History and culture: The exhibition “Images of War. The First World War and Avant-Garde Artists” in Saint-Petersburg

The exhibition “Images of War. The First World War and Avant-Garde Artists” is opened in the Museum of the Petersburg Avant-Garde (Saint-Petersburg) on September 4, 2014.

The exhibition features more than 30 works by futurist artists, dedicated to the events of the First World War.

The patriotic enthusiasm that covered Russia in the early days of the war is reflected in the various spheres of social life, culture and arts. In promotion of the war an active part took poets and artists. In this respect, is the activity of the publishing house "Today splint", organized in August 1914 by the patron B. Gorodetsky. The publishing house executed works in the style of traditional Russian folk posters and postcards glorifying the victory of Russian arms and in satirical way presented the enemy. Popular prints were accompanied by sparkling rhymed texts, commentaries. Drawings for posters and cards were performed by well-known avant-garde artists D. Burliuk, K. S. Malevich, I. I. Mashkov (pseudonym J. Gorski), M. F. Larionov, A. V. Lentulov, V. N. Chekrygin. Lyrics for popular prints were written by V. V. Mayakovski, who was also the author of several drawings. The publishing house, which lasted about three months, has released about 50 cards and 23 posters.  

The exhibition at the Museum of the Petersburg Avant-Garde features 19 posters of the publishing house "Today splint".

Next to them in the exposition is presented a series "Mystical Images of War" by N. S. Goncharova, comprising of fourteen black-and-white lithographs. These works are lack of the patriotic fervor of the first days of war, where the World War II is presented as a universal human global catastrophe. Special symbolic and mystical sound works impart religious motifs used by the author in creating artistic images.

The exposition is complemented with futuristic books of 1914-1915 by V. V. Khlebnikov, V. V. Mayakovski, B. L. Pasternak, N. N. Aseeva, V. B. Shklovsky and others.