1917: 100 YEARS ON – REFLECTIONS ON ART IN THE SOVIET UNION. THEN AND NOW

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

with IVAN LINDSAY, JOHN MILNER AND MARGY KINMONTH

Monday 10^th October 5.30-6.30pm

At The Russian Bookshop, Waterstones, 203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD

The Russian Bookshop at Waterstones and Russian Art and Culture are delighted to present a roundtable discussion with major figures working in the field of Russian art, ahead of the centenary of the Russian Revolution. The twentieth century in Russia was a major moment of cultural and social upheaval after the abolition of centuries of Tsarist rule. Artists were spurred on to create works that would come to define a new age. The large body of painting and sculpture created in the Soviet Union reflects – and in many cases, pushes against – the restrictions and complexities inherent in making art under totalitarianism.

‘Masterpieces of Soviet painting and sculpture,’ Unicorn Press, London, English and Russian language editions, hardback, September 2016, edited by Rena Lavery and Ivan Lindsay.

This event coincides with the release of a new major publication, ‘Masterpieces of Soviet Painting and Sculpture,’ by Rena Lavery and Ivan Lindsay, published by the Unicorn Press. The author will discuss Soviet works in museums and private collections, highlights from the Moscow School of Painting and large public monuments and personal sculptures. Curator John Milner will share with us a preview of the Royal Academy’s upcoming exhibition on Russian art in 2017. This far-ranging exhibition will survey the artistic landscape of post-Revolutionary Russia, from the abstractions of Malevich and Kandinsky to the emergence of Socialist Realism. Film director Margy Kinmouth will discuss her new documentary which features artists of the Russian avant-garde such as Chagall, Malevich and Kandinsky which was filmed in Moscow, St Petersburg and London with access to the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum and Hermitage. The speakers will discuss how artists captured both the idealistic aspirations and the harsh reality of the Revolution and its aftermath. The panel will be chaired by Theodora Clarke, Editor of Russian Art and Culture, who founded the bi-annual guide to Russian Art Week in London.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Ivan Lindsay is a London based art dealer and writer specialising in 20th century Russian paintings and sculpture with a particular interest in art created during the Soviet period. Lindsay became interested in Russian art whilst travelling in Russia to research his mother’s ancestors, the Vorontsovs, former Chancellors in Imperial Russia. He started Lindsay Fine Art Russian in 2004 as a division of Lindsay Fine Art Ltd. In 2014 he wrote The History of Loot and Stolen Art, which provides a comprehensive historical overview of art theft, accompanied by reflections on various motivations behind the greatest looters’ actions. He has just finished his book ‘Masterpieces of Soviet Painting and Sculpture,’ co-written with Rena Lavery and published by the Unicorn Press, planned for release in October 2016.