Artist Natalia Goncharova – Leader of the Russian Avant-garde | TateShots

Moscoe 14th of September 1913 a performance has taken place artists with strange designs painted in their faces are being pursued by the pressed on a fashionable Street in Moscow this is the energetic and optimistic spirit of the new of on guard and at its center is 32 year old natalia antonova she is a leader of the Russian avant-garde and the first modern artist to have a retrospective exhibition in Russia this performance is a publicity stunt to advertise her show but she was already notorious having been charged with obscenity and had her paintings confiscated her crime transgression the authorities think that women should not paint the female nude quite so explicitly she also offended the church apparently there is no place for religious themes in modern art gunshot over is a modern renaissance woman she's a painter and a print maker she also designs textiles fashion theater costumes and sets [Music] born in Russia in 1881 she grew up in the countryside surrounded by traditional folk arts and crafts which had a lasting influence on her when she is 11 her family moves to Moscow [Music] the loss of her childhood home has a profound effect on her this mirrors the seismic upheavals happening in Russia which is changing from an agricultural society to an industrial one she's 19 years old and studying art when she meets McConnell Arianna a fellow student we hi you why our watches August my camerton from then on they work side by side and remained together for the rest of their lives these are turbulent times in the city with political activists fighting in the streets and artists dissidents performing in the theaters Goncharov and Larionov embraced this revolutionary atmosphere and seek to establish a radical art scene they joined societies and founded new movements but throughout they remain committed to the idea that the beginning of modern art could be found in traditional and religious art of the east they even invented their own style realism it describes the way light rays intersect and break around objects distorting an image [Music] but Gonzaga's restless nature cannot be tied just one style she is interested in exploring all forms of art and does so prolifically so that her famous exhibition in 1913 features an astonishing 800 works it is a resounding success and captivates Russian society including Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballet Russe Samus Mishnah esto melodia pública Nebraska Pedraza eus Cousteau know ye obviousness t jag Allah invites her to collaborate and she conquers Paris with her epic designs for the Opera Ballet Lacock door in 1915 gunshot over and the Leonov go and tour with the Belarus and never return to Russia they settle in Paris to become the center of a vibrant emigres avant-garde and are surrounded by other artists fleeing the atrocities of the first world war and the Russian Revolution she works as a fashion designer and teachers rich Americans to paint they buy her work and soon she's receiving commissions from Chicago and New York she collaborates with international artists and while her glorious designs for Stravinsky's Firebird are celebrated in the press invitations for exhibitions fallen in Russia the backlash against intelligentsia makes it impossible for Goncharov to return she embraces her outsider status and remains in Paris for the rest of her life her wits energy and passion for Russian folk culture had helped spark a revolution in modern art and it was her genius that enabled her to defy artistic and social conventions to become the first woman of the Russian avant-garde you you

Channel: Tate

Views: 43,775

Rating: 4.9450073 out of 5

Keywords: Tate, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, Art, Modern Art, Contemporary Art, British Art, russia, Россия, русское искусство, наталья гончарова

Id: 2km-PUOtq0M

Length: 5min 26sec (326 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 02 2019