Social History of Russian and Soviet Art

Kotlomanov A.O. Twilight Biennale: Russian art life as if it mattered. Vestnik SPbSU. Arts, 2018, vol. 8, issue 2, pp. 320–324. (In Russian)
Котломанов А.О. Сумерки биеннале: российская художественная жизнь, как если бы она имела значение // Вестник СПбГУ. Искусствоведение. 2018. Т. 8. Вып. 2. С. 320–324.

The article investigates the process of birth and development of the scientific approach to restoration in Russia which starts in the Eighteenth century but assumes its modern form only in the Twentieth century. The selected topic is therefore of great interest as there’re no many recent studies on it in Russia and there’s a lack of related materials in foreign languages, Italian included. These circumstances are even more unfair if to consider the precious contribution of foreign or foreign-born restoration professionals in the formation process of the Russian restoration school. An accurate investigation of the State Tretyakov Gallery’s Archive in Moscow allowed the author to fill this gap and to provide the relevant information about the interventions of the early Twentieth century. The scientifically-based approach of these interventions was strongly linked to the previous, difficult and not always successful way of the early Russian restoration and conservation practice.

Ознакомительная версия.

Автор статей и составитель альбома Д. Ю. Кривошей, автор аннотаций к предметам каталога М. И. Вилькин. — М.: ООО «Буки Веди», 2021. – 160 с.: ил.

Альбом посвящен искусству златоустовской гравюры на стали периода ранних Советов. Книга рассказывает о становлении, расцвете и угасании этого самобытного промысла, редкие архивные материалы раскрывают личности златоустовских мастеров и демонстрируют авторские эскизы украшенного топора.
Каталог, составленный на основе коллекции М.И. Вилькина, дает возможность увидеть уникальные предметы в полном размере и подробно рассмотреть детали. Издание адресовано как специалистам, так и широкому кругу читателей, интересующихся русским агитационным искусством 1920–1930-х годов.

Esta investigación tiene como propósito analizar la potencialidad revolucionaria que José Carlos Mariátegui reconoció en el cine realista vanguardista de la Rusia Soviética y en el cine realista de Charles Chaplin entre 1919 y 1929, al concebir a ambos como capaces de llegar a las masas obreras y concientizarlas sobre las injusticias sociales dentro del capitalismo. Hay que señalar que el contexto europeo que Mariátegui vivió en su exilio fue lo que influenció en su perspectiva del cine como arma revolucionaria, pues tuvo contacto directo con un cine vanguardista europeo y soviético que, a diferencia del hollywoodiense, sí estaba más vinculado a fomentar una conciencia política crítica. Así, en futuras publicaciones como “El Alma Matinal”, Mariátegui se dedica a analizar el cine soviético a partir de cómo su nacionalización permite que sea un cine accesible a todo el pueblo ruso, y a partir de su contenido anticapitalista revolucionario. Sin embargo, dentro del cine hollywoodiense, Mariátegui rescató la cinematografía de Charles Chaplin: sus personajes representativos del pueblo obrero, y su crítica hacia las injusticias sociales del capitalismo.

Este trabajo propone que Mariátegui reconoció al cine soviético y al cine de Chaplin como producciones que priorizaban los fines políticos de crítica y cambio socioeconómico; por ende, demostrando la potencialidad del cine como arma de revolución cultural.  De acuerdo a ello, en un primer capítulo analiza las características generales del cine de Hollywood, de Europa vanguardista y de la Rusia Soviética, junto con sus diferencias fundamentales en lo estético y en su rol político. También se retratan los rasgos específicos del cine de Charles Chaplin. En el segundo capítulo, a partir de los apuntes de Mariátegui entre 1911 y 1919, se analiza el potencial revolucionario del cine más radical de los tres: el soviético, y de la cinematografía excepcional dentro de Hollywood: la de Charles Chaplin. Desde la lectura del pensador peruano, se concluye que mientras que el cine soviético se configuraba como un subespecie sin clases con claro contenido anticapitalista debido a ser reflejo de una ideología comunista clara, el cine de Chaplin funcionó dentro de Hollywood como una producción excepcional que aún así era crítica con el capitalismo y más representativa del obrero que los otros éxitos comerciales hollywoodienses. Para tal propósito se ha realizado una búsqueda bibliográfica de investigaciones de reciente publicación que interpretan las fuentes primarias donde Mariátegui expone su perspectiva. En este sentido, las investigaciones de Christian Zegarra, Álvaro Campuzano, Mónica Bernabé, Michelle Clayton, entre otros, han sido fundamentales.

Котломанов А.О. Паблик-арт: страницы истории. Современное русское искусство в общественном пространстве. Часть 1. Монументальная скульптура. Вестн. С.-Петерб. гос. ун-та. Сер. 15. Искусствоведение. 2015. Вып. 4. С. 55—65.
Kotlomanov A.O. Public art: the pages of history. Contemporary Russian art in the public space. Part 1: Monumental sculpture. Vestnik SPbSU. Series 15. Arts, 2015, issue 4, pp. 55–65 (In Russian).
The article continues the series of publications on the topic of public art. It looks at some trends of Russian art life, the key subject is monumental sculpture of 1990–2000s. The article presents a comparative analysis of the strategies of the Western public art and public art of the Soviet Union. It highlights the work of Zurab Tsereteli that characterizes the situation of the traditional monumental sculpture as a whole. The author also focuses on some of the works of Ernst Neizvestny, Mihail Chemiakin and Rezo Gabriadze representing an alternative method of expressing ideas in the sculpture material. The final conclusions of the article are connected with the analysis of the possibility of development in Russia new forms and methods of public art.

Soviet-art is more often considered an instrument of politics than a full-fledged art-movement. Because of its subjection to communist ideology, the visual heritage of the USSR is still subject of current heated political debate. In this paper I give a brief background on public artworks and socialist modernism in architecture, to consequently observe policies and standpoints taken by politicians in Ukraine towards these visual remnants of the past.

Имя московского архитектора и инженера первой четверти ХХ века Никиты Герасимовича Лазарева нельзя назвать совершенно забытым, однако специальных работ о нём в литературе нет, а немногочисленные справочные статьи содержат неточности и пробелы. В докладе ставится цель реконструировать творческую биографию Н.Г. Лазарева и уточнить атрибуцию некоторых построек мастера, опираясь на материалы из архивов Москвы и Санкт-Петербурга, которые впервые вводятся докладчиком в научный оборот.

Котломанов А.О. Тимур Новиков и «нулевые». Петербургское современное искусство в поисках идентичности // Вестн. С.-Петерб. гос. ун-та. Сер. 15. Искусствоведение. 2012. Вып. 2. С. 173—183.
Kotlomanov A.O. Timur Novikov and the Zero years. Petersburg contemporary art in search of identity. Vestnik SPbSU. Series 15. Arts, 2012, issue 2, pp. 173–183. (In Russian).
Considered the actual problems of the St. Petersburg art life of the last decade. Analyzed the role of the artist Timur Novikov in the art of St. Petersburg of the late 1990s — early 2000s, his influence on the formation of the myth of St. Petersburg Neo-Academism in the art criticism of the 2000s. Also considered the figure of the artist and art critic Marina Koldobskaya, in the 2000s the director of the St. Petersburg Center for Contemporary Art. The final conclusions of the article related to the analysis of the phenomenon of the artist-leader, as well as a statement of the current state of artistic life in St. Petersburg.

Anche in: Storia della civiltà europea. Vol. 16 - il Novecento. Arti visive,  RCS Quotidiani - Special edition for Il Corriere della Sera, Milano 2008, ISBN: 9771828050157, pp. 42-47.

Dal mondo antico allʼinizio del terzo millennio: migliaia di saggi e oltre 10.000 immagini, un imponente corpus testuale e iconografico organizzato in periodi cronologici e in aree tematiche: storia, filosofia, arti visive, scienza e tecnologia, musica, letteratura e teatro, comunicazione. Unʼopera curata da Umberto Eco, che propone nuove modalità di esplorazione della storia e del sapere e che offre potenti strumenti capaci di intrecciare e collegare, grazie a percorsi dinamici, i personaggi, le idee e gli eventi che hanno formato la nostra cultura. Lʼidea di partenza di Umberto Eco è quella di realizzare unʼopera a carattere enciclopedico che aiuti ad avere il senso delle distanze storiche, a stabilire rapporti di contemporaneità tra eventi di natura diversa e che consenta di ricostruire fenomeni di lunga durata, dinamiche sociali e culturali, comportamenti della vita quotidiana. Il progetto della Storia della Civiltà Europea, nato nel 1993, antesignano di unʼeditoria multimediale di qualità, raggiunge solo il suo compimento editoriale e la sua maturità tecnologica, organizzando i propri contenuti in ogni formato disponibile per ogni tipo di pubblico.

Nel Novecento gli intrecci fra arte, politica, società hanno prodotto ribaltamenti, cancellazioni e rinascite di modelli artistici oscillanti fra la ricerca di un ordine nuovo e la fascinazione per l’irrazionale, fra l’assunzione dell’arte come strumento politico e il rigetto di ogni ideologia, fra la tensione a un’arte individuale e aristocratica o al contrario anonima e collettiva. Nella collisione di fine Ottocento fra tradizione e novità dirompenti cola a picco l’idea di continuità nella storia: il secolo si apre all’insegna della rottura e delle sperimentazioni più ardite in termini di linguaggio e di contenuti. Le avanguardie, tra cui si contano cubismo, espressionismo, futurismo, neoplasticismo e costruttivismo, alleate in un percorso di astrazione, tagliano traguardi che paiono senza ritorno: la cancellazione del soggetto, la forma come forma assoluta, la nuova preminenza del linguaggio, la negazione del racconto, l’esilio dei sentimenti, tutte conquiste che sanciscono il primato culturale dell’Europa. Finché nell’arco di alcuni decenni si verifica un capovolgimento di prospettiva col ritorno al figurativo e con lo spostamento del cuore culturale dall’Europa verso New York e Los Angeles, rimesso più tardi in discussione dall’emergere della nuova polarità dell’Asia. In questo ebook si possono trovare tutte le maggiori espressioni artistiche del Novecento, in cui l’ideale dell’arte subisce un progressivo spostamento verso il futuro, arrivando, nelle sue forme più estreme, a produrre un’arte internazionalista, senza radici e senza memoria, dotata di una lingua aniconica universale, che cancella i confini delle identità nazionali e si proietta nella realtà globalizzata.

In connection with the controversy around the Tretyakov Gallery exhibition "NotForever. 1968—1985" it's analyzed the range of texts on the problems of the methodology of art history analysis. Among the issues raised in these publications is the possibility or impossibility of a unified art history of the Soviet period with equal attention to "official" and "unofficial" art, the problem of the correspondence of Soviet art history and Soviet art criticism to objective criteria for the analysis of works of art. Considered the phenomenon of the new actualization of Soviet critical rhetoric in the texts of 2000—2010s. It's proposed the concept of "sovereign" art history in context of the preservation and development of the Russian national cultural tradition.

Начиная с 1930-х годов, переосмысливая сталинскую формулу «национальная культура по форме и пролетарская по содержанию», историки описывают рождение искусства в советских республиках как процесс возникновения и становления так называемых «национальных школ»: живописных, музыкальных, архитектурных и т.д. При этом фигуры «национальных» и «ненациональных» художников, т.е. художников, принадлежащих или не принадлежащих к титульным нациями, наделялись различными смысловыми функциями, а сами эти художники играли различные социальные роли. Предназначением «национального художника» виделось непосредственное выражение «национального искусства», его голос считался подлинным и синтетическим. Роль «ненациональных художников» оставалась амбивалентной и неопределенной, хотя их вклад в создание ряда «национальных культур» был не просто значительным, но порой и предопределяющим. В тексте рассматриваются различные типы восприятий «национальных» и «ненациональных» художников, а также термины, в которых осуществлялось различение одних и других. Материалом для анализа служит история искусства республик Средней Азии и в особенности Узбекистана. Согласно главной гипотезе статьи, различия между «национальными» и «ненациональными» художниками были укоренены в бинарных презумпциях ориентализма. Однако в реальности ситуация не была строго бинарной из-за нескольких факторов. Во-первых, существовали группы художников, которые могли фигурировать в описаниях критиков и как «национальные», и как «ненациональные». Во-вторых, концепт «национального искусства» сосуществовал параллельно с концептом «народного искусства», который нередко был более инклюзивен. В-третьих, искусство «национальных» и «ненациональных» художников представало в различных оптиках, если сравнить описания московских и среднеазиатских критиков. Эти и другие дискурсивные особенности лишали ситуацию ее видимой дихотомичности.

The current trends of Russian monumental sculpture are analyzed in the context of the discussion of new sculptural memorials that have appeared recently in Moscow. The main focus is on the history of the creation of a memorial to the victims of political repression in Moscow. It particularly considers works of the Russian sculptor Georgy Frangulyan whose works play a significant role in the formation of ideas about the  latest  trends  in  the  art  culture  of  Russia.  For  comparison,  examples  of  European  and  American sculpture of recent decades are presented including the works of Henry Moore, Alfred Hrdlicka, and Richard Serra. The theme of monuments and memorials is revealed in the context of artistic problems, urban situation, socio-political tendencies. Monumental sculpture is nderstood as a symptom of the state of Russian society, a form of social outlook.

In connection with the erection of the monument to Vladimir the Great in Moscow, contemporary trends in historical monumentalization in Russia are considered, as well as similar processes in other countries. Traced is the history of the dominant monuments dedicated to outstanding historical figures. Key examples of the newest period are highlighted, among which religious monuments are emphasized. Also, in connection with Zurab Tsereteli's project of creating a colossal figure of Christ, analyzed are examples of sculptures in the form of a figurative super-monuments symbolizing the idea of the triumph of religion. The newest tendencies of monumentalization are proposed to be considered as a phenomenon characterizing the emergent crises in contemporary culture. Their number reflects the general symptomatology of the decline of the figurative method in art, the inertial stage of its evolution. Final conclusions are related to the formulation of the need to limit this process, to develop new criteria of, to recognize the problems of monumental sculpture in common international context.

В связи с сооружением памятника Владимиру Великому в Москве анализируются современные тенденции исторической монументализации в России, а также аналогичные процессы в других странах. Прослеживается история памятников-доминант, посвященных выдающимся историческим личностям. Выделены ключевые примеры новейшего периода, среди которых акцентируются религиозные монументы. Также в связи с предложенным Зурабом Церетели проектом создания колоссальной фигуры Христа анализируются примеры скульптур в форме фигуративного сверхмонумента символизирующих идею триумфа религии. Новейшие тенденции монументализации предлагается рассматривать как феномен, характеризующий кризисные явления современной культуры. Их количество отражает общую симптоматику упадка фигуративного метода в искусстве, инерционную стадию его эволюции. Итоговые выводы связаны с формулировкой необходимости ограничения данного процесса, выработки новых критериев качества, признания проблем монументальной скульптуры в объективном контексте.

Котломанов А.О. Паблик-арт: страницы истории. Феномен контр-монумента и кризис мемориальной традиции в современной монументальной скульптуре // Вестн. С.-Петерб. гос. ун-та. Сер. 15. Искусствоведение. 2015. Вып. 1. С. 53—70.
Kotlomanov A.O. Public art: the pages of history. The phenomenon of counter-monument and the crisis of memorial tradition in contemporary monumental sculpture. Vestnik SPbSU. Series 15. Arts, 2015, issue 1, pp. 53–70. (In Russian)
The article explores the problems of the origin and evolution of the genre of counter-monument in sculpture of the second half of the XX — early XXI century. Considered a range of issues related to the reasons for the emergence of such a direction, its relationship with the ideas of public art and the general crisis of monumental sculpture. Also traces the history of the most outstanding monuments of memorial sculpture in Western Europe after the Second World War. A comparative analysis of stylistic characteristics is done in Soviet war memorials and alternative forms of memorialization in the practice of modern foreign sculpture. Particular analyzed examples are the counter-monuments in modern Germany. The final part of the article is related to the analysis of Holocaust memorials, established in Vienna and Berlin in the 2000s and still causing debates about the adequacy of their embodiment the ideas of memory and repentance.

Котломанов А.О. Паблик-арт: страницы истории. Современное русское искусство в общественном пространстве. Часть 2. Новые формы // Вестн. С.-Петерб. гос. ун-та. Сер. 15. Искусствоведение. 2016. Вып. 1. С. 68—80.
Kotlomanov A.O. Public art: the pages of history. Contemporary Russian art in the public space. Part 2: New forms of art. Vestnik SPbSU. Series 15. Arts, 2016, issue 1, pp. 68–80 (In Russian).
The article continues the series of publications on the topic of public art. It looks at some trends of Russian art life of the last two decades; the key subject is contemporary art. The article presents the most vivid examples of social activity of contemporary Russian artists associated with collective projects and art festivals. Also it makes a comparative analysis of the Western public art and its analogies in Russia. It analyzes the reaction of the domestic public to contemporary art, the interactions of the artists and society. The author focuses on public art projects in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Perm, highlighting the most typical, in his view, names and events. The final conclusions of the article are connected with analysis of the possibility of development in Russia distinctive forms and methods of public art.

Статья посвящена западной реакции как структурирующему фактору в отношениях между «полем искусства» и «полем власти» в СССР в 1960-70-е годы. Автор полемизирует с распространенным представлением о том, что на смягчение отношения к «другому искусству» в СССР повлияло давление западного общественного мнения, и доказывает, что советская власть согласилась с существованием «другого» искусства и попыталась использовать его для улучшения своей репутации прежде всего в глазах «просоветских сил» – стратегия, которую художники хорошо понимали и в свою очередь использовали и в качестве «охранной грамоты», и как способ для повышения своего статуса в «поле искусства».

Статья посвящена малоисследованным эпизодам творческой биографии И. В. Жолтовского. На основе архивных материалов предпринята попытка реконструкции истории создания Русского павильона на Всемирной выставке в Риме 1911 г., а также впервые описаны обстоятельства появления проекта павильона СССР на Миланской ярмарке 1926 г. Кроме того, авторами статьи предложена переатрибуция некоторых листов проектной графики, хранящихся в ГНИМА им. А. В. Щусева и НИМ РАХ, в том числе приписываемых до сей поры другим мастерам.

Kotlomanov A.O. It's boring and pathetic, but it’s art: Venice biennale 2017. Vestnik SPbSU. Arts, 2017, vol. 7, issue 3, pp. 373–377. (In Russian)
Котломанов А.О. Это скучно и пафосно, но это искусство: Венецианская биеннале — 2017 // Вестник СПбГУ. Искусствоведение. 2017. Т. 7. Вып. 3. С. 373–377.

"We need to create quickly and decisively the new equipment throughout the life of the productive class...": the history of the first tertiary art school in Tambov. 1919-1922.

Аннотация: В статье рассматривается ранее не исследованная история возникновения и деятельности так называемых Свободных художественных мастерских в Тамбове (1919 -1922). На основе впервые выявленных им архивных источников автор стремится доказать, что, сравнительно недолгий срок существования этой интереснейшей в своем роде экспериментальной школы был обусловлен отнюдь не «обреченностью» самого эксперимента в принципе, а, скорее, тяжелыми экономическими условиями послереволюционных лет, в которых он вынужден был развиваться. Несмотря ни на что, это новаторская экспериментальная школа внесла существенный вклад в развитие художественной жизни региона и сумела дать образование ряду местных деятелей искусства. Как и в других региональных СГХМ, повсеместно возникавших в тот же период, здесь впервые были восприняты и реализованы на практике многие новаторские идеи, выдвинутые и развитые крупными теоретиками раннесоветского искусства и ставшие мощным творческим импульсом в художественной истории города.
Abstracts:The article examines the previously unexplored history and activities of the so-called Free art studios (SGHM) in Tambov (1919-1922). Based on the recent found archival sources the author seeks to prove that, in a relatively short period of existence of this interesting kind of experimental schools was not due to "doom" the experiment in principle, but rather difficult economic conditions of the post-revolutionary years in which he was forced to develop. No matter what, this is a groundbreaking experimental high school made a significant contribution to the development of the artistic life of the region and managed to educate a number of local artists. As in other regional SGHM, universally experienced in the same period, there were first adopted and put into practice many innovative ideas put forward and developed by major theorists of early Soviet art and become a powerful creative impetus in the artistic history of the city.

RESUMO: Após o recente centenário da Revolução Russa, é necessário examinar tal acontecimento histórico a fim de refletirmos a atualidade da luta das mulheres, em uma perspectiva social e cultural. Soldadas invisíveis dos processos revolucionários do período, a história também não foi gentil com a memoração de seus nomes e feitos no que se refere às produções no campo das artes, em um momento em que desafiaram o panorama misógino da modernidade. O triunfo da vanguarda russa é impensável sem a participação das mulheres artistas. Entretanto, quando iremos apreciar as obras, ler ou ouvir falar do resgate da arte folclórica de Natalia Davidova, das composições suprematistas de Nina Genke-Meller, das iluminuras de Alexandra Exter, dos livros de artista, trajes e cenários para ballet de Natalia Goncharova, das arquiteturas pintáveis de Liubov Popova, do neoprimitivismo de Olga Rozanova, das gravuras de Kseniya Boguslavskaya, da poesia visual de Varvara Stepanova, dos ornamentos de Nadezhda Udaltsova, dentre outras? Pretendo abordar aqui uma base de estudos críticos em relação às práticas artísticas do período que compete à vanguarda russa pré e imediatamente pós Revolução de 1917, sob a perspectiva das artistas mulheres. Dessa forma, proponho uma compreensão de modos de interpretação e linguagens diferenciadas, uma anamnese de sujeitos pertinentes, a fim de documentar e ilustrar uma história da arte dentro de diferentes regimes de visibilidade e condições de produção cultural.  / ABSTRACT: After the recent centenary of the Russian Revolution, it is necessary to examine this historical event in order to reflect the current relevance of the struggle of women in a social and cultural perspective. Invisible soldiers of the revolutionary processes of the period, history was also not gentle with the memory of their names and deeds
in the field of arts, at a time when they challenged the misogynist panorama of modernity. The triumph of the Russian vanguard is unthinkable without the participation of female artists. However, when we will appreciate the works, read or hear about the rescue of the folk art of Natalia Davidova, Nina Genke-Meller's suprematist compositions, Alexandra Exter's illuminations, Natalia Goncharova's artist's books, costumes and ballet scenarios, the painting of Liubov Popova, the neoprimitivism of Olga Rozanova, the engravings of Kseniya
Boguslavskaya, the visual poetry of Varvara Stepanova, the ornaments of Nadezhda Udaltsova, among others? I intend to approach here a basis of critical studies in relation to the artistic practices of the period that competes to the Russian vanguard before and immediately after the Revolution of 1917, from the perspective of the female artists. Thus, I propose an understanding of modes of interpretation and differentiated languages, an anamnesis of relevant subjects, in order to document and illustrate a history of art within different regimes of visibility and
conditions of cultural production.

Text was published in 4th volume of the book Mikhail Dashevsky. Native Retro. 1962-2002. Photo Saga
Moscow: 2020. ISBN 978-5-6042736-9-2

Dashevsky photographed, selected, printed—lived inside photography—within the modernist discourse. In this system the reality of a negative is not equal to the final form of a print. To avoid sense distortion of re-publication (especially in mass media), exhibition is the best space for an author’s print. A direct contact between the viewer and the author. Eye to eye. Thus an exhibition print is understood as the highest form of existence of an author’s photographic work...
What was so dazzling about Dashevsky’s test prints? The layers of notes, squiggles, and cropping marks which recorded the multiple stages of searching for the final form. The palimpsest of lines and author’s notes, sometimes of varying colors, written with a marker, pen, or pencil, was an evidence not only of the work on creating a vintage item, but also of time, the change of epochs lived through by the photographer. The idea of what to include in the frame changed, the perception of the photographic composition itself evolved—and these processes were reflected in photographer’s work. The evolution of photographic vision is not a quick process: it takes years and even decades. Over the course of sixty years in photography, Dashevsky not only took photos; he reverted to his negatives, reviewed them, and reflected on their contents. He reread them and sometimes rediscovered. A negative of a candid photo contains infinite details which make up texts and are made manifest through the context of viewer’s time. A negative of a documentary image is like a book. We take it from the shelf, plunge into it and learn something new. Something that has been in it initially, but hasn’t resonated with our experience, hasn’t been marked by our attention, hasn’t survived in our memory.

Russian / English

Kotlomanov A.O. Noncritical realism: symptoms of Russian art life of 2016. Vestnik SPbSU. Series 15. Arts, 2016, issue 4, pp. 101–108 (In Russian).
Котломанов А.О. Некритический реализм: симптомы российской художественной жизни 2016 года // Вестн. С.-Петерб. гос. ун-та. Сер. 15. Искусствоведение. 2016. Вып. 4. С. 101—108.

The  paper has two objectives. Firstly, it explores the preconditions, establishment and development of curatorial activities in Late-Soviet Moscow. Through the discussion of selected exhibitions, it tracks the changes that happened in the relations between the state, the underground and its publics. It will focus on the period from 1974 and the infamous Bulldozer exhibition to 1992 and the last project of the first team of Regina Gallery. Secondly, it will address the current state of research into curatorial practice in Russia and consider the potential that curatorial approach can offer for re-examining Late-Soviet art.

Tom R. Chambers creates the “S” Series. The "S" represents Stalin (Joseph). The large "S" cuts through the iconic, geometric works of Kazimir Malevich: "Black Square", "Black Circle", "Red Square", "Black Cross", and "White Square". The Stalinist regime turned against forms of abstraction, considering them a type of "bourgeois" art that could not express social realities. As a consequence, many of Malevich's works were confiscated, and he was banned from creating and exhibiting similar art.

RESUMO: Esse artigo pretende abordar uma nova base de estudos críticos em relação às práticas artísticas do período que compete à vanguarda russa pré e imediatamente pós Revolução de 1917, sob a perspectiva das artistas mulheres, em contraste com uma história da arte organizada unicamente em torno de uma perspectiva masculina. Dessa forma, o artigo propõe uma compreensão de modos de interpretação e linguagens diferenciadas, uma anamnese de sujeitos pertinentes, bem como possíveis posicionamentos éticos e políticos. Tem como objetivo responder à natureza heterodoxa da produção em arte e sugerir um novo exame, a fim de documentar e ilustrar uma história da arte dentro de diferentes regimes de visibilidade e condições de produção cultural. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:  Mulheres e Revolução. Arte Soviética. Revisionismo.  /  ABSTRACT: This article intends to approach a new base of critical studies in relation to the artistic practices of the period that competes the Russian vanguard before and immediately after the Revolution of 1917, from the perspective of the female artists, in contrast to a history of the art organized only around a male perspective. In this way, it proposes an understanding of different modes of interpretation and languages, an anamnesis of pertinent subjects, as well as possible ethical and political positions. Its purpose is to respond to the heterodox nature of art production and suggest a new examination in order to document and illustrate a history of art within different regimes of visibility and conditions of cultural production. KEYWORDS: Women and Revolution. Soviet art. Revisionism.

The current paper proposes to investigate debates on creating the first museum of contemporary art in Moscow in the last Soviet years. It analyses a number of strategies developed by various art practitioners and different criteria on a basis of which a new canon for collecting contemporary art was to be established. The paper suggests to regard those proposals in the contexts of social and political restructuring and openness introduced by Gorbachev’s liberalisation.

Kotlomanov A.O. 'And the battle continues...' Russian art life in 1917/2017. Vestnik SPbSU. Arts, 2017, vol. 7, issue 2, pp. 287–291. DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu15.2017.209. (In Russian).
Котломанов А.О. 'И вновь продолжается бой...' Российская художественная жизнь в 1917/2017 году // Вестник СПбГУ. Искусствоведение. 2017. Т. 7. Вып. 2. С. 287–291. DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu15.2017.209.