The Russian avant-garde book 1910-1934. — New York, 2002 | портал о дизайне и архитектуре

The Russian avant-garde book 1910-1934 / Margit Rowell, Deborah Wye ; With essays by Jared Ash, Nina Gurianova, Gerald Janecek, Margit Rowell, and Deborah Wye. — New York : The Museum of Modern Art, 2002. — 304 p., ill. — ISBN 0-87070-007-3 (MoMA, T & H) ; ISBN 0-8109-6224-1 (Abrams)

Published in conjunction with the exhibition The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910-1934 at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 28-May 21, 2002, organized by Deborah Wye. Chief Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, and Margit Rowell, Guest Curator. Assistance was provided by Jared Ash, Curator, The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; and Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator, Department of Prints and illustrated Books.

The exhibition travels to the Museo Nacional Centro da Arte Reins Sofia, Madrid, November 4, 2002-January 27, 2003; and the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, September 24, 2003-January 25, 2004,

Edited by Joanne Greenspurr Designed by Tsang Seymour Design Production by Christopher Zichello Printed and bound by Stampers Valdonega S.R.L., Verona Printed on 170gsm Arcoprint Edixioni by Fedrigoni and Munken Lynx by Munkedals

Exhibition URL: moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/155

Foreword

The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. In addition, through the inspiration of its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who made the first of three visits to Russia in the winter of 1927-28, a year before the Museum opened in 1929, this institution has built an extraordinary collection of Russian avant-garde art in all mediums. It was, therefore, with excitement and gratitude that the Museum accepted The Judith Rothschild Foundation gift of some 1,100 illustrated books and 100 related works from this seminal period. Considered the finest of its kind in the world, this collection will now be available for future generations to be exhibited and studied in the context of nearly 400 Russian avant-garde works from the Museum's Departments of Painting and Sculpture, Drawings, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Design, Prints and Illustrated Books, and the Library. This publication, and the accompanying exhibition, proudly celebrate this momentous gift and also demonstrate to our audience the fundamental importance of the book medium in this moment of historic creativity.

The idea for forming this collection of Russian avant-garde books came from Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Knowing of the interest of Judith Rothschild, and that of her family, in this period, he set out to make a definitive collection with the purpose of donating it to an institution. Formed in an astonishing burst of activity with the help of Jared Ash, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Curator, this collection is unique in its breadth and depth, and includes all the major books by such masters as Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, as well as publications in areas of special interest such as provincial material, children’s literature, architecture, and Judaica.

In addition to the current exhibition and catalogue, the Museum’s plans for this unique collection include a variety of initiatives. The first will be a Web-based catalogue raisonne with animations that display turning pages of the most important volumes. It is further hoped that a program for scholars will be established for collection-based research projects in art history, as well as related fields of literature and graphic design. Seminars for college students and Museum members are also planned to allow for the study of this material in the original rather than through slides.

This exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its co-organizers: Deborah Wye, Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, an ardent proponent of Russian avant-garde printed art, and Margit Rowell, former Chief Curator in the Department of Drawings and Guest Curator for this project, a widely respected scholar of the period. They, along with the team of Jared Ash; Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator; and the staff of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books have brought this project to fruition in a remarkably short time with superlative results.

On this occasion, I wish to convey my special thanks to Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the originator and tireless supporter of this project and a devoted friend of The Museum of Modern Art. A committed patron of the arts, Mr. Miller has shown his passion as a collector and his infinite imagination and intelligence in compiling this superb collection. This exhibition and publication are testament to his vision and creativity.

Glenn D. Lowry

Director, The Museum of Modern Art

Foreword. Glenn D. Lowry 6

Donor’s Statement. Harvey S. Shipley Miller 7

Art Issues/Book Issues: An Overview. Deborah Wye 10

A Game in Hell, hard work in heaven: Deconstructing the Canon in Russian Futurist Books. Nina Gurianova 24

Primitivism in Russian Futurist Book Design 1910-14. Jared Ash 33

Kruchenykh contra Gutenberg. Gerald Janecek 41

Constructivist Book Design: Shaping the Proletarian Conscience. Margit Rowell 50

PLATES

A SLAP IN THE FACE OF PUBLIC TASTE 1910-24

FUTURIST POETS AND PAINTERS 62