My pal Allan's latest exhibition is “Ode to Food” at Gallery PROUN in Moscow.

"Grow the Cattle Production"

Regular readers will recall that over the years, I've repeatedly doffed my ushanka in the general direction of Allan Gamborg. It's hard to believe 27 years have passed since I first met Allan, Kim Andersen and Kim Wiesener during the rambunctious summer of '87. These three Danes of the apocalypse have been artfully weaving in and out of my travel narratives ever since, as during this famous escapade (in Allan's own words):

For example, I still think of the evening in that Belgium beer place (2000?), where all got complete rat-assed and the party just dissolved in utter chaos.

Ah, those were the daze.

Allan has lived in Moscow for at least 15 years, and somewhere around his third or fourth career in the workaday world, he assumed yet another identity: Purveyor and advocate of Soviet-era art and artists. You can use the handy Blogger search feature with "Gamborg," and view previous postings at NAC. The format's usually the same, and it's always worth a few minutes to peruse the art. You need not be a Commie to enjoy Allan's web site, Masters of Soviet Art.

This latest exhibition is near and dear to my own heart: "Ode to Food." Read the brief introduction, and view some of the works on display here.

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Dear Friends,

I am happy to invite you to the art exhibition “Ode to Food” at Gallery PROUN – Vinzavod, 1/7 4-y Siromyatnichesky per., Moscow.

Wednesday December 2, at 19.00

ODE to FOOD

Food is an every ingredient in our lives. Literally and metaphorically. The Exhibition show how food was depicted in Soviet art from the 1930s-1980s, as well as in contemporary Russian art.

From the collection of the Gamborg Gallery there will be app. 20 works exhibited - by Vera Livanova, Tatyana Livanova, Veniamin Briskin, Galina Shubina, Natalia Gippius, Amina Karamyan

See some of the here on our website: http://www.digitalsovietart.com/thematic-shows/140-soviet-food-markets-restaurants

I hope to see you there at the opening. If not, the exhibition is open until February 15.

New exhibitions at Masters of Soviet Art ... and big news from the proprietor, A. Gamborg.

"I just saved Angela Davis from the Moscow rains and winters. A big girl. Made in the 1970s, and she has been outside for at least 10 years. Just needs the hand of a gentle restorer. We shall overcome ... "

Over the years, I've repeatedly doffed my ushanka in the general direction of Allan Gamborg. It's hard to believe 27 years have passed since I first met Allan, Kim Andersen and Kim Wiesener during the rambunctious summer of '87. These three Danes of the apocalypse have been artfully weaving in and out of my travel narratives ever since, as during this famous escapade (in Allan's own words):

For example, I still think of the evening in that Belgium beer place (2000?), where all got complete rat-assed and the party just dissolved in utter chaos.

Ah, those were the daze.

Allan has lived in Moscow for at least 15 years, and somewhere around his third or fourth career in the workaday world, he assumed yet another identity: Purveyor and advocate of Soviet-era art and artists. You can use the handy Blogger search feature with "Gamborg," and view previous postings at NAC. The format's usually the same, and it's always worth a few minutes to peruse the art. You need not be a Commie to enjoy Allan's web site, Masters of Soviet Art.

This time around, there's a significant addendum: Allan's getting married, and quite soon. In fact, it might have been possible for us to attend one of the weddings, but logistics wouldn't bend. So, all the best to Allan and Irina.

There'll be time, down the road, when we'll all coincide once more.

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Dear Friends,

We have a series of new exhibitions on the web:

THEMES

Anti Colonialism Posters

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/thematic-shows/252-anti-colonialism-posters

In the 20th century, the USSR represented themselves as the foremost enemy of colonialism and imperialism, and thus politically and materially supported Third World revolutionary organisations who fought for national independence. These countries included Cuba and South American countries, many African countries, as well as South East Asia. We show a series of posters stating that point of view.

He Who Does Not Work Shall Not Eat ! (Кто не работает, тот не ест !)

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/thematic-shows/251-he-who-does-not-work-shall-not-eat

A famous slogan of the Soviet Union, part of the overall campaign to develop Socialist behaviour in the Soviet Population. The origin is from the bible: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat” is a Biblical aphorism derived from II Thessalonians 3:10. According to Vladimir Ilich Lenin, “He who does not work shall not eat” is a necessary principle under socialism, the preliminary phase of the evolution towards communist society. The phrase appears in his 1917 work, The State and Revolution. Through this slogan Lenin explains that in socialist states only productive individuals could be allowed access to the articles of consumption. We show here a series of works from 1963 by various famous poster artists interpreting that theme, for example by Viktor Govorkov, Veniamin Briskin and Valk.

ARTISTS

KONSTANTIN GNEUSHEV  (BORN 1922) 

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/artist-portfolios/250-konstantin-gneushev-born-1922

Konstantin Grigorevich Gneushev was born in Gneushevo, Orel. As a boy he went to a specialised art school. In 1938 he entered the MIPIDI, Moscow Institute of Applied and Decorative Art. In 1941 he volunteered for the army, and served on several fronts: He was seriously injured in 1942, and he received several distinguished medals for his service. After the war and several years of hospitalisation, he entered the Stroganov Institute, where his main teacher was the famous Pavel Kuznetsov. Other teachers were Aleksander Kuprin, Sergei Gerasimov, and Egorov. Konstantin Grigorevich's favourite media since the 1960s is the pastel. His style is light and full of life, showing a direct link to French impressionists. That was also noted mockingly by Alexander Kuprin during a students' exhibition at the Stroganov Institute. Gneushev was always very fond of sports. This can be observed in his numerous pastels and oils of the 1960s, depicting gymnastics, ice hockey, fencing, and swimming.  In the 1970s he was enchanted by the world of ballet and opera. In the mornings and the afternoons he would go to the theaters, most often the Stanislavsky, and paint the ballerinas and the corps de ballet during rehearsals and before the show. The circus is one of his passions. In his vintage years, Konstantin Grigorevich is painting mainly landscapes and still-lives, all in his favourite media - pastel. In his landscapes the sun always shines.

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales, illustrated by Nika Golts

Ганс Кристиан Андерсен, иллистрации Никы Гольц

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/book-illustrations/254-hans-christian-andersen-fairytales-illustrated-by-nika-golts-1925-2012

A series of original illustrations to Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales by famous Moscow book illustrator Nika Golts. On show are illustrations from The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Princess on the Pea, The Emperor's New Clothes, Little Ida's Flowers, The Money-Box, The Little Match-Seller, The Tinder-Box, Ole-Luk-Oie - The Dream-God, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Red Shoes, Soup from a Sausage Skewer, and The Shepherdess And The Chimney-Sweep.

Difficult Verses (Elena Blaginina) - illustrations by Marina Uspenskaya, 1960

Трудные стихи (Елена Благинина) - Марина Успенская, 1960

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/book-illustrations/253-difficult-verses-elena-blaginina-illustrations-by-marina-uspenskaya-1960

Original Illustrations by Marina Uspenskaya to the children's book from 1960 "Трудные стихи" (Difficult Verses) by Elena Blaginina. Publishing house: Detgiz. Printed in 70.000 copies. Price was 1.60 Roubles.

Enjoy the shows !

New catalogs at the Masters of Soviet Art website.

From time to time, I reintroduce my friend Allan Gamborg. He's Danish by birth, a longtime resident of Moscow, and truly a citizen of the planet.

Allan has enjoyed much success in his "second" (third? fifth?) career as a purveyor and advocate of Soviet-era art and artists. You can use the handy Blogger search here at NAC, use "Gamborg" as the search term, and see previous postings. These days, the website is called Masters of Soviet Art, and it's always worth a few minutes to peruse the art. You need not be a Commie to enjoy the links to Allan's on-line galleries.

As in the past, permit me to thank Allan for his boundless hospitality and for allowing me to share his latest links.

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Dear Friends,

In February we will issue a new catalogue (number 6) in the series “Master of Soviet Art” – with the artists Vera and Tatyana Livanova: Socialist posters, circus posters and costumes, theatre stage designs and costumes, film set designs, Siberian landscapes and power plants.

As a pre-view teaser, we can show – on our website -  the images of the art-work that will be included the catalogue. Please see below – and do look forward to the catalogue !

VERA LIVANOVA (1910-1998) 

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/artist-portfolios/233-vera-livanova-1910-1998

Vera Matveevna Livanova was born in Moscow. Her mother was Natalia Valeryavnovna Lyubavskaya (born Zyzykina), and her father was Matvey Kuzmich Lyubavsky - historian, professor and chancellor at the Moscow State University before the Revolution. In 1930 she graduated from the Theater Design department of the Vkhutein art institute - among her teachers were three icons of pre-war Soviet art, Gennady Gerasimov, Lev Bruni and Piotr Konchalovsky. Her style as a poster artist was shaped under the guidance of well-known masters of early Soviet art Aleksandr Deineka, Yuri Pimenov and Vladimir Tatlin. Vera Matveevna started her career as a professional artist in Perm doing theater designs. After two years in Perm she moved to Kiev where she started working as a poster artist. In 1936 Vera Livanova settled down in Moscow and in 1938 she became a member of the Moscow Union of Artists. Being very productive, from 1937 to 1968 Vera Livanova worked as a poster artist for the “Izogiz” and “Soviet Artist” publishing houses. In the period from 1958 to 1968 she carried out commissions for “Agitplakat”.At the beginning of her career with “Izogiz”, Livanova’s posters focused on topics related to the rise of agricultural and industrial standards under the Soviet regime. Common topics were those connected with elections, anniversaries and other political events celebrated by the Soviet ideology. Her posters show her mastery as a colourist, not being afraid of innovative colour solutions. During World War II Vera Livanova’s work focused on mass propaganda themes. The first poster announcing the defeat of fascist Germany was created by her. After the war Livanova turned to the concept of post-war reconstruction of Soviet agriculture. She also published posters dealing with elections, with titles such as “Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR” and “The Constitution of the USSR”.Livanova’s posters of the fifties demonstrate the artist’s fascination with the traditional Russian “lubok”. Her series of posters dedicated to Moscow’s 800th anniversary depict a composition and a range of colours very much alike the style of popular lubok images. The sixties focused on international themes. Slogans such as “Freedom to Africa!”, “May. Peace. Labour!”, “Peace and Happiness for the World!” are typical of that period. Through her career Vera Livanova traveled extensively in the Soviet Union - all documented in her masterful pencil drawings and gouaches. Destinations were Khosta in 1957, Gurzuf and the Crimea in the 1960s, and the developing Siberia of the1960s - Divnogorsk, the Enisei river, and the construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydro power plant in Dudinka.Vera Livanova and her husband German Livanov, architect and theater director, provided a significant artistic inspiration for their daughter Tatyana, and Vera Matveevna designed several posters together with her daughter. 

TATYANA LIVANOVA (1931-2012) 

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/artist-portfolios/235-tatyana-livanova-1931-2012

Tatyana Germanovna Livanova was born in Perm. Her father German Livanov was an architect and theater director, and her mother, Vera Livanova, was a famous Soviet poster artist. She graduated as a designer from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. During her career, Livanova has been working as a set and costume design artist for the circus, cinema, ballet and drama, as well as for TV productions. Livanova formed herself as an artist under the guidance of outstanding masters, such as Yuri Pimenov, Grigory Schegal and Joseph Shpinel. Her graduation work was set designs for the film by Nikolai Pogodin “The Kremlin Chiming Clock”, and her first official assignment after graduation was costumes to the film “A War Secret”.In the early 1960s she designed  costumes, posters and programs for the Soviet State Circus. During that period she designed several political posters, together with her mother Vera Livanova. All through her career, she designed sets and costumes for a large number of films, e.g. the Mosfilm productions “Summerfolks” (Maksim Gorky), “The Youth is with Us”, “The Only Way”, “The Birds Fly North”, and the TV productions “Two Captains” and “Truth Is Good But Happiness Is Better“ (Alexander Ostrovsky).Tatyana Germanovna considered the most important period of her career was her work with director Boris Babochkin at the Maly Theater, for example with the Ostrovsky plays “Truth Is Good But Happiness Is Better“and “A Profitable Place”, the Maksim Gorky plays “Dostigayev and Others” and “Counterfeit Money”. She also did designs for “Zar Potap” (Alexander Kapkov), “Mother’s Field” (Chingiz Aitmatov), “The Road To Calvary” (Aleksei Tolstoy), “The Wedding” (Mikhail Zoshchenko), “The Glass  Menagerie” (Tennessee Williams), “The Comedy of Errors” (William Shakespeare), and about 20 more plays. Livanova prepared costumes and stage designs for the Tatar State Theater of Opera and Ballet’s production of “Sleeping Beauty” (Peter Chaikovsky), and for the ballet “Leili and Medzhyn” (Sergei Balasanyan).

Enjoy the shows !

New exhibitions at the Masters of Soviet Art website.

From time to time, I reintroduce my friend Allan Gamborg. He's Danish by birth, a longtime resident of Moscow, and truly a citizen of the planet.

Allan has enjoyed much success in his "second" (third? fifth?) career as a purveyor and advocate of Soviet-era art and artists. You can use the handy Blogger search here at NAC, use "Gamborg" as the search term, and see previous postings. These days, the website is called Masters of Soviet Art, and it's always worth a few minutes to peruse the art. You need not be a Commie to enjoy the links to Allan's on-line galleries.

As in the past, permit me to thank Allan for his boundless hospitality and for allowing me to share his latest links.

Dear Friends,

We have a series of  new exhibitions on the on the web:

THEMES

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS IN SOVIET POSTERS

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/thematic-shows/201-acronyms-and-abbreviations-in-soviet-posters

In the early days of the Soviet Union, each social or political innovation by the Soviet government gave rise to new linguistic multisyllabic slogans  - one longer and more awkward than the other - and thus the Russian language was losing the elegance and lightness of the pre-revolution Russian language.

The Russian language evolved in step with the Soviet man. Some examples of acronyms have become generally recognizable, for example Kolkhoz (collective farm - колхоз) and Кomsomol (Young communists' league, комсомол - ВЛКСМ).

ARTISTS

VADIM TROFIMOV (1912-1981) 

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/artist-portfolios/202-vadim-trofimov-1912-1981

Vadim Vadimovich Trofimov was born in the city of Ulyanovsk and moved to Moscow in 1920. He started taking art classes in 1928 with the artist Vatagin, studying both drawing and sculpture - a combination that remained with him through his whole career. His first job a an artist was at the Moscow Darwin museum, where he found his passion for depicting animals. In the 1930 he started working as a book illustrator, for the publishing houses Detskaya Literatura and Prosveshenie. During the war he worked as a poster artist for the famous studio Okna TASS (Tass Windows). He served in WW2 on the Bryansk and the Belorussian fronts, and was awarded several medals. He traveled many times to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), drawing and making lithographs of the daily life on the island. Also, he traveled extensively in the Russian North, depicting Northern animals and Northern landscapes. In his later years he mainly worked in sculpture, plaster, concrete, metal, creating life-size animals and compositions. The State Tretyakov museum in Moscow has a large collection of his works on permanent exhibition, and so does the Moscow Darwin museum. Vadim Vadimovich's daughter Irina Trofimova is a famous textile designer and batik artist, and member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.

VLADIMIR FAVORSKY (1886-1964)

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/artist-portfolios/203-vladimir-favorsky-1886-1964

Vladimir Andreevich Favorsky is by many considered the most influential artist and teacher in the disciplines of book illustrations, woodcut and linocut. He became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, and a People's Artist (Народный художник СССР) of the USSR in 1963.  He studied under Konstantin Yuon in 1903-05, and then in Munich 1903-1907. From 1907-1913 he studied at Moscow art schools. As an artist, Vladimir Favorsky created an impressive amount of book illustrations in the woodcut and linocut media during the 1920s and 1930s.  As a teacher, Vladimir Favorsky was active in VKHUTEMAS 1920-1930, where he taught and inspired a whole generation of Soviet graphic artists, including Deineka and Pimenov. He taught at the Polygraphic institute from 1930-34, and at the Institute of Fine Arts 1934-38.  He also developed a theory - still used today - of how to design and illustrate books.

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

ABOUT THE GIRL NASTYA AND THE MALICIOUS INVISIBLE GIRL (YURY VYAZEMSKY) - MARINA USPENSKAYA, 1986

ПРО ДЕВОЧКУ НАСТЮ И ЗЛУЮ НЕВИДИМКУ (ЮРИЙ ВЯЗЕМСКИЙ)

http://www.digitalsovietart.com/book-illustrations/204-about-the-girl-nastya-and-the-malicious-invisible-girl-yury-vyazemsky-marina-uspenskaya-1986

The children's book was Issued by the publishing house Malysh. Printed in 175.000 copies, price was 25 kopecks.

Enjoy the shows !