March 13, 2024

Centennial Celebration of Avant-Garde Art


Centennial Celebration of Avant-Garde Art
The Birthday (1915), Marc Chagall.  Museum of Modern Art, NY. 

This spring, the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow will reconstruct an exhibit of avant-garde Jewish artists originally curated in 1922. The exhibit, "The Jewish Avant-Garde 1910–1930. Chagall, Altman, Shterenberg, and Others,” traces the development of experimental art in the early twentieth century from folk art to the avant-garde style that came to greatly influence early Soviet aesthetics.

Curator Maria Gadas designed the exhibition halls to replicate the original Moscow location as closely as possible and even hung the paintings in the same places. Artwork was loaned out by the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg as well as the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

Many of the paintings by Marc Chagall from the original exhibit are currently in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery. While the Tretyakov collaborated with the Jewish Museum, they did not loan out their Chagalls, which meant that projections of the paintings had to be "hung" in their places. The exhibit is also the first time many of these works, including those by David Shterenberg, Natan Altman, and Joseph Chaikov, have been exhibited publicly. 

The exhibition aims to demonstrate how the work of these artists 102 years ago laid the foundation for world art in the twentieth century. 

You Might Also Like

Russian Ladies of the Avant-garde
  • January 16, 2001

Russian Ladies of the Avant-garde

Set against the backdrop of revolution and civil war the Avant-garde period in Russia was very dynamic. In honor of International Women's Day (March 8), we take a look at the lives and works of six very special Avant-garde artists.
Listen and Learn: Shostakovich Turns 110
  • September 25, 2016

Listen and Learn: Shostakovich Turns 110

Dmitry Shostakovich created classical music that spoke to modern times. Read up on his life story and listen along to some of finest works along the way. 
The Soviet Creative
  • April 05, 2021

The Soviet Creative

In the Soviet period, artists were treated with esteem and lived comfortably, but their privileged position also required sacrifice.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955