COLLECTION / 1900-1945 / Europe and Unites States of America / Russian Avant-Garde

800 books and documents.

The term ‘Russian avant-garde’ encompasses a range of interconnected art movements (neo-primitivism, suprematism and constructivism, for instance), which emerged in the first few decades of the twentieth century in the former Russian Empire and later on, after the Revolution of 1917, in the Soviet Union.

The Russian avant-garde enjoyed its period of splendour from 1910 to 1932, the moment in which the new state imposed socialist realism. The books, magazines and catalogues of the Russian avant-garde (1910–1940) belonging to Archivo Lafuente comprise a collection of over 800 pieces and reflects three decisive phases of artistic creation in Russia over the first few decades of the twentieth century: art prior to the Revolution (1912–1917), the nascent years of constructivism (1918–1924) and art at the service of the Stalin regime (1925–1949).

Of particular note are the books dating from before 1917, those of which are known as Russian futurist books, the result of collaboration between poets, writers and visual artists. They are, without a doubt, the most valuable and most rare works in the collection: unique, handmade editions composed of few pages and made with small print runs, mostly exhibiting different illustrations or collage. Of particular note within this unique collection of books are certain titles and authors, such as Igra v adu (1912), by Natalia Goncharova, Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh; Zatychka. Sbornik. Velimir Khlebnikov; David, Vladimir, Nikolai Burliuk. Risunki. Stikhi (1913), by David Burliuk, Nikolai Burliuk, Vladimir Burliuk and Velimir Khlebnikov; Pomada (1913), by Mikhail Larionov and Aleksei Kruchenykh; Utinoe gnezsdyshko... durnykh slov (1913), by Olga Rozanova and Aleksei Kruchenykh; and Igra v adu (1914), by Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh.



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