Artist of the week: Yefim royak — avant-garde, novicevic, Soviet artist
ARTinvestment.RU   06 марта 2018

A student of Chagall and Malevich pan, once the youngest artist in the UNOVIS, roach eventually made a successful career in the Soviet system of art and industrial design. And very few people knew that in his heart he to the end remained faithful to the ideas of the avant-garde youth

the Life and work of Efim Roja surprisingly little studied in Russia. The album, dedicated to his work, was released abroad after the death. During the life of roach feared to tell you about the avant-garde youth. I would say that the pre-war biography what-то detail looks rather mythologized. However, there are pictures, testimonies, indisputable facts of exhibitions UNOVIS studying Malevich. Fortunately, at the end of life roach all-таки left memories. Later they were handed over to the widow of artist David Simanovich, who published them in "the Chagall collection".

Yefim Moiseevich royak (rayak) was born on 12 (25) Dec 1906 in Vitebsk in the family of a Jewish tailor of Moses Roja. And may be it a craftsman, if in 1919 in the house of the tailor are not logged in Marc Chagall. He became interested in children's drawings of fish and animals on the stove, asked who drew, and invited thirteen-year-old boy to learn. He gave lessons, then took his master Yuri Moiseevich pan. On the recommendation of Chagall in 1919-м Yefim royak entered the Vitebsk people's art College (WNHU). In 1920-м occurred a revolution in academic circles of the school, Chagall lost influence and became Kazimir Malevich. Around the founder of Suprematism gathered a group of like-minded people — "Confirmation of new iskusstva" (UNOVIS), which came fourteen and Efim. Roach became the youngest member of — on the well-known General picture is particularly striking. But the age in art is not a hindrance. Since the early 1920@- his track record appear in Vitebsk an exhibition of UNOVIS (1921), the First Russian art exhibition in Berlin (1922). In 1922 the school, which by this time Vitebsk artistic-практическим Institute was closed, and rojak after Malevich and artists of UNOVIS went to conquer Petrograd. There from 1924-го to 1926 he was an Intern and later a research fellow at formally-теоретическом Department Ginhuke (State Institute of artistic culture).

Work Rojaka the beginning of 1920-х made under the influence of Malevich, clearly show the adopted methods and stylistic peculiarities of the teacher, but have their own individuality. Suprematist forms in the paintings Roja are more decorative in nature and are part of the composition, and not the fundamental basis as his teacher. In the late 1920-х the artist returned to figurative painting and working from life, made a series of watercolor landscapes.

In 1927-м after the closing Ginhuke as an independent research institution, roach moved to Moscow. In 1928-м passedfirst personal exhibition at the State Institute for construction and cement factories. Since the second half of 1930-х have developed a large number of ornamental-оформительских projects: did the Soviet pavilions at international exhibitions in Paris (1936) and in new-Йорке (1939), designed the metro station "Paveletskaya", participated in the design of the Moscow residential development and in collaboration with El Lissitzky created a competitive project of textile factory. From 1934-го worked as a designer in the architectural Studio of the brothers A. A. and V. A. Vesnin.

Yefim Moiseevich went through the war, repeatedly been awarded, and participated in the Victory Parade.

After the war, in 1945-1948, he worked in all-Union research Institute of glass, where he designed the lights for the stations of the Moscow metro. Knowledge and skills obtained in Ginhuke, radically influenced the formation of Raaka as decorator, architect and designer for glass and are very useful in the work. In 1948 he returned to work in the workshop Vesnin brothers, and in 1954-м was appointed chief artist of the Kiev district of Moscow and worked in this position for 20 years.

that he continues to be creative, few people knew. Roach not participated in exhibitions, was not close to the circle of unofficial art, but do not show your work, even friends. In fact, worked for the soul, secretly, "on the table".

among the most recognizable works of Yefim Roja are collages, which he did throughout his creative life. "Self-portrait" (1925) is a Prime example of the early period in the technique of collage. In the second half of 1930-х collages acquire the features of constructivist minimalism combined with the smartness and richness of colors, characteristic of most of his works. In 1950-х roach resorts to introduce "secondary material" — pieces of newspaper, scraps of magazines and photos. To the late period of activity collage eclipsed and supplanted other artistic formats in the artist's work. Sixty-семьдесят years, he again took geometric abstraction, appealed to the ideas of his youth.

a Special place in the artist's work is portraits, created throughout life. These paintings of friends and colleagues, captured in the background or surrounded by recognizable motifs of his work. So, Malevich, looking at us as if from another world is in the cycle cubist-супрематических forms and remarkable figure of a peasant with an axe, standing on a vertical line in the foreground. The feeling running through the credits, running time, fast changing trends of the twentieth century and continues to live the creativity of artists after their death.

Yefim Moiseevich royak died 30 September 1987 in Moscow. In 1991 personal exhibition Roja were held in the cities of Germany. His work has been exhibited at the exhibitions of the artists of the circle of Malevich. In particular, in 2015 it willthe works can be seen in the Tretyakov gallery in the exhibition "Under the sign of Malevich". Besides the Tretyakov gallery, the work Roja are stored in the Russian Museum and the Belarusian state Museum.

What about market prices? A reliable body of information on the basis of exemplary public (ie open auction) sales today is still no. Known to only a few episodes. In 2008 (the peak of prices for Russian art) on the most expensive auction, "Setbase", its mid-size collage was sold for $10 000. "The Magnum of ARS" in 2011 exhibited small abstract gouache from the collection of Nicholas Hardzhieva. Estimate was $ 2000-2500, the data about sale, maybe its not bought. Of more relevant information: we have for the Auction AI, the collage is three times smaller a year ago, was sold for 42 500 rubles. That is a little more than $700 after the fall of the ruble. What else can you remember? In the gallery market two years ago for oil Roja requested $30 000. But it's also not very relevant information, because usually the first price is announced with a large margin for bargaining down. Where else can one see rates? Deal with pencil drawings that appear in the database, the calculation can not be taken. They were sold at small auctions abroad and, most importantly, for real do not like. So intuitively we can say: the guidelines for the collage — in the range of $1000, per original schedule — from $2000 painting — from $4000-6000. This is from the things the late (1970-х years) and with many other caveats. Too much in practice depends on the plot, period of creation, size, flawlessly installed authenticity. If things early, they can cost significantly more. In General, an interesting artist, material shortages, all the known prices of transactions to say that he is rather underestimated. We have this week sold at auction collage Roja — also please note.

Alexandra Danilova, AI
Vladimir Bogdanov, AI

Sources: artinvestment.ru, chagal-vitebsk.com, w.histrf.ru, russian-bazaar.com, artinvestment.ru