malevich he developed the foundations of Suprematism and went down in the history of world architecture as the author of horizontal skyscrapers. When Lazar Mordukhovich (real name El Lisitsky) presented his first project in the USSR, it was rejected: it was impossible to build such a thing. The buildings themselves are based on three solid supports with elevator shafts. Later, similar designs were implemented by architects in the Netherlands, Germany, China, and Ecuador. The designers of the Moscow school of management Skolkovo also took advantage of Lisitsky’s ideas.

Varvara Stepanova

Varvara Fedorovna was not only a co-author of many works by her husband Alexander Rodchenko, but also worked independently, exhibiting avant-garde paintings under the pseudonym Varst. Her revolutionary work in the field of textile design for the First Calico Printing Factory is widely known. Sharing the basic ideas of constructivism and considering fashion to be a bourgeois phenomenon, she designed overalls - a new form for workers, which should be functional, simple, and ergonomic. Together with Lyubov Popova, she developed new prints for fabrics. Geometric abstractions replaced petal flowers. In Soviet stores, textiles a la Stepanova were torn off with your hands.

Alexandra Exter

One of the key figures of today’s popular art deco, Alexandra Ekster, also worked together with Popova and Stepanova. She became an author numerous works for the theater. Her costumes for the 1924 science fiction film Aelita were enthusiastically received in Venice and Paris and allowed her to receive an order for a series of puppets, the ideological embodiment of which was inspired by American pop art of the 50s and 60s. It is interesting that Exter was part of a group of fashion designers who developed the uniform for the Red Army - the gray overcoat and the famous Budenovka.

Vladimir Shukhov

More than two hundred towers around the world were built according to the designs of the outstanding Russian engineer and architect Vladimir Shukhov, including the famous television and radio broadcasting tower on Shabolovka. He developed construction technologies for the oil industry, pipelines, and bridge construction. The academician's ideas formed the basis of avant-garde architecture. In particular, he was the first in the world to use hyperboloid shapes and steel mesh shells as the load-bearing structure of a building. Shukhov's solutions are actively used by modern high-tech architects Fuller and Foster.

Vesnin brothers

Most famous project Soviet constructivist architects Alexander, Victor and Leonid Vesnin are considered to have designed the Moscow ZIL Palace of Culture. For the 1930s, the solutions proposed by the architects were distinguished by their boldness and undoubted innovation. At 23 thousand square meters there were auditoriums, spacious halls, a library, a winter garden, and an observatory on the roof. It’s interesting that for individual scenes of “Sorcerers,” which was stylish for its time, it didn’t take long to look for a filming location - the avant-garde interiors created by the Vesnins were ideal. In addition, the brothers designed a large number of original buildings that were built throughout Russia.

ASNOVA

Printing house of the magazine "Ogonyok", 1930-1932

In 1923, in opposition to the constructivists and classical architectural societies, the rationalists created the Association of New Architects (ASNOVA). Representatives of the rational direction of the Russian avant-garde designed functional and laconic buildings of strict forms, paying great attention to the psychological perception of the object. Nikolai Ladovsky became the creative leader of the association. In particular, he proposed building up Moscow along a parabolic pattern. According to his project, the central axis Russian capital coincided with Tverskaya Street, and the city itself, growing to the northwest, would eventually connect with St. Petersburg. In 1928, one of Ladovsky’s students, Georgy Krutikov, presented a sensational project for a floating city-commune. It was not implemented, unlike the project of the Northern River Station in Moscow by Vladimir Krinsky, Ladovsky’s closest associate.

Konstantin Melnikov

Back in the 30s, Konstantin Melnikov received global recognition as a classic of the Russian avant-garde. Melnikov's house in Krivoarbatsky Lane has become a cult object of world architecture. In Moscow, a dozen buildings designed by the architect have survived, all of which compete with each other in originality. The Rusakov House of Culture for employees of the tram depot is crowned with a giant gear protruding from the facade; The central facade of the club of the Svoboda factory on Vyatskaya is made in the form of a parallelepiped. The main entrance to Gorky Park was also designed by Melnikov. It is interesting that his project for Lenin’s sarcophagus in the form of a crystal was recognized as the best by a commission headed by Dzerzhinsky.

Natalia Goncharova

One of the “Amazons of the avant-garde,” Natalya Goncharova, stood at the origins of Russian primitivism. The very first works she exhibited, depicting nude models, were called pornographic, and later paintings were removed from exhibitions for religious reasons. Goncharova’s images are accessible and understandable. Throughout her life, she urged “not to follow tradition, but to live in it,” drawing inspiration from Russian lubok and other types of folk art. In the age of the flourishing of individualism, she propagated its rejection. Tsvetaeva, who was friends with Goncharova, wrote that she works “without disasters”: “always, everywhere and everything.”

Mikhail Larionov

The name of Natalia Goncharova is inextricably linked in the history of the Russian avant-garde with her husband Mikhail Larionov. He starts out as an impressionist, but eventually comes to primitivism. The emergence of Russian abstract art is usually associated with Larionov’s canvas “Glass”. By 1912, he became the ideological inspirer and theoretician of a new direction of non-objective creativity - Rayonism. For almost 10 years, he and his wife would work on sets and costumes for productions of Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons in Paris.

Aristarkh Lentulov

The talent of the classic Russian avant-garde was called cheerful, his temperament was exuberant, and his love of life was captivating. For the unusual coloring of his paintings, his friends jokingly called Aristarkh Vasilyevich Yarila, and his colleagues highly valued his bold, sometimes desperate experiments. Lentulov preferred art to the rank of priest - daring, sunny, overthrowing any authorities and cliches. In an effort to demonstrate the superiority of Russian talent, the master liked to repeat: “We are rebels, and therefore our avant-garde will be cooler!”