"Somebody 1917" in the Tretyakov gallery on the Crimean Shaft
ARTinvestment.RU   25 октября 2017

The exhibition presents 117 picturesque, 27 drawings, 3 sculptures and archival documents, which unites them as belonging to 1917

the State Tretyakov gallery
until January 14 2018
Moscow, Krimsky Val, 10, halls 60-61

the Name of the exhibition were the words of Velimir Khlebnikov finished my calculations about the time of the fall of States, published in 1912 in the collection "slap in the face to public taste". At the time, his contemporaries did not see the saying of the poet, but in a few years it proved to be prophetic.

the Exhibition poses the question of the place of art in a pivotal era. The aim of the project — moving away from the stereotypes, to get closer to understanding the complicated picture of the critical period in the life of Russia. Art in front of an unknown reality — so supervisors conditionally designated topic, choosing a new approach to its presentation. They refused as from the usual iconographic principle — display of works depicting revolutionary events, and the traditional convergence of political revolution with the avant-garde art.

the Exhibition was prepared for more than three years. Selected the best, iconic works created predominantly in 1917. They demonstrate a representative "slice" of time, show how variously reacted to the events most significant representatives of the epoch. This polyphony — one of the characteristics of time.

the Variety of creative expressions, the brightness and the ambiguity of artistic statements testify to the rare situation when the art had not experienced pressure from both the state and the market, was in a state of instability and collapse. The old order has exhausted itself and a new one was formulated. In this context, art became aware of itself not a form of "reflection of reality", not the product of ideology, and the creative power, ideas and social projects, most of which remained monuments of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Documentary section that complements the complex pattern of time. Reality is shown as it appeared before the eyes of artists: it is not subjected to analysis and study, contradictory, unclear. War, demonstrations, successive political leaders, unsettled way of life, Queuing for bread, suffering, hatred and enmity — this pattern occurs in the photographs, is reflected in the true testimony. The exhibits convey the atmosphere of inevitability of the coming dramatic events. Curators of the exhibition intentionally avoided the evaluation of the review of the works, the exposition, offering to draw conclusions on their own.

the Exhibition includes several sections: "Myths of the people," "City and citizens", "Age", "Away from this reality!", "Vague", "the Utopia of the new world", "Chagall and the Jewish question".

exhibit the work of artists like-мифотворцев, reflects on the future of Russia andutopians-беспредметников, proclaiming the creative transformation of the world. Figurative painting represented by the works of B. Grigoriev, B. Kustodieva, M. Nesterov, K. Petrov-Водкина, Z. Serebryakova and pointless — works of Kandinsky, I. Clune, K. Malevich, L. Popova, A. Rodchenko, Olga Rozanova and other avant-garde artists.

section "Myths about the people" reveals the most important for Russian culture theme, which during the revolutionary years has acquired a special significance: "the mystery of the people's soul". From what painters have given their collective character, depended on how they saw the future of Russia. In the understanding of M. V. Nesterov is the people-богоносец and national revival is possible by strengthening of the Christian faith. Z. E. Serebryakova, K. S. Petrov-Водкин idealized image of the peasant, whose labor on the land is the source of its morality and beauty. In the paintings of B. D. Grigoriev, on the contrary, underlined the negative side of people's nature. Equally ambiguous were evaluated by artists and signs of the city, and images of the citizens.

"Away from this reality!" — so you can identify the approach to the art of those who in the years of the revolution deliberately chose motifs and genres, far from the modern perspective, devoid of drama, marked by a special attraction. Artistic escapism manifested in-разному: some sought refuge in their "pure" art, strove to achieve perfection in the art of painting. Others have done custom work, catering to the tastes of customers. The popularity of received works fantastic and retrospective nature were in fashion and erotic stories. So, this page presents rarely exhibited the "Book of the Marquise" — anthology of risque texts of the eighteenth century, collected and illustrated by K. Somov.

Section "Utopia of the new world" is devoted to non-objective painting, which by 1917 numbered only a few years: in late 1915-го K. S. Malevich published the Suprematist, in 1917,-м was established a society "Supremus". Initially, the new direction was seen as a liberation of painting from any mnesticheskih purposes, but under the influence of social upheaval in the declarations of Malevich and his associates there are new accents. The group of artists became the mouthpiece of revolutionary ideas and aspirations, proclaiming the identity of the creative radicalism and revolution of the spirit. Pointlessness has become a metaphor of new life, in which "things" and "old mind" no longer has power to enslave the human spirit, limit his freedom.

Innovative art M. Z. Chagall, N. I. Altman, I. B. Rybak and other artists presented in section "Marc Chagall and the Jewish question". It was evidence of the rise of Jewish culture that took place in a situation of revolutionary change. Young masters actualized national traditions, mixing them with the latest discoveries of the European and Russian painting.

the exposition of the complete works of 1919-1921, when he was made the first attempts to comprehend historical developments. Famous paintings Kustodiev, Petrov-Водкина, Juon, which is customary to begin the history of Soviet art, was not unambiguous Eulogy of revolution: painters resorted to conventional, allegorical form, involving a double interpretation. Subsequent history has demonstrated, the movement to realistic thinking.

the album-каталог, which included articles by the exhibition curators and researchers of art and culture of the era. The project is accompanied by an extensive educational programme, including lectures, thematic guided tours, film screenings.

Members: 34 meetings: 18 4 Russian and foreign museums, 11 Russian and 1 foreign private collection@the semicolon among the participants: the State Tretyakov gallery, State Russian Museum, museums of Moscow, St.-Петербурга, Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Ekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Pskov, Rostov the Great; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; tel-Авивский Museum of art; the archives of Moscow and St-Петербурга.
Supervisors: I. A. Vakar, E. V. Voronovich.

Source: press-релиз GTG