The Advent of Abstraction

Russian avant-garde art—the exciting art movement that flourished in Russia in the years surrounding the 1917 revolution—resulted in remarkable works of art, architecture, literature, film, theater, dance, and graphic design. The first non-figurative art movement, it was enormously important in the development of modern art. This lavishly illustrated exhibition catalog looks at six major works by six renowned Russian artists: Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Ivan Kliun, Ilja Chashnik, El Lissitzky, and Lyubov Popova. Stunning reproductions are accompanied by original documents, objects, manuscripts, and photographs from the collection of art historian Andréi Nakov. Nakov also writes on how, in the late 1950s, Canadian diplomats posted to Moscow were instrumental in helping form the collection of George Costakis, who worked at the Canadian Embassy and whose collection of Constructivist and other Russian avant-garde works grew to become the largest and most representative collection anywhere.