A revolution in art: a visual appreciation of the Russian Revolution
Saturday 28 October, 12:00—13:00, Frobisher 4-6Culture Wars
In association with:
The Russian Revolution in October 1917 shook the world and its artists. Russian art became iconic for political upheaval and artistic innovation. But artists as different as Kandinsky, Malevich, Popova and Rodchenko defy political categorisation. Does their art transcend the moment in which they lived and the ideas (political and otherwise) that they explored or espoused? Can we still enjoy Kandinsky’s work even if we are bemused by his particular brand of spiritualism? What is the significance and meaning of Malevich’s Black Square? Does Constructivism have anything to offer us today? How did Russian artistic innovations relate to other European movements of the time, such as Cubism and Futurism?
In this visual lecture, artist and art history teacher Dido Powell will take us through a selection of key works by Russian artists working at the time of the revolution, and help us on the way to a critical appreciation of their legacy to art.
speakers
Dido Powell
painter; lecturer and tutor in art history and painting
Chair
Dr Wendy Earle
impact development officer, Birkbeck, University of London; convenor, IoI Arts and Society Forum
Producer
Dr Wendy Earle
impact development officer, Birkbeck, University of London; convenor, IoI Arts and Society Forum
Readings
- Malevich review – an intensely moving retrospective, Laura Cumming, the Guardian, 20 July 2014
- Meet the Revolutionary Women Who Led the Russian Avant-Garde Art Scene, Sarah Cascone, ArtNet, October 2016
- The centenary of the Russian revolution should be mourned, not celebrated, Max Hastings, The Spectator, December 2016
- We cannot celebrate revolutionary Russian art – it is brutal propaganda, Jonathan Jones, The Guardian, 1 February 2017
- Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932 review – when anything was possible, Laura Cumming, The Guardian, 12 February 2017
- The true harshness of Soviet life rarely comes through: RA’s Revolution reviewed, Martin Gayford, The Spectator, February 2017
- Should We Celebrate Russian Revolution Art?, BBC, February 2017
- Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932, Roger Huddle, The Socialist Review, April 2017
- The Art of Putting Soviet Propaganda on Porcelain Plates, Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky, Apollo Magazine, May 2017
- How the Russian Avant-Garde came to serve the Revolution, Irina Osipova, Russia Beyond the Headlines, June 2017
