LEON BAKST: Beautiful Vasilissa and the Monster EXHIBITION OF RUSSIAN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE FOREWORD BY WILLIAM HENRY FOX WITH INTRODUCTION AND CATALOGUE BY CHRISTIAN BRINTON THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM 1923 Copyright, 1923, by Christian Brinton NATALIA GONCHAROVA: Costume Design, La Liturgie Lent by Mrs. Elise M. Stern FOREWORD HILE the war left in its wake much to deplore, it had one happy result for this country. It brought to us the products of European culture in volume and richness hitherto undreamed of. Since 1914, the Brooklyn Museum has afforded the opportunity of placing Europe’s best contemporary art before the New York public. Sweden, France, Switzerland, and England, have successively exhibited in these galleries the work of their most talented artists. Again a rare privilege is placed within reach of the American public. For the first time 1s Russian art shown in the United States in anything ap- proaching its true strength and unity. In the current exhibi- tion, twenty-three artists have united to show their work side by side for the purpose of indicating to the American people the significance of contemporary Russian art. The Brooklyn Museum has the honour to welcome these disinterested pioneers, and to thank them for their gracious co-operation. The Mu- seum likewise tenders grateful thanks to the French Govern- ment, to Mr. Edward Duff Balken, Mrs. George Blumenthal, Mr. Robert Winthrop Chanler, Mr. William Astor Chanler, Mrs. Clarkson Cowl, Miss Elsie de Wolfe, Miss Katherine S. Dreier, Miss Helen Frick, Mrs. John W. Garrett, Mr. Morris Gest, Mr. Raymond Henniker-Heaton, Mr. John R. Hunter, Mrs. Otto H. Kahn, Mrs. Thomas L. Leeming, Mr. Adolph Lewisohn, Mrs. Philip Lewisohn, Mrs. Benjamin Moore, Mr. James N. Rosenberg, Mr. Robert Schwarzenbach, Mrs. Elise M. Stern, Mr. William S. Stimmel, Mrs. Wiliam K. Vanderbilt, Mrs. Efrem Zimbalist, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Worces- ter Art Museum, the Société Anonyme, the Kingore Galleries, M. Knoedler & Co., the New Gallery, and the Galleries of Mrs. Albert Sterner. To Dr. Christian Brinton the Museum expresses grateful appreciation of valued assistance, and for the notable catalogue of the exhibition, with cover design by Vadim Chernov. WiuuramM Henry Fox. NATALIA GONCHAROVA: Oriental Woman Lent by Dr. Christian Brinton INTRODUCTION By CHRISTIAN BRINTON Il w y a pas de style Russe; il y a Vame Russe RANSPORTED to us upon the magic carpet of circum- stance, exotic of aspect and passionate in appeal, is the current display of Russian painting and sculpture. Whatever else it may achieve, Slavonic aesthetic expression offers a vivid epitome of the national consciousness. A thousand years of shifting pageantry, the successive ascendancy of influences now Byzantine, now Mongolian, now frankly European, have altered the outward semblance, but not the inner spirit of Russian art. Emerging from an austere, hieratic, or sumptu- ously boyarian background, Slavonic painting and sculpture look toward a future not less eloquent or less typical. The art that unfolds itself before us upon these walls is strictly contemporary. Though its roots sink deep into the ages, this work is of to-day, and fully reflects actual condi- tions and tendencies. Despite the tragic vicissitudes of the last few years, each of the exhibitors is still living, and several of them have fortunately reached our shores. You thus have before you not Russian art in retrospect, but Russian art as it is currently seen in Moscow, Berlin, Venice, or Paris. The magic carpet that bears the plastic and colouristic message of Russia around the world, has for the moment descended into our midst. Modern Russian art begins, you doubtless recall, with the secession from the Imperial Academy, in 1863, of an aspiring band of radicals headed by Ivan Kramskoy, who rebelled against the sterile formalism of routine instruction, and de- manded more vital themes from which to work. Within the ensuing decade they organized a thriving society known as the Peredvizhniki, or Wanderers, and carried their programme triumphantly throughout the country. Realism, and an ardent nationalism were their watchwords, and for a generation their position remained unchallenged. The foremost exponent of Russian realism is the masterful Cossack, Ilya Repin, and in a measure the mantle of Repin has descended upon the shoulders of one of his favourite pu- pils, Nikolai Fechin. In its essential features the art of Fechin is Repinesque. You note in these portraits and char- acter studies from the picturesque, semi-Tatar district about Kazan, provincial types in all their primitive verity. Fechin in fact came from Kazan, and it was to Kazan that he returned after his *~prentice days at the Imperial Academy to depict that life and scene for which he evinces such abiding sympathy. During the years when Fechin pursued his studies at the modest art school in his native city, and passed the summer months sketching in remote, outlying village, there used to forgather at the home of Alexander Benois in the Oulitza Glinki, a coterie of artists and intellectual aristocrats to whom the name of Repin was anathema. They abhorred realism. They betrayed scant love for peasant or proletarian, and passed unforgetable nights in feverish discussion, or strolling along the Neva quays singing arias from Tchaikoy- sky’s Queen of Spades, while the chimes from the cathedral tower of St. Peter and St. Paul sonorously chanted the hours. The sensitive, penetrant intellect of the group was Benois himself, its dynamic impetus derived from Diaghilev, and its chief artistic asset was the ever facile and fecund Bakst. They perforce had to have their medium of publicity, and in due course appeared Mir Iskusstva, the early issues of which con- tained a series of spirited onslaughts upon the excessive xenphobia and provinciality of the day. To the undying disgust of Stasov and the old guard, Mir Iskusstva, and the art exhibitions organized under its auspices, exalted that which was exclusive, eclectic, and European rather than Slavic. ‘We are a generation hungry for beauty,” pro- claimed Diaghilev, and beauty they discovered in the sophis- ticated eroticism of Somov, the rococo irreality of Lanceray, and the delicately traced vignettes of Dobujinsky. Led by Benois, who had lived at Versailles, they were one and all retrospectivists. They harked back to Sévres and Saxon figurine, to the Empire, Louis Seize, Peterhof, the shaded seclusion of Pavlovsk park, and the picturesque and appealing charm of Old St. Petersburg. They did their best, in short, to disguise, to de-Russianize themselves. Yet the consuming energy and ambition of Diaghilev proved the salvation of Mir Iskusstva, and of these young dilettanti from the College May. Relinquishing the review, which had proved a costly adventure, Diaghilev turned his attention to the stage, where he proceeded to fulfill his destiny as the supreme artist-impressario of theatrical history. Decorators rather than painters, the members of Mir Iskusstva likewise achieved their chief successes in scenic production. Here Bakst disclosed the passionate splendours of Cleopatra and Scheherazade, Benois the poignant fantasy of Petrushka, Anisfeld a luxuriant chromatic imagination, and Roerich the smouldering intensity and dramatic suspense of the Polov- etzky Stan scene from Prince Igor. When Diaghilev raised the curtain upon the initial representations of the Ballet Russe at the Chatelet in 1909, he revealed to Western eyes a new art form. The exhibition of Russian painting seen at the Grand Palais three years previously, failed to enthuse the Pari- sian public as did the sudden apparition of the Ballet Russe. Here was a veritable synthesis of the arts—fresh, daring, replete with plastic and colouristic fervour, and fused by a truly creative imagination into a single, organic ensemble. A salutary antidote to the general spirit of Petrograd preciosity, which lingered like a frail blossom on the brink of an abyss, was shortly found in mellow, full-flavoured Moscow. If Petrograd is classic and apollonian, Moscow is joyous, vital, and genuinely dionysian. It was at the private theatre of the merchant prince Mamontov, a veritable Muscovite Metzenat, that latter-day Russian stage décor first came into being, and it was in this same fruitful atmosphere that con- temporary Russian painting received its most significant stim- ulus. Vrubel it was who flung his resplendent, demon-haunted fantasy against the dull reality of the Peredvizhniki, and in the train of Vrubel and his Swan Princess followed Korovin, the sumptuous colourist, Aleksandr Golovin, and a score of lesser lights. The drift away from actuality was synchronic. For, just as the flaming vision of Vrubel soon overcast Repin and the realists of brush and palette, so the conscious scenic artistry of Meyerhold marked a similar reaction against the zealous illusionism of Stanislavsky and his colleagues of the Khudozhestvenny Teatr. The first decade of the present century in Moscow was a period of inspiring ferment. While a few of the local artists were admitted into the rarefied ranks of the Mir Iskusstva, the majority remained faithful to the Soyuz, or banded to- gether in rebel groups and under frankly insurgent banners. They welcomed the French modernists long before their Petro- grad brethren were aware of their existence, and it is im- possible to overlook the influence upon the present generation of Moscow artists of such epoch-making figures as Cézanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Henri-Matisse, Picasso, and the Futurists. Led by the ardent progressives, Larionov, Goncharova, Gonchalovsky, Tatlin, and Burliuk, the younger set employed the most rudimentary tactics in order to place themselves and their theories before the public. Larionov paraded the Tverskaya arrayed in cubist costume, while the dynamic Burliuk displayed his canvases on street corners, to the ac- companiment of eloquent explanatory comments by himself. Various societies such as the Blue Rose, the Target, the Donkey’s Tail, and the Budnovy Valyet, or Knave of Diamonds, sprang into being, the latter surviving the rest and commanding most consideration and support. It was all vastly different from formal, patrician Petrograd, but despite a deal of gratuitous clamour, the participants were sincere, and possessed of unquestioned talent. The real spirit of Moscow was not, however, reflected in such sporadic manifestations. And just as Petrograd, the “Palmyra of the North,” discloses in Leon Bakst an epitome of suave, sensuous neo-Hellenism, so in Sergei Sudeykin Moscow has produced an artist who depicts as none other the geniality, the gusto, and the inextinguishable love of life that typify the city by the Moskva. Yet the art of Sudeykin, like that of Bakst, is retrospective in spirit. It glances back to the picturesque period of 1830 and 1840, to Gogol and to Ostrovsky. And now and then, with a passion and imagina- tion which bespeak the poet that lurks at the heart of every genuine satirist, it reaches toward the sumptuous realm stretching away to South and East—the land of Gipsey, Georg- ian, and Bashkir. The pageant of Russian art reveals no more characteristic figure than this same diverting Sudeykin, of whom Benois once said, “‘il est venu au monde en dansant.”’ Possessing such a heritage racial and aesthetic, it is scant wonder that the Russian artist should feel impelled to draw upon his incomparable native patrimony. ‘The remote, aus- tere varengian, Nikolai Roerich, leads us magically back to the pale half light of history. Natalia Groncharova and Vadim Chernov evoke for us the mystic spirit of saint and apostle, which gleams from ikon or the frescoed wall of cathedral and monastery. And Larionov, once he lays aside a doctrinaire modernism, delves into the treasure-troves of popular fancy, bringing forth, as in his Contes Russes, images that recall more than all else the creations of the genial fabulist Krylov. The sheer fecundity of these artists is amazing. They discover effective motifs anywhere and everywhere—at rural fétes and fairs, in the quaint signs of provincial shop and traktir, and the crudely tinted toys of simple peasant child. In some guise or other this varied and vigorous stream of form and colour finds its way into the more conscious production of the pro- fessional artist. And it is the Moscow painters who most fully appreciate its essential beauty and validity. For Moscow has ever remained closest to the national ideals, and the creative aspirations, of the great mass of the Russian people. The achievement of the foregoing men and their colleagues of brush and chisel brings our slender survey of contemporary Russian art down to the beginning of the war and the conse- quent dissolution of the old order. The period from the forma- tion of the Peredvizhniki to the advent of the Mir Iskusstva, and the more virile and autonomous Moscow group, was, as we have noted, a period of sober, pedestrian endeavour. The decade that extended from the Russo-Japanese war to 1914 was characterized by a passionate quest of beauty, and an un- paralleled florescence of creative and colouristic fancy. And while it was Diaghilev and his Ballet Russe who first captured the enthusiasm of the Western world, Russian painting as such had won its right to be considered upon its own merits quite apart from the lustre it lent to opera and choreodrama. Comprehensive as was Diaghilev’s exhibition at Paris in 1906, it proved but a prelude to that which was to follow. The arrival of the war and the dislocation of forces politi- eal, social, and economic, wrought rapid changes in the physi- ognomy of Russian art. Following the outbreak of the revolu- tion, a number of painters and sculptors fled the country to seek refuge abroad. Paris and Berlin claimed a goodly quota, and are still gaining fresh recruits. Our own first visitor was Boris Anisfeld, who crossed the Trans-Siberian and reached us early in 1918. Anisfeld was followed by Roerich, who had paused en route in Finland, Sweden, and England, and was met on the dock by his friend, Derujinsky, but lately landed from the Black Sea port of Novorossysk. With the fall of the Kerensky government, there began an exodus of the Russian _intelligensia that may be likened to the departure of the Italian artists for France during the later Renaissance, or the migra- tion of the Saracens to Spain. Only those of sturdy temper or aspiring expectancy, such as Burliuk and Boris Grigoriev, elected to remain in Russia, and they, too, subsequently turned their faces, one to East, the other to West. The three artists of the present exhibition in whose work you can discern traces of the social and political cataclysm ' that has overtaken their country are Burliuk, Grigoriev, and Manievich. Each lingered within the red flare of the Terror, and each has recorded his impressions in characteristic fashion—Burliuk modernistically, Grigoriev humanistically, Manievich with a touch of imaginative synthesis. While the reaction of the revolution upon the sensibilities of Burliuk and Manievich was but transitory, in the case of Grigoriev it sank deeper into the well-springs of his creative consciousness. With a vigour of statement that recalls the Italian primi- tives—a rigour of line and an integrity of purpose that suggest Matteo di Giovanni or Mantegna—Grigoriev pictures for us in a series of unforgetable panels life as he witnessed it in Sov-— depia. There is indeed a phantasmal quality to the painting entitled Visages Russes that suggests some strange, apoca- lyptic vision, a tortured memory, an hallucination. As a product of Bolshevist Russia the canvas has no parallel in art, and in literature can only be compared to Blok’s Twelve. And yet Grigoriev is not exclusively an apostle of that ruthless reversion to type of which Blok, Bely, and Mayakovsky are notable examples. In his less stressful moments his outlook is serene and truly kindliche. Despite its frank eclecticism, its restless range from Mantegna to Montmarte, from primi- tive to neo-cubist, the basis of Grigoriev’s art lies in its sound and superb draughtsmanship. The man is a master of graphic — expression. His colouring, which, for the most part, is the clear-toned mujik colouring he so loves, is merely suggestive. His triumph lies in his command of line and in his innate plastic power. Creative activity in Russia, as elsewhere, oscillates with approved regularity between conservatism and a salutary modernity. While in the tempestuous cubo-futurism of Bur- liuk, and that hint of social mysticism you note in the can- vases of Grigoriev, we have indications of profound unrest, the more acute products of Russian radicalism have not yet reached our shores. Larionov and Goncharova we already know. Paris is familiar with Chagall, but Tatlin and “‘tatlin- ism,’ Casimir Malyevich and “‘suprematism,” together with the work of Kamyensky, Rodschenko, Kulbin, Falk, Olga Rosanova, and Lentulov, do not find place in the present Brooklyn Museum exhibition. Thus far in fact, they have not pushed beyond the Gallery van Diemen in Berlin, and recent issues of Jar-Ptitza. The corrective to this latter-day experimentation, much of which in itself is obviously sociological as well as aesthetic, is however found in full strength upon these walls. Despite a congenital freedom of temper, even Grigoriev betrays elements of conservatism, while in the work of Jakovlev, Shukhaiev, and Sorin, we revert to standards that are frankly academic. As familiar with Cézanne as they are with Cimabue, with Picasso as they are with Pisanello, these young men have elec- ted to pursue the pathway of moderation, not to say reaction. Former pupils of the Imperial Academy, they perpetuate the traditions of that imposing institution on the Vassili Ostrov, the portals of which were but recently closed after a cen- tury and a half of organized activity. Severe, disciplined, synthetic, and basing itself upon a deep-rooted reverence for form, the art of Jakovlev leans now to the static calm of the Orient, now to the serene naturalism of the Florentine primitives. Almost as painstaking in its fidelity to what may be termed the essential probity of visual representa- tion, is the work of Shukhaiev, while Sorin suggests the com- plex psychology of the modern woman with a lineal beauty and surety recalling the baffling impeccability of Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres. Distinctly post-revolutionary, the work of these latter men points toward that New Idealism which, in Russian literature and music as well, has begun to cast over a sorely troubled world its reassuring rays. Whatever its deficiencies, the present display of Russian artistic activity is not lacking in variety of interest or inspira- tion. To the foregoing names may be added those of the young Georgian mystic and neo-orientalist, Lado Gudiachvili, the Parisianized Feder, the accomplished draughtsman and decorative scenic artist Nikolai Remisov, and the sculptors, Arkhipenko, Derujinsky, Patlagean, and Sudbinin, in whose work we encounter the same individual play of creative forces as in that of the painters. Realistic, naturalistic, idealistic, stylistic, or fanciful and extramundane, Russian art, graphic or plastic, possesses certain specific points in common. It evinces, in particular, a pro- nounced hypostatic accord between art and life. The transi- tion from one to the other is accomplished with perfect ease and spontaniety. A marked sensibility of temper characterizes Russian artistic activity. First, last, and always, these Slavs are emotional, and their art displays above all an organic emotionalism that nothing seems to efface. The art of France shows the dominance of intellect over imagination; that of Russia illustrates the ascendancy of imagination over the intellect. In its every aspect Russian art epitomizes the eternal struggle toward freedom through sublimated creative expression. And the significant qualities of Slavic aesthetic aspiration are its conviction, and its power to convince. It beckons eloquently toward that kingdom which all seek, that radiant realm— out tout y est vrai, bien que rien n’y soit réel. CATALOGUE « CATALOGUE PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS ANISFELD, Boris Boris IsRARLEVICH ANISFELD was born October 2, 1879, at Bieltsy, Bessarabia. At sixteen he entered the Odessa School of Fine Arts, where he remained five years. In 1901 left for Petrograd to continue his studies at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, his professors being Kovalevsky and Kardovsky. Began painting theatrical décors in 1905. Sociétaire, Salon d’Automne, 1906. Came, February, 1918, via Japan to America, where he has since resided. 1 Garden of the Hesperidies 2 Rebekah at the Well 3 The Exodus Lent by the Brooklyn Museum 4 Early Spring Lent by Miss Helen Frick 5 Spring Landscape 6 Still-life Subjects I, I, II, IV 7 Décors for Snegurochka I, II, II Eight Décors for The Love of Three Oranges Lent by the Art Institute of Chicago 8 The Prologue 9 Room in the Palace 10 The Prince’s Room 11 The Castle of the Sorceress 12 The Palace of Kronta 13 Desert Scene 14 The Throne Room 15 Cabalistic Curtain 16 Décor for Islamey Lent by Mrs. Thomas L. Leeming BAKST, Lron Courtesy of M. Knoedler & Co. Lron SamoitovicH Baxst was born April 17, 1868, at Petrograd. Entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts at seventeen, his pre- ceptor being Chistiakov. In 1895 settled in Paris, where he pursued his studies under Albert Edelfeldt. Returned to Russia, 1897. From 1899 was identified with Mir Iskusstva and the development of stage décor under Diaghilev. Legion of Honour, 1914. Member, Imperial Academy, Petrograd, 1916. Came to America December, 1922. 17 Mrs. John W. Garrett Lent by Mrs. Garrett 18 Madame Ida Rubenstein 19 Décor for Scheherazade Lent by Mrs. George Blumenthal 20 Décor for Dames de bonne humeur 21 Caucasian Danse Lent by Miss Elsie de Wolfe 22 Une Chasseresse 23 Harlequin 24. Columbine 25 Faun Lent by Mrs. Efrem Zimbalist 26 Beautiful Vasilissa and the Monster 27 The Firebird 28 Russian Bride 29 Echo abandonnée 30 Russian Princess of Former Days 31 Rich Peasant Lent by Mrs. Benjamin Moore 32 Russian Maiden 33 Russian Peasant, Holiday Dress BURLIUK, Davin Davin Davipovicu Bururuk was born July 9, 1882, at Kharkov. Entered the Kazan School of Fine Arts in 1898. Studied later at Odessa, at Munich Academy, and in Paris under Cormon. Since 1909 a member of the Budnovy Valyet, and the Moscow cubo- futurist group. Left Moscow for the Urals and Siberia in 1918. Travelled and painted in Japan and the Southern Pacific, 1920-1922. Arrived in America from Kobe, September, 1922. 34 South Sea Fishermen 35 The Storm 36 The Chained 37 Revolution 38 A Modern Marie Antoinette 39 Fisherman 40 Oriental Kitchen 41 Near Fuji 62 63 64 Sister and Brother Girl from Guam In the Rice Fields Board Sawyer Resting Judas Kiss At the Window Coolie Lent by Mr. Robert Winthrop Chanler Midday Clouds Island Boy Rickshaw Man Irrigation Woodcutter Porter Tropical Rain Rice Planting Banana Flower Boatmen Afternoon Outing Kitchen Yard Japanese Landscape Sawyer CHERNOV, Vapim Vapim ANATOLIEVICH CHERNOV was born October 24, 1887, at Ekaterinoslav. Went to Petrograd in 1907, where he attended the private classes of Kardovsky. Later studied in Munich with Holloshy, and with Maurice Denis and Félix Vallotton at the Académie Rancon, Paris. Specialized in ecclesiastical and theatrical decoration. Left Petrograd for Reval, 1919. Arrived in America, February, 1921. 65 Saint George 66 The Garden of Chernomor Décor for Scene I, Act 2, Ruslan and Ludmilla 67 Sketch for Interior Decoration 68 Flora 69-71 Three Décors for Judith, by Friedrich Hebbel 72-74 Stage Décors I, I, III FATINSKY, SrrcGeEtr SERGEI FAaTINSKy was born at Odessa, 1887. At age of fifteen entered the Odessa School of Fine Arts, afterward studying for two years at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Petrograd. Owing to the un- settled political situation in Russia during 1905, he left for Paris, where he worked independently. Exhibits at the Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne. Resides in Paris. 75 Sailors Lent by the New Gallery FECHIN, Nixo.al Nixouat [IvanovicnH FrecHIn was born November 26, 1881, at Kazan. Entered the Kazan School of Fine Arts in 1895, and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Petrograd, as a special student, in 1901. While at the Academy studied chiefly with Repin. Awarded diploma and travelling scholarship, 1909. Exhibited same year with the Peredvizhniki, and also appointed official state teacher, Kazan School of Fine Arts, which position he still holds. Member of the Imperial Academy, 1916. 716 7 18 19 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89. Bearing Off the Bride Lent by Mrs. Clarkson Cowl Mademoiselle Lapojnikov Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Lady in Pink Lent by Mr. William S. Stummel Portrait of My Father. Oil Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Portrait of My Father. Tempera Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Portrait in Sunlight Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Portrait Sketch Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Young Woman with Necklace Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Young Woman Smoking Lent by Mr. William S. Stummel Peasant Lad Lent by Mr. William S. Stummel Christmas Singers Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Portrait of the Artist Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel Peasant Girl Lent by Mr. John R. Hunter Portrait of Young Woman Lent by Mr. John R. Hunter 90 Nude Figure Lent by Mr. John R. Hunter 91 Spring in the Steppe Lent by Mr. John R. Hunter 92 Portrait of the Architect Abramychev Lent by Mr. John R. Hunter 93 Portrait of Kissa Lent by Mr. Edward Duff Balken FEDER, Avo.ru Courtesy of the New Gallery ADOLPH FEDER was born at Odessa, 1886. Received no formal artistic training in Russia and left in 1906 owing to political and social unrest. Studied in Geneva and also in Paris at the Académie Julien under Jean-Paul Laurens. Dissatisfied, he entered the studio of Henri- Matisse. Exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, and was elected a Sociétaire in 1910. Resides in Paris. 94 Pastoral 95 Maternity 96 La Bretonne 97 Portrait of the Artist GONCHAROVA, Natatia NATALIA SERGEIEVNA GONCHAROVA was born May, 1882, on a country estate in the Government of Tula. In 1892 moved to Moscow, where she attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculp- ture, and Architecture, completing the course in 1902. From 1907 she exhibited with the most advanced cubist and rayonnist spirits of Moscow. In May, 1914, her stage setting for Le Coq d’Or achieved signal success in Paris, since which time she has resided in the French capital. 98 Costume Design, for La Liturgie Lent by Mrs. Elise M. Stern 29 Oriental Woman, from Le Cog d’Or Lent by Dr. Christian Brinton GRIGORIEV, Boris >100 >101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 Boris DimiTrRIEVICH GRIGORIEV was born at Moscow, July 11, 1886. At the age of twenty went to Petrograd and entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Studied with Kisselev, but was dismissed in 1912. Elected a member of the Mir Iskusstva the same year, and went to Paris to pursue his studies independently. Was in Russia, painting and teaching art throughout the war and the revolution, and until January, 1919. Eventually reached Paris by way of Finland and Germany. Resides in Paris. *“Rassaya’’—Visages Russes Madonna of the Steppe Lent by Mr. Adolph Lewisohn Russian Peasant Types Toilers of the Field Lent by the New Gallery Harvest Time Lent by the New Gallery Portrait of the Artist Portrait of My Son. Catherine Breshkovsky **Grandmother of the Russian Revolution’ Portrait of Leon Chestov Monk Lent by the New Gallery > Parisian Types Lent by the New Gallery Young Man 112 113 114 115 Young Woman From the ‘Seaside Inns”’ Series Normandy Peasant Normandy Landscape Brittany Landscape 116-135 Twenty Pencil Drawings (Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Corte 1916-1922) GUDIACHVILI, Lavo 136 137 138 139 Courtesy of the New Gallery Lavo GuDIACHVILI was born at Tiflis, 1896, the scion of an ancient and noble Georgian family. He began his artistic studies in Tiflis at the age of twelve. A travelling scholarship from the Georgian govern- ment enabled him to visit Paris in 1919, where he studied informally with Sudeykin. Exhibits with the Indépendants, at the Salon d’Automne, and with Mir Iskusstva. Resides in Paris. Bombance Street Vendor Adoration of the Magi Montmartre Family 140-151 Twelve Drawings JAKOVLEV, ALEKSANDR 152 ALEKSANDR EVGUENIEVICH JAKOVLEV was born June 13, 1887, at Petrograd, where he passed his schooldays. Entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts at the age of eighteen. Studied under Zion- glinsky and Kardovsky. Awarded diploma and travelling scholar- ship, 1913, and studied for several years in Italy. Went to China in 1917, and later visited Japan. Returned to Europe autumn of 1919, and settled in Paris, where he at present resides. Portraits, Port-Cros, 1921 _ 153 In the Café de La Rotonde is Woman with Masks 155 Chinese Head 156 Masks 157 Marionettes 158 Chinese Woman 159 Manchu Woman 160 Soochow in Moonlight 161 Seaweed Fisher, Oshima Island 162 Boy Seaweed Fisher, Oshima Island 163 Cactus and Fort 164 Rural Drinking Place Near Pekin 165 Combat Scene, Chinese Theatre 166-185 Twenty Water Colours (China and Japan) — 186-201 Sixteen Drawings in Black and White (Italy, China, Japan, Paris) KANDINSKY, Vassix1 VASSILI VASSILIEVICH KANDINSKY Is the acknowledged leader of the Expressionist movement not only in Russia, but in Germany as well. Resided for several years in Munich where, in 1909, was co-founder of the New Artists’ Federation, and Der Blaue Reiter. Returned to Russia following the revolution, and since 1918 has occupied various important government posts. At present is professor at the Bauhaus, in Weimar. Author, Ueber das Geistige in der Kunst, etc. 202 Painting with White Forms Lent by Miss Katherine S. Dreier KUSNETZOV, Nixo.uatr 203 NiKoual DimitrRIEvicH KusNEtTzov was born December 6, 1854, at Odessa. Did not seriously devote himself to art until he was twenty- five years of age. After ten years was appointed to a professorship in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Petrograd, a position he filled with distinction for over a generation. Remained in Russia until January, 1920, since which time he has resided in Paris. Portrait of My Daughter, Maria Nikolaievna Kusnetzova LARIONOV, MixKwain 204 Mixnait Fyoporovich Larionov was born May 22, 1881, near Odessa. At the age of twelve was taken to Moscow, later entering the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, where he studied chiefly with Ivanov. Suspended for a year in 1902. A pro- nounced modernist, he founded the Budnovy Valyet in 1909, and be- came head of the rayonnist movement. Since 1916 has resided in Paris, executing décors for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe. The Peacock Lent by Dr. Christian Brinton MANIEVICH, Aspranam 205 206 207 208 209 210 ABRAHAM ANSHELOVICH MaAntievicu was born at Mistieslavl, Govern- ment of Mogiliev, November 25, 1881. Entered the Imperial Art School at Kiev, in 1903, studying mainly under Selezniev. Later he attended the Munich Academy for three years, and in 1912 went to Paris. Appointed professor at the Kiev Academy in 1918, under the Kerensky government. Left Kiev July, 1921, reaching New York January, 1922. Destruction of the Ghetto Fastov, Near Kiev Moscow, Arbat Quarter Early Autumn Suburbs of Kiev Tripoli, Ukraine 211 Decorative Panel 212 “Miestetchko”’ 213 Autumn Motif 214 Autumn Sunshine 215 Autumnal Symphony 216 The Red House, Petrograd 217 Moscow Courtyard 218 Factory District, Moscow 219 Early Spring, Near Kiev 220 Colouristic Impression REMISOV, Nixo.watr Courtesy of Mr. Morris Gest NIKOLAI VLADIMIROVICH REmMIsOv was born May 7, 1887, at Petro- grad. Studied with Zionglinsky before entering the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, where he remained from 1910 to 1917, chiefly under Kardovsky. Made his first success as a draughtsman and cari- caturist on Satyrikon. Left Petrograd October, 1918, remaining a year at Kerson. Reached Paris March, 1920, and has since been associated with Baliev’s Chauve-Souris. Came to America, January, 1922. 221 Russian Tavern 222 Cabman 223 Provincial Store 224 Village Scene 225 Décor for Chauve-Souris 226 Windy Day 227 Old Paris, Décor for Chauve-Souris 228 In the Park 229 Décor for Country House 230 Cover Design, Anna Pavlova 231 Décor for Fairy Tale 232 Paris Fair I 233 Paris Fair II 234 Drawing I 235 Drawing II SORIN, SaveELy Courtesy of M. Knoedler & Co. SAVELY ABRAHAMOVICH SORIN was born February 27, 1882, at Pol- ozk, Government of Vitebsk. After completing his elementary studies in the provinces he entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Petro- grad, where he remained five years. Owing to the temporary closing of the Academy he went to Paris, returning to Russia in 1908. Subse- quently awarded diploma and travelling scholarship. Left Batum for Marseilles, arriving May, 1920, and has since resided in Paris. Came to America January, 1923. 236 Portrait of Anna Pavlova Lent by the French Government from the Musée du Luxembourg 237 Princess Olga Orlov, née Beloselsky-Belozersky 238 Princess Elisso Dadiani 239 Princess Mary Eristov >240 Madame Odyle Bazé 241 Mademoiselle Vera Tischenko 242 Miss Margaret Kahn Lent by Mrs. Otto H. Kahn 243 The Philosopher, Leon Chestov 244 Q45 246 Q47 248 249 250 Miss Potter Head Study The Dramatist, S. Litovzev M. Sergei Sasonov Former Minister of Foreign Affairs — An Artist of Montparnasse Portrait Study of the Russian actress, Madame Kovanko SUDEYKIN, SERGEI 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 Courtesy of Mr. Morris Gest SERGEI J URIEVICH SUDEYKIN was born March 7, 1884, in the Govern- ment of Smolensk. At fourteen he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, studying with Korovin and Serov. Executed his first stage décor at age of seventeen for Ma- montov’s private theatre, Moscow. Dismissed from school with Larionov, 1902. Moved to Petrograd, 1907. Spent 1917 to 1919 in Crimea and the Caucasus. Arrived in Paris May, 1920. Came to America September, 1922, as decorative artist of the Chauve-Souris. The Moscow Fiancées Russian Winter Carnival Montagnes Russes The Quadrille Stage Décor, Katinka Décor, Russian Fable Children’s Toys Petrushka Décor for Grunka 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 Caroussel The Swing Russian Pastoral Décor for Russian Fair Mermaid, Russian Fair Strong Woman, Russian Fair “Grandaddy,’’ Russian Fair SHUKHAIEV, Vassiui 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 Q74 275 276 Vassili Shukhaiev was born at Moscow, in 1887. Entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Petrograd, and pursued his studies under Kardovsky. Completed his academic training in 1913, the same year as Jakovlev. Following the outbreak of the revolution went to Finland where he lived and worked for a considerable period. Reached Paris November, 1920, where he has since resided. Member of the Mir Iskusstva. Women Bathing Portrait of Madame Andreyeva Portrait of Anna Pavlova Portrait of Madame M. Three Portrait Heads (Jakovlev, Shukhaiev, Madame Shukhaiev) The Mannekin Landscape, Finland Landscape, Roofs Izba The Cello 277-279 Still-life Subjects, I, I, I, IV SCULPTURE ARKHIPENKO, ALEKSANDR Courtesy of the Société Anonyme ALEKSANDR ARKHIPENKO was born at Kiev, in 1884. The major portion of his artistic career has been passed not in Russia, but in Paris. In the autumn of 1919 he left France for Switzerland and Italy, finally settling in Berlin, where he at present resides. If not the actual initiator, he is the chief exponent of what he terms sculpto- peinture, or plastic painting. 1 Still-life—t 2 Still-life—i 3 Woman Standing—I 4 Woman Standing—II 5 Woman Seated—I 6 Woman Seated—II -DERUJINSKY, Gres GLEB VLADIMIROVICH DERUJINSKY was born August 13, 1888, on the country estate of Visoke, near Smolensk. At the age of seventeen he began his artistic training at the School for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, Petrograd. Went to Paris in 1910 where he continued his studies under Verlet for two years. Returned to Russia, 1913, enter- ing the Imperial Academy in the classes of Zaleman. Left Petrograd for the Crimea November, 1917. Shipped as a sailor from Novorossysk for New York, reaching America June, 1919. 7 Leonardo. Wood 8 Leda. Wood 9 Portrait Bust. Wood 10 Aleksandr Illych Ziloti. Plaster 11 Sergei Prokofiev. Plaster 12 Nikolai Remisov. Plaster 13 Miss Elizabeth Beer. Bronze 14 Miss Lydia Perera. Bronze 15 L’Aprés-midi d’un Faun. Terra-Cotta 16 Adolf Bolm. Bronze 17 On the Neva Promenade. Plaster PATLAGEAN, Numa Courtesy of the Galleries of Mrs. Albert Sterner Numa GRIGORIEVICH PATLAGEAN was born January 4, 1888, at Kishinev, Bessarabia. He entered the Municipal School of Art at the age of thirteen, studying with Okuchko. Following the disturbances of 1905, he left for Geneva where he studied under Canier. From 1906 to 1911 he continued his training in Paris, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. {| Arrived ini New York October, 1922. 18 Stylistic Head Lent by Mr. Robert Schwarzenbach 19 Gioconda 21). Masque 21 Sculptural Head 22 Decorative Head 23 Architectural Masque 24 Goddess. Wood 25 A Head from the Middle Ages. Wood SUDBININ, Srrsaruim Courtesy of the Kingore Galleries SERAPHIM NIKOLAIEVICH SUDBININ was born March 9, 1867,: at Nijni-Novgarod. Before taking up sculpture he acted with the Moscow Art Theatre, and other dramatic companies. In 1902 left for Paris, where he definitely settled in 1904. Studied first with his countryman Bernstein, and from 1906 was associated with Rodin as pupil and assistant. Sociétaire, Salon d’Automne, Associé, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Came to America, December, 1922. 26 The Danse. Wood Lent by Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt 27 Rodin. Bronze 28 Diana. Marble 29 Misery. Wood 30 Virgin and Child. Wood 31 Young Girl. Bronze 32 Bacchante. Bronze 33 Angel of the Apocalypse. Wood 34 The Babylonian Woman. Wood 35 Resurrection. Wood 36 Saint George. Wood 37 Annunciation. Wood 38 Virgin and Child. Wood 39 Pieta. Wood 40 Maternity. Wood 41 Leda and the Swan. Wood 42 Head. Terra-cotta 43 Virgin and Child. Plaster ILLUSTRATIONS SAVELY SORIN: Madame Odyle Bazé NIKOLAI FECHIN: Mlle. Lapojnikov Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel NIKOLAI FECHIN: Lady in Pink Lent by Mr. William S. Stimmel ABRAHAM MANIEVICH: Tripoli, Ukraine ABRAHAM MANIEVICH: Destruction of the Ghetto VADIM CHERNOV: Garden of Chernomor Ss The Love of Three Orange BORIS ANISFELD icago tute of Ch Lent by the Art Insti ADOLF FEDER: Pastoral Lent by the New Gallery NIKOLAI REMISOV: Russian Tavern LADO GUDIACHVILI: Adoration of the Magi Lent by the New Gallery LADO GUDIACHVILI: Street Vendor Lent by the New Gallery ALEKSANDR JAKOVLEV: Chinese Woman prey es ALEKSANDR JAKOVLEV: Woman with Masks SERGEI SUDEYKIN: The Quadrille SERGEI SUDEYKIN: Russian Winter Carnival — BORIS GRIGORIEV: “‘Rassaya’’—Visages Russes \ Brrrnrenrerinrn BORIS GRIGORIEV: Madonna of The Steppe Lent by Mr. Adolph Lewisohn Se ishermen South Sea F DAVID BURLIUK DAVID BURLIUK: Japanese Board Sawyer NUMA PATLAGEAN: Sculptural Head Lent by the Galleries of Mrs. Albert Sterner GLEB DERUJINSKY: Leda SERAPHIM SUDBININ: Angel of the Apocalypse SERAPHIM SUDBININ: Virgin and Child MIKHAIL LARIONOV: The Peacock Lent by Dr. Christian Brinton Woman Seated ALEKSANDR ARKHIPENKO Lent by the New Gallery COVER DESIGN BY VADIM ANATOLIEVICH CHERNOV. CATALOGUE PRINTED FOR THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM BY REDFIELD-KENDRICK-ODELL COMPANY, INCOR- PORATED. FIRST IMPRESSION, THREE THOUSAND COPIES. COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY CHRISTIAN BRINTON