New Art for a New Era: Malevich's Visions of the Russian Avant-Garde

This work looks at the remarkable body of work that was collected from 1919 under the guidance of the artist Kazimir Malevich. Malevich's idea was to create a new museum called the Museum of Fine Art Culture, which would set the work of his contemporaries beside French and Egyptian art and Russian icons, thereby providing an educational tool for the masses. Within just a few years an extraordinary collection of avant-garde art was gathered together which was eventually incorporated into the State Russian Museum, forming a highly important record of developments in art from the turn of the century to the 1920s. This book is a testament to the high energy and radical artistic achievements of the years leading up to and into the Revolution, spanning the period 1905-26. Many of the paintings show the rapid assimilation of the new movements in French art: Impressionism and post-Impressionism were adapted in strong and colourful still life paintings, portraits and landscapes by Mashkov, Larionov, Lentulov and others, which equally reveal a depth of sensitivity to Russian folk art which continued to inspire artists of the avant garde. Experimentation and innovation continued, Goncharova, Popova and Ekster producing dynamic works picking up on the themes of Cubism and Futurism. The pace of the artistic world was such that before the Revolution, Malevich had arrived at complete abstraction - as exemplified by his "Red Square" of 1915. His desire to "break free of nature's grasp and build a new world" epitomizes the spirit of optimism that prevailed in the post-Revolution period. His Suprematism experiments, as well as abstract works by Rodchenko, Puni and Matiushin, reveal the heights that the avant garde has reached. With around 120 pieces by all the leading artists of the period, including highly individual works by Chagall, Filonov, Kandinsky, Petrov-Vodkin and Tatlin, this work reveals the distinctive and highly varied elements that characterize this period in world art. The accompanying text is written by the curatorial staff of the State Russian Museum and the Barbican Art Gallery.