Emmanuil Evzerikhin
Georgy Petrussov (1903-1971)
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, Moscow, 1939
The Sculpture was created by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World's Fair in Paris
Vintage gelatin silver print
11 1/2 x 9 1/8 in. (29.2 x 23.2 cm)
The Sculpture crowned the Soviet Pavilion opposite the Nazi Germany Pavilion. It was relocated to Moscow and placed outside the All-Russia Exhibition Center when it was opened in 1939.
Aleksandr Rodchenko
Portrait of Mayakovsky, 1924
Gelatin silver print, printed later
4 1/4 x 3 1/8 inches (10.8 x 7.9 cm)
Abram Shterenberg (1894-1979)
Portrait of Mayakovsky, 1924
Vintage gelatin silver print
Mounted to original mount
9 1/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.2 x 16.8 cm)
Signed and dated on mount recto
Abram Shterenberg probably was the first photographer who took portraits of Mayakovsky (c. 1923). Rodchenko used his portraits for the photomontages for "Pro Eto" (About This), the love poem Mayakovsky wrote for his muse Lili Brik.
Assembling the Globe at the Moscow Telegraph, 1928
Gelatin silver print
Signed, titled and stamped on verso
9.5 x 7.3 inches
Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956)
Portrait of Mother, 1924
Gelatin silver print
7 5/16 x 11 5/16 in. (18.6 x 28.7 cm)
Rodchenko stamp on verso
Reproduced in Soviet Photo No. 5, 1991
This is one of the first Rodchenko's photographs, a compelling portrait of his mother who learnt how to read in her late years.
Arkady Shaikhet (1898–1959)
First Soviet Cars for Export, 1929
Vintage gelatin silver print
Signed and titled on verso
Photographer's stamp on verso
9 1/2 x 7 in. (24 x 18 cm)
Arkady Shaikhet (1898-1959)
Soldiers Studying the First Soviet Tractor, 1929
Vintage gelatin silver print
Signed and titled on verso
6 7/8 x 9 1/8 in. (17.5 x 23.2 cm)
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Bakhmet'ev Garage, 1933
(Constructivist garage built in 1927, designed by Konstantin Mel'nikov and Vladimir Shukhov)
Gelatin silver print, printed later by photographer
9 1/2 x 6 inches (24 x 16 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
Boris Ignatovich
With a Board, 1929
Gelatin silver print mounted on board
23 5/8 x 18 1/2 inches (60 x 47 cm)
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Scarecrow, 1927
Gelatin silver print, printed later by photographer
6 x 9 1/2 inches (15.2 x 24.1 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
In 1909, monument to Alexander III was erected in the center of Znamenskaya Square (present day Vosstaniya Square) in front of the Nikolaevsky Railway Station, in recognition of the Tsar's construction of the Great Siberian Railroad, which connected the capital with the Far East. The monument was designed by Italian sculptor Paolo Trubetzkoy (whom G.B. Shaw declared "the most astonishing sculptor of modern times"). After the 1917 revolution, a poem by Demyan Bedny, "Scarecrow," was carved into the pedestal. In 1937, the monument was moved to the yard of the State Russian Museum, and now it stands near the museum's Marble Palace.
Boris Ignatovich
Wheels for Reaping Machine, 1929
Arkady Shaikhet (1898-1959)
Express, 1939
Gelatin silver print
15 11/16 x 21 1/4 in. (39.8 x 54 cm)
Signature and stamp on verso
This photograph is an embodiment of dynamism, a symbol of the new Soviet society moving towards a bright future. The steam conceals the wheels and the engine appears almost like a dirigible about to take off. The sky is superimposed for a more dramatic effect. Published in Soviet Photo #2 in 1940, this photograph became one of the greatest achievements of Soviet photography. Soviet design in the late 1930s cannot be imagined without the Soviet metro, aviation and this Express engine.
Solomon Telingater
The Red Army is Watching, 1931
Photocollage with gelatin silver print, indian ink, and white gouache
11 1/3 x 8 1/5 inches (28.8 x 20.8 cm)
Original maquette for a Soviet propaganda poster on an illustration for one of the major propaganda magazines. The elaborate retouching indicates that the maquette was actually used for publication.
Georgy Petrussov (1903-1971)
Armenian Delegation at the Parade on Red Square, Moscow, 1935
Vintage gelatin silver print
18 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches (46.99 x 31.50 cm)
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Shower, 1935
Gelatin silver print mounted on board
23 1/4 x 16 5/8 inches (59.1 x 42.2 cm)
"In 1935, photographer Boris Ignatovich, a former member of the October Group, took a photograph of a group of young, athletic men in a public shower. It showed one figure sitting in the foreground, his muscular back to the viewer, with more bathers standing together in the background. Ignatovich's friend, painter Alexander Deyneka, came across this photograph and asked if he could use it as a prototype for one of his paintings. Later he produced a work which he himself considered to be a failure in comparison to the original photograph."
Arts Magazine, November 1989. Independent curator, scholar and critic Margarita Tupitsyn, Ph.D.
Sergey Shimansky (1898-1972)
Navy Fleet, Black Sea (men from Sevastopol), 1930s
Vintage gelatin silver print on thick paper
15 x 22 7/8 in. (38.1 x 58.1 cm)
“Foto S. Shimansky” stamp on verso
Title and date in Cyrillic on verso
Georgy Zelma
Red Army Parade, 1932
Gelatin silver print, printed later
7 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches (19.1 x 29.2 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
Arkady Shaikhet
Pamir Road, 1934
Gelatin silver print
Photographer's stamp and signature on verso
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches (15.6 x 23.5 cm)
Arkady Shaikhet
In Flight, 1930s
Gelatin silver print
Photographer's stamp and signature on verso
6 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches (15.9 x 24.1 cm)
Arkady Shaikhet (1898-1959)
Drying sheep skin, 1930s
Gelatin silver print
6 3/8 x 8 5/8 inches (16.2 x 21.9 cm)
Semyon Fridlyand
Untitled, 1930s
Vintage gelatin silver print
7.8 x 6.5 in. (20 x 16.5 cm)
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Construction of a Subway, Moscow, 1935
Gelatin silver print, printed later by photographer
Photographer's stamp on verso
6 5/8 x 10 in (16.9 x 25.4 cm)
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Strastnoy Boulevard, Moscow, 1938
Gelatin silver print, mounted on board
21 5/8 x 15 3/8 inches (54.9 x 39.1 cm)
Boris Ignatovich
Farm Cafeteria, 1933
Gelatin silver print, printed later by photographer
10 x 6 11/16 inches (25.3 x 16.9 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Motherhood, 1938
Gelatin silver print, mounted on board
18 ½ x 23 ¼ inches (47.1 x 59.1 cm)
Georgy Petrussov (1903-1971)
Harvest, 1935
Vintage gelatin silver print
15 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (39.4 x 26.7 cm)
Signed and titled on verso by Petrussov's wife
Yakov Khalip (1908-1980)
Building of the Council of Ministers, 1935
Vintage gelatin silver print
15 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (39.4 x 27.6 cm)
Title and signature on verso
Label from the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries on verso
Evgeny Khaldey
Memory of Spartakiada, 1933
Collage
6 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (16.5 x 19.1 cm)
Signed and dated on verso
Georgy Zelma (1906-1984)
Sport Parade, 1930s
Vintage gelatin silver print
6 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. (16.8 x 11.7 cm)
Stamped on verso
Emmanuil Evzerikhin (1911-1984)
Rehearsal for Sport Parade, 1935
Gelatin silver print, printed later
Signature and stamp on verso
7 x 11 inches (17.8 x 27.7 cm)
Arkady Shaikhet (1898-1959)
Greeting the Cheluskin Men, 1934
Vintage gelatin silver print
5 5/8 x 7 3/4 in. (14.3 x 19.7 cm)
Ivan Shagin
Pioneers on Red Square, 1936
Vintage gelatin silver print
10 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches (27.3 x 18.4 cm)
Fototeka stamp on verso, signature on verso
Emmanuil Evzerikhin (1911-1984)
Pioneer with Trumpet, 1930s
Gelatin silver print, printed later by photographer
9 1/8 x 6 5/8 inches (23.2 x 17 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
Boris Ignatovich
First Tractor (American Fordson Tractor), 1926
Gelatin silver print, printed later
9 x 7 inches (22.9 x 17.8 cm)
Photographer's stamp on verso
Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976)
Pioneers and Homeless Children, May Day, 1927
(Marching on Tverskaya Street, Moscow)
Gelatin silver print, mounted on board
18 1/2 x 23 inches (47 x 58.4 cm)
Georgy Petrussov (1903-1971)
Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNkh), Moscow, late 1930s
Vintage gelatin silver print
15 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (39.37 x 29.9 cm)
Signed and titled on verso by Petrussov's wife
Nailya Alexander Gallery is pleased to present Russian Photography after the Revolution, opening Thursday 7 September, with a reception at the gallery from 6:00-8:00 PM. The exhibition coincides with the centennial of the Russian Revolution of 1917, an occasion that is also being recognized with shows at the Museum of Modern Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Tate Modern; the Royal Academy of Arts, London; the Swiss National Museum, Zürich; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
One hundred years ago this fall, the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution shook the world, changing the course of history and the fate of photography in Russia. Soviet photographers were handed the monumental task of creating a new mythology for the people of Russia, founded on striking visual symbols of collective progress, patriotism, and self-sacrifice. The result was a golden age of Russian photography in the 1920s and 1930s, marked by the emergence of experimental and constructivist photography and by the birth of Soviet photojournalism. Photographers began exploring the vast possibilities of this new medium, which allowed them to probe the complexities of multi-dimensional space; to experiment with perspectives, diagonal compositions, and close ups; to reveal the interplay between light and shadow; and to capture fleeting moments and minute details. In this way, the revolution ushered in not just a new political order, but a new vision of the country and of the world.
As photographers travelled throughout the newly formed Soviet Union, photographing industrial projects, collective farms, sporting events, cityscapes, and military parades, they were not only documenting events, but were active participants in the construction of a new reality. With advancements in printing and publishing technologies, and the subsequent proliferation of magazines, journals, and posters, images and information were able to reach the vast, largely illiterate swaths of the Russian population for whom the sight of modern machinery and massive military and athletic formations was an extraordinary revelation. Photography became recognized as the most powerful and significant propaganda tool of the nascent government.
Russian Photography after the Revolution will feature rare, large-format gelatin silver prints by Boris Ignatovich (1899-1976), a master of the Soviet avant-garde; Arkady Shaikhet (1898-1959), widely considered to be the founder of Soviet photojournalism; and Aleksandr Rodchenko (1891-1956), perhaps the most acclaimed figure in early twentieth-century Russian art and design; as well as Abram Shterenberg (1900-1979), Georgy Petrussov (1903-1971), Semyon Fridlyand (1905-1964), Sergey Shimansky (1898-1972), Solomon Telingater (1903-1969), Emmanuil Evzerikhin (1911-1984), Yakov Khalip (1908-1980), and Georgy Zelma (1906-1984).
Russian Photography after the Revolution is on view through Thursday 30 November. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and by appointment.
