The Avant Garde Movement in Russia - Essay Example

The Avant Garde movement in Russia Introduction: The avant garde movement in Russia was existence in 1949 to the year 1952, the term avant garde is a Russian term that means the front guards or the van guards, this term refers to the work that is usually meant for experimenting, this work include art and politics and also culture. The movement was meant to push the boundaries of norms and the status quo. This paper discusses the avant garde movement and the work of some Russian artists who include Natalia Goncharova, Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky who were Russians. Kandinsky work introduced the use of form and colour in painting, he actively contributed to the avant garde movement in that he used form and colour to bring out the feelings he wanted to express to the viewers of his painting, he also introduced the use of abstract painting and created the independence of paintings to the forms of nature, this is evident from the use of colours that do not resemble any living form in the world. Natalia Goncharova on the other hand also played a role in the avant garde movement in Russia in that she was influenced to paint by the fact that the folk art of Russia to her seemed to primitive, she therefore together with her husband worked to organize the donkey tail art exhibition which led to the strengthening of this movement. Kazimir Malevich also contributed to the avant garde movement of Russia whereby he exhibited in many exhibitions which included the donkey tail exhibition which was organized by Natalia Goncharova. The paper also recognises the role played by religious icons paintings in the development of the avant garde movement, the religious painters only painted for the purpose of the church and only the church processed these icons, however after some years this changed and the people started owning these icons, paintings were also produced which were non religious in form and this contributed to the development of the avant garde movement. Kazimir Malevich: Kazimir Malevich was born in the year 1878 until his death in 1935, he was popularly known for his painting and he was an avant garde painter in Russia, in 1904 his aim was to join the Moscow school of painting and sculpture and when this failed he studied the religious icons in Moscow, this is how he began icon painting, in the year 1906 he began studying painting at the Rerberg studio, whose purpose was to help him to join the Moscow college of painting. Kazimir Malevich was considered an important member of the avant garde movement in Russia. The avant garde paintings were meant to be those that enlightened the viewers of these paintings, Malevich created ant German propaganda and he also wrote slogans on paintings that were drawn by other painters. Natalia Goncharova: Natalia Goncharova was born in the year 1881 and dies in the year 1962, she was an avant garde artist in Russia and she was the wife of a poet named Alexander Pushkin. She undertook her art studies in the academy of art in Moscow; she organized the Donkey tail exhibition of 1912. Wassily Kandinsky: Wassily Kandinsky was born in 1866 and dies in the year 1944, he was a painter, an art theorist and a print maker, he was one famous painter in that he was credited for painting the first abstract work that is considered modern. He joined the University of Moscow where he studied economics and law, he started painting art the age of 30 and in 1896 he joined the Munich school of fine art, he is considered an avant garde painting member. Role of Russian Orthodox Icons on the Avant-Garde movement in Russia: The role of Wassily Kandinsky: Wassily Kandinsky painting did not emphasis any human figure, his paintings included a painting known as old Russia, this painting had the view of peasants and the nobles before the wall of a town, this painting was highly colourful and fanciful, the other painting was the riding couple painting of the year 1907, this painting depicted a man and a woman riding a horse, the man held the woman with tenderness, his use of colour on this painting showed the use of colour to express the artist experience on nature. The other painting was the blue rider of the year 1903. This painting was named the blue rider because it depicted a blue figure riding a speeding horse through a rocky meadow, this technique used by him on this painting led to the use of a similar technique that was used by painters in the following years. The year 1906 to 1908 Kandinsky spent of time travelling in Europe, he was associated with the associate of the Blue Rose art group which was a symbolic group of Moscow, he painted The Blue Mountain was painted at the time which showed his trend toward pure abstraction painting, the painting was a blue mountain which was flanked by two big trees, one was yellow, and the other one was red. There were three riders and others crosses at the bottom of the painting. The faces of the riders, clothing and their saddles were a single colour, and none of the figures displayed real detail. The use of the colours in this painting illustrated Kandinsky progress in art in which the colour was independent of forms of nature. The period1906 to 1908 paintings were composed of large and expressive coloured masses which evaluated independence of colour from forms of nature, this therefore made painters not to no longer to limit themselves and this made them to superimpose and overlap in a free way to create paintings that had extraordinary forces. Music also influenced the emergence of abstract art as music is an abstract by nature. This is because music does not represent the exterior but to expresses the inner feelings of the soul. Kandinsky in most occasions used music to create his works. This is the reason why he referred to some of his paintings as improvisations, while to others he referred to them as composition. The World War one break in 1914 ended Kandinsky plans and he went back to Russia and in the year 1918 he dealt with cultural development of Russia, he joined the domains of art pedagogy and in museum. He taught in a program that was based on the form and colour of painting. Kandinsky taught in the Bauhaus which was architecture and art school that was founded Walter, It dealt with plastic arts, his teachings were based on the theory and practical application of plastic arts. This led to the development of Kandinsky works on forms. This was particularly on different line forms which led to the publication of his book in 1926 entitled Point and Line to Plane. In 1925 he produced his yellow red and blue painting, this work showed Kandinsky constructivism and suprematism in painting, this included the freedom of the treatment of planes that were rich in colours and magnificent gradation, the yellow red and blue painting comprised of a number of forms which was a yellow rectangle, a red cross and a dark blue circle, there were a also straight lines dark lines, arcs, circles and coloured checkerboards which contributed to the paintings complexity. In the year 1939 he painted his last form, this was the Composition IX which was highly contrasted with powerful diagonals and the central form gave an impression of the human embryo in a womb. There were squares of colours which were small and these coloured bands seemed to stand outwards against the black background. Kandinsky works was therefore was characterized by certain touches that were discrete and veiled Kandinsky work on painting that analysis the use of form and colour in painting shows his the inner experience of painting which has lead to the development of an sensorial rich work, his paintings are subjective forms of experience, he therefore contributed to the avant garde movement in that he used form and colour to bring out the feelings he wanted to express to the viewers of his painting, he introduced the use of abstract painting and created the independence of paintings to the forms of nature, this is evident from the use of colours that do not resemble any living form in the world. The roles of Natalia Goncharova Natalia Goncharova was a prominent avant garde artist, a painter and a costume designer she was inspired by the primitive folk art of Russia, she used her work to emulate this by the use of elements such as fauvism and cubism. With her husband Mikhail she developed Rayonism, They were also the main initiators of the pre-Revolution avant garde organization, and this was through their organization of the Donkey Tail art exhibition of the year 1912. The organization of the Donkey Tail art exhibition was seen as a break from European influence on art and this led to the establishment of an independent school of modern art in Russia. The influence of Russian Futurism is also evidence in Goncharova paintings. Initially she was preoccupied with painting icons and the primitive Russian painting, later she became famous work such as The Cyclist and Rayonnist works. As the leader of the Moscow Futurists, they organized lecture evenings as the Italian counterparts did. Goncharova was also involved with graphic design. She was a member of the avant-garde group from when it was founded in the year 1911. Natalia Goncharova played a role in the avant garde movement in Russia in that she was influenced to paint by the fact that the folk art of Russia to her seemed to primitive, she therefore together with her husband worked on new paintings such as the cyclist and her efforts to organize the donkey tail art exhibition led to the strengthening of this movement. The roles of Kazimir Malevich: Kazimir Malevich studied art in Rerberg studio, the studios objective was to help students to join the art college of Moscow, and In 1907 Malevich exhibited two of his paintings at the Exhibition of the Community of Painters in Moscow. He would participate in the 15th and 16th Exhibitions, as well, before moving on. The gouache work Rest dates from this period his painting of the year 1908 reflected his interest in folk art and icons. In 1910 several exhibitions were organized by Mikhail and Goncharova which Kazimir Malevich participated, in this exhibition he presented Bathers and also two canvases. In 1911, he also participated in the Donkey's Tail exhibition, in this exhibition he showed works that was in the neo primitive style. He met Mikhail in the same year and they become life long friends. Towards the end of the year 1911 he took part in the Union of Youth exhibition and in 1912 he became a member of the Union of Youth. He painted a number of works that were shapes that appeared to be covered in metal, this work included such as Morning after a Snowstorm, Peasant Woman with Buckets, The Knife Grinder and Woodcutter. Therefore it is clear that Malevich also contributed to the avant garde movement of Russia whereby he exhibited in many exhibitions and at the same time produced quality work that led to change the world of art in Russia. Discussion: All the artist who were members of the avant garde movement led to a change in the views and the work of art, through the organization of various exhibitions where these artists exhibited their work contributed to a change to the paintings that were to be produced later, these painters introduced new forms of art. Some of the above individuals were actively involved in teaching art which helped strengthen the avant garde movement. The introduction of abstract form of art which was independent on life forms or forms of nature made a turning point to art, paintings that were later produced adopted this form of paining and this was due to the work of Kandinsky. The painters also participated in exhibitions of which they themselves organized; this led to more expression of use of elements in art that led to the change in painting. Religious icons and the avant garde movement: Religious icons were decorations of churches but still they served another purpose of enlightening the people, religious icons were painted on walls and also the ceiling and they were referred to as a book for the illiterate. Russian icons were adopted in the late 19th century when Christianity in Russia was adopted. Some of these icons include the Umilenie which was a painting that depicted the mother of Jesus and child Jesus. Paintings in Russia popularised until reforms of peter the great and form this point forward paintings started to be considered as secular. Religious icon painters never signed their work and the only thing that appeared on the painting was the name of the saint or holy figure that the picture depicted, this is because they did not consider the painting of icons to be personal or an individual. Icons were only used for religious purpose and they were only owned by the church, however in the late 15th century personal ownership of icons started to take place, and in late years there was active collection of these icons and knowledge about icon painting started to flourish. In the soviet era of Russia villages such as Kholui, Mstera and Palekh had many icon painters, the paintings depicted Russian fairy tales and other non religious forms, agents of the Russian government however destroyed this icons but some were hidden and smuggled out of the country, after the fall of communism icon painting studios were reopened and other previously hidden icons were retrieved. Most churches in Russia had many icons that depicted the history of the church according to the bible, some adopted the Byzantine painting of the church, this included a number of icons whose order does not change but the number of icons vary, there was a specific order in which these icons were arranged and they depicted the history of the church and they acted as a guide to the illiterate and also brought to live what the followers believed. The first religious icon was said to be the painting of Apostle Luke, this painting provided the believers with a means to seeing and also communicating with the figure it portrayed, this paintings were first meant for religious purpose only but as the years passed by the painting started to be done which represented non religious forms. The religious icons therefore played a major part in the development of the Avant Garde movement in Russia, the religious paintings were the first and after some time the painting was done depicting other forms and hence the avant garde movement. Conclusion: The avant garde movement was existence in the year 1949 to the year 1952, the term avant garde means the front guards or the van guards, this term refers to the work that is usually meant for experimenting, and these works include art. The movement was meant to push the boundaries of norms and the status quo. Some Russian artists who include contributed to the avant garde movement include Natalia Goncharova, Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky who were Russians. Kandinsky work introduced the use of form and colour in painting to show inner experience of painting which has lead to the development of an sensorial rich work, his paintings are of subjective forms, he therefore contributed to the avant garde movement in that he used form and colour to bring out the feelings he wanted to express to the viewers of his painting, he introduced the use of abstract painting and created the independence of paintings to the forms of nature, this is evident from the use of colours that do not resemble any living form in the world. Natalia Goncharova played a role in the avant garde movement in Russia in that she was influenced to paint by the fact that the folk art of Russia to her seemed to primitive, she therefore together with her husband worked on new paintings such as the cyclist and her efforts to organize the donkey tail art exhibition led to the strengthening of this movement. Kazimir Malevich also contributed to the avant garde movement of Russia whereby he exhibited in many exhibitions and at the same time produced quality work that led to change the world of art in Russia. Religious icons also played a role in the development of the avant garde movement, icons were decorations of churches but still they served another purpose of enlightening the people, religious icons were painted on walls and also the ceiling and they were referred to as a book for the illiterate. Religious icon painters never signed their work and the only thing that appeared on the painting was the name of the saint or holy figure that the picture depicted, this is because they did not consider the painting of icons to be personal or an individual, agents of the Russian government however destroyed this icons but some were hidden and smuggled out of the country, after the fall of communism icon painting studios were reopened and other previously hidden icons were retrieved. The religious icons therefore also played a major part in the development of the Avant Garde movement in Russia, the religious paintings were the first and after some time the painting was done depicting other forms and hence the avant garde movement. References: Matei Calinescu (1987) The Faces of Modernity: Modernism and Avant-Garde, McGraw Hill press, New York Renato Poggioli (1968) the Theory of the Avant-Garde, Harvard University Press, Harvard Peter Burger (1974) Theory of the Avant garde, McGraw Hill press, New York Benjamin Buchloh (2001).Neo avant garde and the Culture Industry, MIT Press, New York Harold Rosenberg (1972) the Definition of Art, Chicago University Press, Chicago Russian painting (2007) religious icons in Russia, retrieved on 3rd October, available at www.russian-gifts-home.com/lacquer-painting/icon_painting.htm Read More