CUBISM

 

 

 

Only in recent years Filonov's art received international recognition. The images produced by his mind contributed significantly to the intellectual growth of avant-garde in Russia. His artistic character was founded upon some uncompromising ideals to which he was committed, as he demonstrated in the early years of his work by not accepting the ideology of the Academy of Art in St.Petersburg. Filonov left the academy in 1910 and chose to ignore the mainstream current of art to further develop his personal style. Through his art, Pavel Filonov sought to observe and understand the forces that comprise the human existence, both the internal and external factors. He aimed to achieve a systematic knowledge of the world and it's human inhabitants. Filonov's paintings were in effect not mere images with meaning; -- his work went beyond that -- they were manifestations of intellectual concepts, something derived from his theory and ideology. The viewer of the art was to observe a "projective intellect" within the imagery. "A picture suggests to the mind of its viewer a single conclusion, which cannot be translated into words." After the 1917 revolution, Filonov worked to complete the development of his "analytical painting". The changes in the Russian society brought inspiration to the Futurist artists. Filonov dedicated much of his time and effort to artistic research and creativity, working on his paintings as much as 18 hours a day. In 1925, having found many followers and supporters for his style of expression, he founded a school in Petrograd, which was shut down by the government in 1928, together with all other private artistic and cultural organizations. In "Ideology of Analytical Art" Filonov explains what he expects from his student artists (and, of course, from himself): A work of art is any piece of work made with the maximum tension of analytical madness [sdelannost' -- The word is Filonov's neologism, derived from the Russian verb "sdelat'," -- to make, to do. Used in its perfectiv form, the verb denotes the completion of action]. The only professional criterion for evaluating a piece of work is its madness. In their profession the artist and his disciple must love all that is "made well" and hate all that is "not made." In analytical thought the process of study becomes an integral part of the creative process for the piece being made. The more consciously and forcefully the artist works on his intellect, the stronger the effect the finished work has on the spectator. Each brushstroke, each contact with the picture, is a precise recording through the material and in the material of the inner psychical process taking place in the artist, and the whole work is the entire recording of the intellect of the person who made it.

 

Art is the reflection through material or the record in material of the struggle for the formation of man's higher intellectual condition. Art's efficacy vis-à-vis the spectator is equal to this; i.e., it both makes him superior and summons him to become superior. The artist-proletarian's obligation is not only to create works that answer the demands of today, but also to open the way to intellect into the distant future. The artist-proletarian must act on the intellect of his comrade proletarians not only through what they can understand at their present stage of development. Work on content is work on form and vice versa. The more forcefully the form is expressed, the more forcefully the content is expressed. Form is made by persistent line. Every line must be made. Every atom must be made; the whole work must be made and adapted. Think persistently and accurately over every atom of the work you are doing. Make every atom persistently and accurately. Introduce persistently and accurately into every atom the color you have studied -- so that it enters the atom just as heat enters the body or so that it is linked organically with the form, just as in nature a flower's cellulose is linked with its color.

 

CUBISM

The artist's fascination with construction allowed her to join other constructivists in absolute rejection of easel painting. She gave up her own painting and turned entirely to industrial design (1921). A year before her untimely death, Popova was appointed head of the Design Studio at the First State Textile Print Factory in Moscow. She excelled in industrial design of clothing and fabrics and produced posters, book designs, ceramics, and photomontages.Popova participated in many famous avant-garde exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Petrograd): Jack of Diamonds (Moscow, 1914 and 1916), Tramway V / First Futurist Exhibition of Paintings (Petrograd 1915), 0.10 / Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings (Petrograd 1915), The Store (Moscow, 1916), 5 x 5 = 25 (with Rodchenko, Stepanova, Vesnin and Exter), and others.  In addition, she was successful as a set designer for theatre. Her first scenic designs were for Tairov's production of Romeo and Juliet (1920). Even though these designs were not used by Tairov, Popova's interest in stage design did not wane. The following year, she created the sets for Lunacharsky's The Locksmith and the Chancellor and in 1922 for Vsevolod Meyerhold's productions of Crommelynck's Magnanimous Cuckold. She continued her collaboration with Meyerhold, preparing sets for S. Tretiakov's Earth in Turmoil (1923). Her life was cut short in 1924 when she contracted scarlet fever and died at the age of 35. [E.P. and A.B.]

 

 

 

Pavel Nikolaevich Filonov (1883-1941)

Pavel Filonov was born in Moscow. Early orphaned, he moved to St. Petersburg where he took art lessons. From 1908 to 1910 he attended the Academy of Arts, but was expelled in 1910. In 1911 he came in contact with the Union of Youth and contributed to its exhibitions. Next year travelled to Italy and France. In 1913 designed the stage set for Vladimir Maiakovskii's tragedy Vladimir Maiakovskii. Over the next two years he worked as an illustrator of futurist booklets, published his transrational poem The Chant of Universal Flowering (Propoved' o porosli mirovoi), and started developing his artistic theories, the so-called Ideology of Analytical Art and the Principle of Madeness (see extracts below). In 1919 exhibited at the First State Free Exhibition of Works of Art in Petrograd. In 1923 he became a professor at the Academy of Arts and an associate of the Institute of Artistic Culture (Inkhuk). In the same year he published the "Declaration of Universal Flowering" in the journal Zhizn' Iskusstva. Two years later, Filonov established the Collective of Masters of Analytical Art (known today as Filonov School). Because of continuing attacks and ostracism, Filonov's exhibition planned for 1929-30 at the Russian Museum did not open. In 1932 he contributed to the exhibition Artists of the RSFSSR over the last 15 years. His life and creativity was cut short by the war. He died of pneumonia during the siege of Leningrad in 1941. In 1967 he had a posthumous exhibition in Novosibirsk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CUBISM

Natal'ia Sergeevna Goncharova (1881-1962)

 

Goncharova was born in Negaevo, in Tula Province on June 16, 1881 and died in Paris on October 17, 1962. A descendant of the great poet Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin's wife, she was the daughter of Sergei Goncharov, an architect, and Ekaterina Il'ichna Beliaeva, but grew up in her grandmother's house in the Tula Province. She attended the Fourth Gymnasium for Girls in Moscow and in 1898 entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture as a sculpture student. At the school Goncharova met Mikhail Larionov who became her lifelong companion and encouraged her to leave sculpture for painting. Goncharova was attracted briefly to Impressionism and Symbolism, but her participation in the "Golden Fleece" exhibition introduced her to the styles of Gauguin, Matisse, Cezanne and Toulouse-Lautrec whose art would influence her development. In a series depicting the favorite theme of the Russian peasants working the land, this influence is revealed in both color and the approach to form. In 1910 Goncharova became one of the founding members of the "Jack of Diamond" group but later went her separate way to establish the "Donkey's Tail" group with Larionov. In 1912 the group held their first exhibition with more than 50 works from Goncharova, executed in a number of different styles. Goncharova was a connoisseur of lubki, Russian popular prints, and the titles of her works clearly betray this influence. Her use of conventions of icon painting is particularly evident in the Evangelists

In 1913 she entered her most productive period, painting dozens of canvases. In her Neo-primitive works she continued to explore the styles of Eastern and traditional art forms, but also experimented with Cubo-futurism (see The Cyclist, painted in 1912-13), and adopted Larionov new style of Rayonism  Her famous Cats (1911-12) and Green and Yellow Forest (1912) show how confidently she was able to work in the Rayonist style, developing her own artistic idiom independently of Larionov. In August 1913, Goncharova attracted international attention exhibiting over 700 paintings in an one-woman show . During this period she was, like Larionov, associated with the literary avant-garde. In 1914 Goncharova visited Paris to make designs for Diaghilev's production of Le coq d'or. Her designs, based on Eastern and Russian folk art, took Paris by storm. She also held a joint exhibition with Larionov at the Galerie Paul Guillaume. She returned to Moscow after the beginning of the war. At the request of Diaghilev, Larionov and Goncharova left Russia for Switzerland in June 1915. In 1916 they accompanied Diaghilev to Spain and Italy. Spain left an everlasting impression on Goncharova. She was especially moved by the bearing of Spanish women in their mantillas. From that moment on, Espagnoles became her favorite subject. In 1919 Larionov and Goncharova settled permanently in Paris; they were granted citizenship in 1938. During the Paris period, Goncharova became famous for her theatrical designs. In the 1920s she developed her own idiom for her series Espagnoles and for many paintings with bathers. Following Diaghilev's death in 1929, Goncharova's creative powers declined only to be briefly revitalized by the public rediscovery of Rayonism in 1948. After Larionov's stroke in 1950, Goncharova's health also started to decline, and although the couple married in 1955, their last years were spent in poverty. [S.C.]

 

 

 

 

CUBISM

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich: Taking in the Harvest (1911-1912)

 

Taking in the Harvest, also known as Taking in the Rye, is one of the most "radical" expressions of the Cubo-Futurist movement (Gray 150). Though short-lived (lasting perhaps for a year or two), this movement is noteworthy for two main reasons: Cubo-Futurism was a movement unique to Russia. Most of the Russian artists of the period passed through the Cubo-Futurist phase before moving on to completely non-objective art.

Combining elements of French Cubism, Italian Futurism, and Neo-primitivism, Cubo-Futurism was more or less a natural stepping stone for Russian art as it began to free itself of European influences and once again established itself as a leading force in the development of the world art. As one of the most creative and inspired artists of the Russian avant-garde, Malevich was well qualified to become one of the leaders of the Cubo-Futurist movement. Taking in the Harvest expresses particularly well both Malevich's artistic temperament and the essence of the Cubo-Futurism.

Oil on canvas, 72 x 74.5 cm. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

 The color of the painting may be what strikes viewers most forcibly. The unnatural, bright metallic coloring is unexpected and, compared to other works of the time, perhaps a little shocking. If the color isn't surprising enough, however, the geometric quality of the figures certainly is -- at least from a "realistic" point of view. Though the painting is unusual, there is nothing incongruous or inharmonious about its form and composition. In fact, a kind of "Cubo-dynamic rhythm" reigns here; one senses that the figures and the bales of rye depicted on the canvas really belong there. Every movement, every bend of a body, every curve fits -- aesthetically as well as metaphorically. The simplicity of the work is also remarkable and, together with other Russian neo-primitivist paintings, harkens back to folk art and the icon painting tradition. Even the absence of perspective (except as indicated by the scale of figures) is reminiscent of icons. The impetuosity and the energy of Taking in the Harvest promises to propel the Russian avant-garde art in general, and Malevich's work in particular, into the unexplored dimension of abstract or non-representational art. [C.B.]