A Lecture by the renowned Avant-garde Art specialist, Dr. Sjeng Scheijen, to celebrate the official launch of his monumental book The Avant-Gardists: Artists in Revolt in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union 1917-1935.
Artists like Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall and Vladimir Tatlin, now regarded as some of the most celebrated and influential artists of the 20th century, were during the last years of czarist rule in Russia considered clownish troublemakers at best. But in the years immediate after the Revolution, they rose to sudden fame as they became high-ranking officials in the newly formed Soviet government. Never before, and never after, were artists of this creative eminence given such political power. They were given the task to reorganize the art world, and to change public space in the big cities, according to the utopian ideals of the Revolution.
The Avant-gardists though, were no match for the political games of hardened revolutionairies, and did not hold on to their positions very long. As the Bolsheviks toughened their grip on power the artists were forced to adapt to the new cultural policies and serve the social and political agenda of the state. Those who refused were marginalized, often harassed, and sometimes arrested, tortured, and killed.
In this lecture Sjeng Scheijen will dive into the personal stories of these artists: why did they join the revolution, how did they want to bring their utopian dreams to life? And how did they cope with the oppression, marginalization, and violence that they had to endure until the end of their lives?
This lecture will be followed by a Q&A chaired by Dr Natalia Murray and a drinks reception.
Dr Sjeng Scheijen received his doctorate from the Slavic Department at Leiden University, is an independent author, curator and researcher. He was cultural attaché at the Royal Dutch Embassy in Moscow, and lived and worked in various cities in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. His books, among which is a celebrated biography of Sergei Diaghilev, are translated in nine languages.
Dr Natalia Murray gained a BA and MA in art history at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, and a PhD at The Courtauld. She is a writer, lecturer and curator specialising in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Russian and Western European art and is the curator of the Royal Academy’s major exhibition Revolution. Russian Art 1917-1932 (2017). Natalia is currently working on several new exhibition projects in the US and in Europe, while also teaching as an Associate Lecturer at The Courtauld. She has published widely: her most recent book, Two Women Patrons of the Russian Avant-Garde. Nadezhda Dobychina and Klavdia Mikhailova, was published in 2021 and was dedicated to the first gallerists in Russia.
