To mark 120 years since Varvara Stepanova’s birth the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry and the Rodchenko and Stepanova Archive present the exhibition «At Home with Rodchenko and Stepanova». The exhibition shows the work of these leading artists of the Russian avant-garde, including their role as teachers.
Rodchenko and Stepanova worked together their whole lives, in a single style, and often on the same themes. Rodchenko was the creative leader, the generator of ideas and original methods. Stepanova consolidated these innovations in her own independent way and was an excellent organizer.
The exhibition covers the period from c.1910 to the mid-1930s. It allows us to observe the development of the artists’ work from symbolism through abstract-geometrical painting and drawing to constructivism.
The exposition is divided into nine sections, through which visitors will follow the artists’ creative development. «The studio» recreates the atmosphere in which the artists lived and worked. «The School of Constructivism» section examines Alexander Rodchenko’s extensive teaching activity. «Paris, 1925» will show Rodchenko and Stepanova’s participation in the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts, which took place in Paris in 1925. «Mayakovsky and LEF» part presents at Alexander Rodchenko’s work with the journal Left Front of Art (LEF). In «Photography», we see Rodchenko as the founder of the new photography. «Avant-Garde Exhibitions. Exhibition as Manifesto» covers the artists’ participation in exhibitions of the Russian avant-garde, including the famous 1921 exhibition «5 x 5 = 25». «Formulae of the Avant-Garde. Analysis of Form» is dedicated to Rodchenko’s experiments with geometric forms and planes. «Stepanova. Biomechanics» represents paintings, drawings and applied art, which reflect the theme of the game, of combination, and the geometric stylization of the human figure and elements of composition. The latter part of the exhibition is «Circus. Acrobats and Clowns Cannot be Realists» that includes paintings, works on paper, Rodchenko’s photographs of the circus and on the theme of football, plus late abstract compositions.
You will be able to see more than 250 exhibits: paintings, works on paper, photographs and personal effects from the Rodchenko and Stepanova Archive.
The exhibition will run until March 3, 2015 in Museum of Private Collections of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
