2017 marks the centennial anniversary of 1917’s Russian Revolution. To shine a light on this watershed moment in history, The Museum of Modern Art has brought together 260 works of art from its permanent collection, the most extensive collection of Russian avant-garde art outside Russia. The resulting exhibition, A Revolutionary Impulse: The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde, explores the creative arc of artistic innovation that emerged as a result of the Russian Revolution, spanning from 1912 through 1935.
The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde highlights breakthrough developments in the conception of Suprematism and Constructivism, featuring definitive groundbreaking works by by El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Lyubov Popova and Alexandr Rodchenko, among others. Poetry, theater, photography, and film are included as well, to reflect the shift of the Russian of avant-garde to design and utilitarian objects that took place in the 1920s.
The images in this exhibition still feel remarkably fresh and contemporary, a credit to the innovation and purity of design implemented by the artists of this time. To assemble The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde, MoMa hasdrawn equally from all its departments, a first for the museum, allowing the exhibition to trace the progress of this movement across all mediums and to present a comprehensive, unified and integrated look at its art and design.
A Revolutionary Impulse: The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde is on view at MoMa through March 12. We have included a few highlights from the exhibition above and below.
Untitled (circa 1916-17) by Lyubov Popova. Gouache on board, 19 1/2 x 15 ½ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Riklis Collection of McCrory Corporation.
Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying (1915) by Kazimir Malevich. Oil on canvas, 22 7/8 x 19 inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquisition confirmed in 1999 by agreement with the Estate of Kazimir Malevich and made possible with funds from the Mrs. John Hay Whitney Bequest (by exchange).
Proun 19D ( circa 1920-1921) by El Lissitzky. Gesso, oil, varnish, crayon, colored papers, sandpaper, graph paper, cardboard, metallic paint, and metal foil on plywood, 38 3/8 x 38 ¼ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Katherine S. Dreier Bequest.
Rayonism, Blue-Green Forest (1913) by Natalia Goncharova. Oil on canvas, 21 1/2 x 19 ½ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Riklis Collection of McCrory Corporation.
Symphony of a Big City (1928) by Vladimir Stenberg and Georgii Stenberg. Lithograph, 41 x 27 ¼ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Marshall Cogan Purchase Fund.
Pioneer with a Bugle (1930) by Aleksandr Rodchenko. Gelatin silver print, 9 1/4 x 7 1/16 inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the Rodchenko Family.
The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov. 35mm film (black and white, silent). Acquired on exchange with Gosfilmofund.
The Factory and the Bridge (1913) by Olga Rozanova. Oil on canvas, 32 3/4 x 24 ¼ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Riklis Collection of McCrory Corporation.
Cover design for Novyi LEF: Journal of the Left Front of the Arts, no. 1. (1928) by Aleksandr Rodchenko. Letterpress, page: 9 1/16 x 6 inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of The Judith Rothschild Foundation.
