Imagining the unimaginable : World War, modern art, & the politics of public culture in Russia, 1914-1917

247 Pages·2008·20.948 MB·English

by  Cohen, Aaron J

Imagining the Unimaginable
studies in war, society, and the military
General Editors
Peter Maslowski
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
David Graff
Kansas State University
Reina Pennington
Norwich University
Editorial Board
D’Ann Campbell
Director of Government and Foundation Relations,
U.S. Coast Guard Foundation
Mark A. Clodfelter
National War College
Brooks D. Simpson
Arizona State University
Roger J. Spiller
George C. Marshall Professor of Military History
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (retired)
Timothy H. E. Travers
University of Calgary
Arthur Waldron
Lauder Professor of International Relations
University of Pennsylvania
ImagInIng
the UnImagInable
World War, Modern art, & the
Politics of Public culture in
russia, 1914–1917 |  Aaron  J. Cohen
ImagInIng
the UnImagInable
universit y of nebraska press • lincoln and london
Some images have been masked due to copyright limitations.
Portions of chapters 1, 2, and 5 previously appeared as “The Dress Rehearsal?
Russian Realism and Modernism through War and Revolution” in Rethink-
ing the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–05: A Centennial Perspective, vol. 1, ed.
Rotem Kowner (Folkstone: Global Oriental, 2007); portions of chapter 5
previously appeared as “Making Modern Art Russian: Artists, Politics, and
the Tret’iakov Gallery during the First World War” in Journal of the History
of Collections 14, no. 2 (2002): 271–81. ¶ © 2008 by the Board of Regents
of the University of Nebraska ¶ All rights reserved ¶ Manufactured in
the United States of America ¶   ¶ Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data ¶ Cohen, Aaron J. ¶ Imagining the unimagina-
ble : World War, modern art, and the politics of public culture in Russia,
1914-1917 / Aaron J. Cohen. ¶ p. cm. — (Studies in war, society, and
the military) ¶ Includes bibliographical references and index. ¶ isbn-
13: 978-0-8032-1547-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ¶ 1. Art, Russian — 20th cen-
tury. ¶ 2. World War, 1914–1918 — Art and the war. ¶ 3. Art and soci-
ety — Russia — History — 20th century. ¶ 4. Modernism (Art) — Russia.
I. Title. ¶ n6988.c65 2008 ¶ 709.47|09041 — dc22 ¶ 2007047098 ¶
Set in StonePrint by Kim Essman. ¶ Designed by R. W. Boeche.
For Stanley

Contents
List of Illustrations ........................viii
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. The Wars against Tradition
The Culture of the Art Profession
in Russia, 1863–1914 .........................13
2. In the Storm
Reshaping the Public and
the Art World, 1914–1915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3. Love in the Time of Cholera
Russian Art and the Real War, 1915–1916. . . . . . . . .85
4. Masters of the Material World
World War I, the Avant-Garde, and
the Origins of Non-Objective Art .............. 115
5. The Revolver and the Brush
The Political Mobilization of Russian Artists
through War and Revolution, 1916–1917. . . . . . . . .149

Conclusion ............................... 181
Appendix ................................189
Notes ....................................195
Selected Bibliography ......................225
Index ....................................229
Illustrations
Artworks
1. K. S. Malevich, Black Square, 1915 ...................5
2. V. K. Sazonov, Execution by the French of Russian
Patriots in Moscow in 1812, 1813 .....................24
3. I. E. Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga, 1870–73 .......26
4. V. M. Vasnetsov, After Prince Igor’s Battle
with the Polovtsy, 1880. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5. E. E. Lansere, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna at
Tsarskoe Selo, 1905 ...............................34
6. M. V. Dobuzhinskii, October Idyll, 1905 ............. 37
7. V. E. Tatlin, Fishmonger, 1911. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
8. N. S. Goncharova, Cats (Rayist Percep.[tion]
in Rose, Black, and Yellow), 1913 .....................45
9. K. S. Malevich, Englishman in Moscow, 1914. . . . . . . . . .46
10. K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, Bathing a Red Horse, 1912. . . . . . . . 47
11. V. V. Vereshchagin, Apotheosis of War, 1871. . . . . . . . . . . 57
12. Popular print, Battle at Przemysl, 1914. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
13. N. S. Samokish, postcard, n.d. .....................77
14. I. A. Vladimirov, News from the War, 1914. . . . . . . . . . . . 79
15. G. I. Narbut, Commander-in-Chief Grand Prince
Nicholas Nikolaevich, 1914 or 1915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
16. N. K. Rerikh, Enemy of the Human Race, 1914 .........82
17. How They Fight, 1914 .............................83
18. M. Chagall, Wounded Soldier, 1914 ................. 103
19. W. Kandinsky, Moscow I, 1916 ....................104
20. K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, On the Line, 1915–16 ...........105
21. V. E. Tatlin, Corner Counter-Relief, 1915 ............. 116
22. K. S. Malevich, The Austrian Went
to Radziwillow, 1914 or 1915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
23. G. I. Narbut, cover (censored)
of Lukomor’e magazine, 1915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
24. N. Kolli, Red Wedge, 1918 ......................... 187
Graphs and Tables in the Appendix
Graph 1. Number of art groups in Russia, 1863–1932
Graph 2. Number of art groups in Russia, 1900–1924
Graph 3. Visitors to regular annual Union of Russian
Artists exhibitions, 1905–1923
Table 1. Regular annual exhibition sales,
Petersburg/Petrograd, 1911–1918
Table 2. Visitors at regular annual exhibitions,
Petersburg/Petrograd, 1911–1918
Table 3. Regular annual exhibition sales, Moscow, 1911–1918
Table 4. Visitors at regular annual exhibitions,
Moscow, 1911–1918
Table 5. Regular annual exhibition sales,
Petersburg/Petrograd, 1914–1917
Table 6. Regular annual exhibition sales, Moscow, 1914–1917
Table 7. Inflation, selected items