Aleksandr Deineka (1899-1969) : an avant-garde for the proletariat
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17. Organizatsiia proizvodstva–pobeda nad kapitalisticheskim stroem [The Organization of Production is a Victory over the Capitalist Order], ca. 1920 Planographic print, 23.7 x 46 cm Text: Proletarians of all nations, unite!
Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March 15. El Lissitzky Proun, ca. 1922 Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40.5 cm Collection Azcona, Madrid Fundación Juan March
106 18 and 19. Kazimir Malevich Illustrations for his book O novykh sistemakh v iskusstve. Statika i skorost’ [On New Systems in Art. Statics and Speed], 1919. Lithography, 22 x 18 cm Artel’ khudozhestvennogo truda pri Vitsvomas, Vitebsk Cover by El Lissitzky after woodcuts by Kazimir Malevich Collection José María Lafuente and private collection
Suprematistskaia kompositsiia [Suprematist Composition], ca. 1919 Pencil on paper, 22.5 x 14.5 cm Private collection
Cigarette cases for man and woman, ca. 1920 Enameled steel (green) and golden and enameled brass (black) 10 x 8 x 1 cm Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March 22. Kazimir Malevich Sportsman, ca. 1923 Pencil and watercolor on paper 25.2 x 15.2 cm Private collection
Klub khudozhnikov [Artists’ Club], 1919 Linocut, 15.9 x 23.8 cm Collection Merrill C. Berman
Krasnyi Student [Red Student], 1923 Design for magazine cover Ink and crayon, 39.2 x 29 cm Priboi, Petrograd Private collection
Lenin. Risunki [Lenin. Drawings], 1920 Book. Letterpress, 23.5 x 19 cm IZO Narkompros, Petrograd Private collection Fundación Juan March
108 26. Aleksandr Rodchenko Konstruktsiia [Construction], 1919 Oil on wood. 37.5 x 21.5 cm Private collection Fundación Juan March
27. Aleksandr Rodchenko Cover for Lef [Left Front of the Arts] no. 3, June-July 1923 . Magazine Letterpress. 23.8 x 15.9 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman 28. Aleksandr Rodchenko Cover for Lef [Left Front of the Arts] no. 2, April-May 1923. Magazine Letterpress. 24 x 16 cm Editor: Vladimir Mayakovsky GOSIZDAT, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman 29. Aleksandr Rodchenko Otkryta podpiska na LEF [Open subscription to LEF], 1924 Poster. Lithography, 68.3 x 53 cm OGIZ, Leningrad-Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March
110 30. Anastasiia Akhtyrko VKhUTEMAS distsipliny [VKhUTEMAS. Disciplines], 1920 Collage: gouache, ink and pencil 23 x 18.7 cm Private collection 31. Faik Tagirov Cover of a VKhUTEIN publication, 1929 Letterpress, 27.2 x 22.5 cm VKhUTEIN, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March 32. Aleksandra Ekster Design for a Mechanical Engineering Pavilion, 1923 Collage: gouache, pencil and ink 61 x 89.2 cm Pavilion for the 1st All-Union Agricultural and Domestic Crafts Exhibition in Moscow Private collection
112 33 and 34. Aleksei Gan Konstruktivizm [Constructivism], 1922 Book. Letterpress, 23.8 x 19.4 cm Tverskoe izdatel’stvo, Tver Archivo España-Rusia Collection José María Lafuente 35. Aleksei Gan Cover for Da zdravstvuet demonstratsiia byta! [Hail the Demonstration of Everyday Life!], 1923 Book. Letterpress, 22.3 x 18.1 cm Glavlit, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March Fundación Juan March
36. Boris Arvatov Iskusstvo i klassi [Art and Classes], 1923 Book. Lithography, 22.9 x 15.2 cm GOZISDAT, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman 37.
Pechat i revoliutsiia [Press and Revolution], no. 4, 1923 Magazine. Letterpress, 25 x 17 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia 38.
Pechat i revoliutsiia [Press and Revolution], no. 9, 1929 Magazine. Letterpress , 25 x 17 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March 39. Aleksandr Deineka Bor’ba s razrukhoi [The Battle against Disruption], 1919 Ink, gouache and bronze on paper 25.7 x 31.7 cm Kursk Deineka Picture Gallery Inv. G-1586
Portret khudozhnika K. A. Vialova [Portrait of the Artist Konstantin A. Vialov], 1923 Oil on canvas, 117 x 89 cm Kursk Deineka Picture Gallery Inv. Z-1406
Cover of Ignatii Khvoinik’s book Vneshnee oformlenie obshchestvennogo byta [The Design of Social Everyday Life] , 1928–30 Gouache, 23.2 x 15.2 cm Private collection
Dummy for Sovetskoe iskusstvo [Soviet Art], no. 1, 1930 Collage: gouache, pencil, letterpress and photography (gelatin silver) 26.7 x 18.7 cm IZOGIZ, Moscow Private collection
Fundación Juan March Fundación Juan March 43. Aleksandr Deineka Futbol [Football], 1924 Oil on canvas, 105 x 113.5 cm Collection Vladimir Tsarenkov, London Fundación Juan March
Fundación Juan March 118 44. Aleksandr Deineka Devushka, sidiashchaia na stule [Girl Sitting on a Chair], 1924 Oil on canvas, 118 x 72.5 cm State Tretyakov Gallery Moscow, Inv. ZHS-4327 Fundación Juan March
45. Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin Naturmort [Still Life], 1925 Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm Private collection Fundación Juan March
120 47. Aleksandr Rodchenko Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 15. 1917, Fevral’skaia revoliutsiia [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 15. 1917, the February Revolution], 1924 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 20,500 Collection Merrill C. Berman 48. Aleksandr Rodchenko Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 16. 1917, Ot fevralia k oktiabriu [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 16. 1917, from February to October], 1924 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 20,500 Collection Merrill C. Berman 49. Aleksandr Rodchenko Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 17. 1917, Oktiabrskaia revoliutsiia [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 17. 1917, the October Revolution], 1924 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 20,000 Izdatel’stvo Kommunisticheskoi Akademii i Muzeia Revoliutsii Soiuza SSR, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman 50. Aleksandr Rodchenko Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 23. 1921-22, Nachalo NEPa [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 23. 1921–22, the Start of NEP], 1924 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 20,000 Collection Merrill C. Berman 51. Aleksandr Rodchenko Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 24. 1923 [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 24. 1923], 1924. Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 500 Collection Merrill C. Berman
Istoriia VKP(b) v plakatakh 25. 1924, Smert Lenina [History of the VKP(b) in Posters 25. 1924, Lenin’s Death], 1924 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 33 x 12.7 cm. Print run: 20,000 Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March
Fundación Juan March 122 54. Gustavs Klucis and Serguei Senkin Pamiati pogubshikh vozhdei [In Memory of the Fallen Leaders], 1927–28 Design for book cover Lithography, 42.2 x 59.1 cm Collection Merrill C. Berman
Flag of the second column on Bolshaia Serpukhovskaia street used in the funeral march in honor of Lenin on Red Square, 1924 Painted wood and hand-painted cotton fabric, 89.5 x 53 x 3.5 cm Archivo España-Rusia 56.
Visit to Lenin’s Tomb, 1961 Photography, 61.8 x 89 cm Private collection Fundación Juan March
46.
Pod znamenem marksizma- leninizma, pod rukovodstvom Kommunisticheskoi Partii - vpered, k pobede kommunizma! [Under the Banner of Marxism- Leninism, under the Leadership of the Communist Party. Forward, to the Victory of Communism!], ca. 1920 Flag. Hand-painted cotton fabric 110.5 x 168 cm Fundación José María Castañé 53. Bust of Lenin, ca. 1930 Painted plaster, 29 x 16.5 x 13.5 cm Made at Vsekokhudozhnik, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March 124 57. Aleksandr Rodchenko (graphic design) and
(text) Dayte solntse nochyu! Gde naydiosh yego? Kupi v GUMe [Have Sun at Night! Where to Find it? Buy it at GUM!], 1923 Sketch for poster Illuminated photography: gelatin silver, gouache, ink and pencil, 11.1 x 28.4 cm Text: Have sun at night! Where to find it? Buy it at GUM! Radiantly and cheaply Private collection Fundación Juan March
58. Gustavs Klucis Cover of Walter Hough’s book, Ogon’ [Fire], Russian translation of the English original The Story of Fire (1928), 1931 Letterpress and linocut, 19.5 x 13 cm Molodaia Gvardiia, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia
URSS en construction [USSR in Construction], no. 6, June 1936 Magazine. Letterpress, 42 x 30 cm OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow French edition of SSSR na stroike Collection MJM, Madrid Fundación Juan March
126 60. Gustavs Klucis Kommunizm - eto sovetskaia vlast’ plius elektrifikatsiia [Communism is Soviet Power Plus Electrification], 1930 Poster. Lithography and letterpress, 72.7 x 51.3 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow Print run: 30,000. Price: 20 kopeks Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March
61.
USSR im Bau [USSR in Construction], no. 3, 1930 Magazine. Letterpress, 42 x 30 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow German edition of SSSR na stroike Archivo España-Rusia 62. Mikhail Razulevich Sovetskaya vlast’ plius elektrifikatsiia [Soviet Power Plus Electrification], n. d. Photography. Gelatin silver print 16.6 x 58.4 cm Below on left: Stamp of Soiuzfoto Leningrad branch Private collection Fundación Juan March
128 64.
Lenin i elektrifikatsiia [Lenin and Electrification], 1925 Poster. Lithography and letterpress, 86.4 x 55.9 cm Text: Lenin and electrification Volkhovstroi is producing current! Communism is Soviet Power + electrification Lenizdat, Leningrad. Reprint, 1969 Print run: 75,000. Price: 10 kopeks Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March
63. Gustavs Klucis Cover for G. Fel’dman’s Propaganda elektrifikatsii [Propaganda for Electrification], 1924 Letterpress, 22.9 x 12.7 cm Collection Merrill C. Berman 65. Vladimir Roskin GET, 1926. Design for poster Gouache, ink and pencil, 21.6 x 28.4 cm Private collection 66. Aleksandr Rodchenko Cover for Novyi lef [New Left Front of the Arts], no. 5, 1927 Magazine. Letterpress, 20.3 x 15.2 cm GOSIZDAT, Moscow Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March 130 67. Mechislav Dobrokovskii Elektrostroitelnaia piatiletka v 4 goda [The Five-Year Plan of Electrical Construction in 4 Years], ca. 1927–28 Poster. Lithography, 73.6 x 50.8 cm From the series of posters The Five-Year Plan in Four Years Gosudarstvennoe Nauchno- Tekhnicheskoe Izdatel’stvo, Moscow Print run: 11,000 Collection Merrill C. Berman Fundación Juan March 68. Iulian Shutskii Radio. Iz voli millionov sozdadim edinuiu voliu [Radio. From the Will of Millions, We Create a Single Will], 1925 Poster. Lithography and letterpress 93.5 x 62 cm. KUBUCH, Leningrad Print run: 5,000. Collection Merrill C. Berman 69. Soviet radio, 1953. Bakelite 27 x 25.5 x 11 cm. Archivo España-Rusia
Homemade radio casing in imitation of a Stalinist skyscraper, 1954. Plywood 53 x 31 x 22 cm. Archivo España-Rusia 71. Cigarette box “Novaia Moskva” [New Moscow], from the Moscow Dukat factory, with an image of a contemporary skyscraper, n. d. Cardboard, printed paper, silk 22 x 23.5 x 2.5 cm Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March
132 72. Nikolai Troshin URSS en construction [USSR in Construction], no. 3, March 1934 Magazine. Letterpress, 42 x 30 cm OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow French edition of SSSR na stroike Collection MJM, Madrid Fundación Juan March
73.
Kremlevskaia lampa [Kremlin Lamp], 1934 Metal and fabric, 50 x 30 x 30 cm Made by Elektrosvet, Moscow Archivo España-Rusia 73b. Detail of hammer and sickle
Stalin and Khruschev in a session of the Soviet Presidium standing behind a Kremlevskaia lampa, first model, 1938 Photography, 17 x 23 cm Archive Kino Foto Dokumentov Archivo España-Rusia
New Year tree decoration lights in the shapes of a dirigible and an automobile, ca. 1940 Painted glass, 3 x 9 x 2.5 cm Archivo España-Rusia 77. Automobile bumper, model GAZ-12 ZIM (1950–59), 1950 Painted iron, stainless steel, glass 10 x 47 x 10 cm Archivo España-Rusia Fundación Juan March
134 75. Aleksandr Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova URSS en Construcción [USSR in Construction], no. 4, 1938 Magazine. Letterpress, 42 x 30 cm OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow Spanish edition of SSSR na stroike Collection MJM, Madrid Fundación Juan March Fundación Juan March 136 The Graphic Work of Aleksandr Deineka (1929–40) Irina Leytes Aleksandr Deineka entered Soviet art history first and foremost as a creator of mosaic panels and large the- matic paintings, as a keen admirer of every kind of technology, both terrestrial and spatial, and as an en- thusiast and connoisseur of various types of physical culture and sport. From early on, Deineka placed his outstanding artistic genius and remarkable energy in the service of the triumphant communist ideology, which he sincerely believed to be the fairest and most humane. Like many other people of his generation, he made his own choice—at that time it was still not possible to impose it upon all as an obligation. Yet his talent went further and deeper than the ideological schemas, even in the 1920s, when he dedicated him- self to direct propaganda. Perhaps it was precisely at this time of political agitation when Deineka’s genius came to the fore most brightly, deeply and unexpect- edly.
Like many other artists of his time, Deineka began his artistic career drawing magazine illustrations. This occupation turned out to be more than a mere source of income and means for acquiring experi- ence, particularly since by the time of his arrival to Moscow and entrance into the Higher Arts and Tech- nical Studios (VKhUTEMAS)—at the age of twenty and in the midst of a civil war—Deineka had already managed to familiarize himself with diverse kinds of work. Within the framework of the New Economic Policy (NEP), in the early 1920s his activities focused largely on the forefront positions of the Izofront (art
front), to use the terminology of the era; that is, the application of the class war on the spatial arts front. As fate would have it, Deineka found himself work- ing for the most militant and aggressive revolution- ary magazines: Bezbozhnik , Bezbozhnik u stanka and then Prozhektor , Daesh’!
and Krasnaia niva . He worked in peripatetic conditions and almost con- tinuous all-out drives which to a certain degree re- sembled an atmosphere approximating combat. It is unlikely that all of this especially burdened the young artist. On the contrary, it appears to have stimulated his imagination and induced maximal concentration of his creative powers. Deineka’s graphic work from the 1920s has be- come widely renowned. In his memoirs, he recog- nizes its decisive role in the formation of his artistic style. Indeed, it was influential in determining his cre- ative path. All the same, the young artist’s illustrations from the period of his sojourn at VKhUTEMAS, con- nected as they were with more traditional elements of the teaching program, were also of importance. His early drawings with their characteristic hatch- ing, executed “in the manner of Favorskii,” are well known. It will be recalled that Vladimir Favorskii— whom Deineka considered his main teacher—led the foundation course at the Higher Arts and Technical Studios, was associated with the art of composition, and in 1923–25 acted as rector of the institution. Of special interest are those drawings where the young Deineka attempted to represent physical ac- tivity, since as the artist himself acknowledged, he considered movement his fundamental theme. In some cases they are instantaneous sketches, where the young artist used precise strokes—which he later called “sniper strokes”—to masterfully replicate the rhythm of physical movement and roughly convey the surface contours of objects and people. In oth- ers, they are studies of female models, where he splendidly defined plastic form with long, light and firm lines. Importantly, within this form the artist tried to reveal the barely visible movement that is stirred up by the interaction of the dense masses that make up the figure. The emergence of a special internal pulsation is especially manifest in his large volumes with marked segmentations. This is partly the reason why Deineka loved to draw large corpulent female models, now and then adding to a line drawing with an accented contour a detailed plastic elaboration. In these studies, the artist attentively reflects the stir- ring and heaving process of solid forms, a process that was transferred to the paper with the special sensual impression of an expansive and lazy rhythm. At first glance, Deineka’s magazine graphics ap- pear to have little to do with his school drawings. But somehow, the echo of the VKhUTEMAS lessons, even if not directly present in them, springs up in- directly and rather unexpectedly. In subject mat- ter and visual characteristics, Deineka’s magazine illustrations in many ways resemble the output of numerous other artists working in the same field. In an emphatic manner and without any hesitation or reflection, he depicted without fail priests that were Fundación Juan March fat and insolent; in real life, such priests were rarely encountered during the years of persecution of the church that began with the October Revolution and were still going strong during the NEP era. In contrast to other artists who successfully collaborated with antireligious publishers—such as Dmitrii Moor or Ev- genii Evgan—Deineka was little interested in expos- ing to derision and overthrowing the Supreme Being, who appears in his drawings comparatively rarely. Compared with other magazine caricaturists, the young artist was clearly wanting in terms of experi- ence and, especially, in terms of self-assured gloat- ing sarcasm. The lack of this quality in his graphic work was compensated by Deineka in his literal and figurative representation of priests, oppressors and exploiters of all kinds, in whom he did not spare black paint. It should be remembered that this was the gen- eral “trend” of those violent and uncompromising times. And yet, as regards the rest of his characters, whether they turned out to be under the influence of the church and the bourgeoisie—still not liquidated “as a class”—or dominated by their own nasty hab- its or unhappy circumstances, Deineka clearly felt incapable of treating them with real derision. Rather than laugh at them, he felt for them; he even seems to have sympathized with them. The genre of quick magazine drawing, most often executed with a pen or brush and India ink, did not require the author to confer a given personality on his heroes, especially during this time of global upsets. This situation served Deineka’s purpose for, as the critics rightly ob- served, he usually preferred to represent a character as a type rather than as an individual. This might be the reason why he practically never shows the faces of his central figures, most often presenting them in profile or from behind—a device he continued to use in his creative work for a long time. Notwithstanding, he was distinguished by the ability to “get under the skin” of any character-type with considerable artistry and to present him in broad strokes but at the same time with astounding vitality as regards gestures and mannerisms, and with the same interest with which he deliberately depicted the rough and heavy bod- ies of the female models in his school studies. By the same token, having survived in the existential condi- tions of revolution, war, famine, cold, typhus and so- cial chaos, this “collective-character,” by the very fact of his survival, already manifested something much greater than ordinary strength and natural vigor; and it is common knowledge that throughout his life, Deineka preferred to depict strong people. Under his brush, a terrible picture of the life of these average people—in terms of statistics and prototypes—of the early Soviet epoch took form. Flogged or shot by the class enemy, they appear baff led by the events taking place around them and, once imbued with a firm conviction in a given ideology, obviously not very humane, they can vote as one person ( Resolved Unanimously , 1925, The Kursk Deineka Picture Gal- lery). At times they make merry in a rollicking man- ner, while other times they remain as still and silent as a statue; they plod their way somewhere, stand in line for newspapers, sit at meetings, carry heavy loads from one place to another or wait to descend into a mine, from which not all are fated to return. The circumstances may lead some of them to a state of unbelievable, compulsive anguish (see the strik- ing large ink drawing It was Hot in the State Tretya- kov Gallery). Deineka’s scorching brush caught all of this generically but with surprising sympathy. In his late memoirs, he is by no means insincere when he states: “In my drawings and posters, I forgot about the figurative aspect; I was entirely absorbed by the subject—the inner state of a character.” 1 Even when working in a permanent state of alarm on new spins of a theme and with the alacrity that is endemic to the media world, the artist never forgot to pay attention to expressive form. Graphic journal- ism at the beginning of the twentieth century em- ployed expressionistic techniques, skewed perspec- tives and angular forms to deal with picture planes and contour lines. Aware of the fact that the form ac- companying revolutionary content should be clear, eff ective and easily readable at a distance, Deineka elaborated on this array of resources, using a combi- nation of diff erent angles and diverse points of view on a single sheet. He often built form not only with the help of ink spots, but also with gaps in the white paper background. Remembering the lessons of Fa- vorskii, Deineka imbued his black and white tones with a sensation of volume and even color, which add special expressiveness to his drawing. His later statements regarding the impact of the silhouette method of depiction that he often employed are well known: “The silhouette, being flat, is very responsive to plastically clear segmentation . . . A clear silhou- ette enjoys good visibility from a distance.” 2 Throughout his entire life, Deineka chose to make only preliminary sketches from the life and to work further from memory, which allowed him to do away with all that was superfluous and to compose his works in such a way that they would be etched in the memory of magazine readers. For entirely compre- hensible reasons, he identified these readers with his own characters. Sympathizing with them, and entire- ly imbued in the spirit of that aggressive and simul- taneously naïve epoch, he contrasted their unhappi- ness and delusions with images of constructive labor and sports competitions as an escape from seem- ingly fatal inevitability. This explains why toward the mid-1920s such sporting-labor motifs began to pro- liferate in Deineka’s work, and why he increasingly in- corporated them into his magazine drawings next to representations of those negative phenomena which should be eradicated. The general tone of his draw- ings became brighter, and he frequently introduced into them one or more complementary sources of light.
Deineka was one of the first artists to represent sports competitions. This was unusual and diff icult at the time. He recalls: “I wanted to compose a new plastic phenomenon and I was forced to work without historic references. I imagined and drew that which excited and interested the masses. Play and sport led me to find a language of my own.” 3 Movement, which had been one of his favorite subjects from the start, became the organizing force of his work. He also en- gaged in sport from an early age and was a highly energetic, dynamic and active person. Yet he only made up his mind to introduce sport (cross-country ski racing, football, boxing, diving, etc.) into his art toward the mid-1920s—and he seems to have made the right choice. At that time, many influential people from the Soviet government’s ruling circles directed their attention toward mass sport. Physical culture and exercise were regarded not only as a means to train healthy and hardy people—which was extremely important for the application of those methods of construction of socialism that Soviet Russia had chosen—but also as an incipient tool of mass politi- cal and ideological influence that could channel the collective inclinations of people and to some extent replace that which the ruling circles perceived as a threat to the established order, namely the absence of civil liberties. Deineka’s creative work persistently features sporting motifs: soccer players, skiers or boxers who are either completely taken up by the sport they are practicing or whose activities are linked to other issues. The artist often compels his footballers, surrounded by a crowd of supporters, to chase a ball near a church, the premises of which are empty without fail. In diff erent variations (they Fundación Juan March
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