Art for the Workers: Proletarian Art and Festive Decorations of Petrograd 1917-1920

325 Pages·2018·13.777 MB·English

by  Natalia Murray

ArtfortheWorkers
Russian History and Culture
Editors-in-Chief
JeffreyP.Brooks(TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity)
ChristinaLodder(UniversityofKent)
Volume20
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/rhc
Art for the Workers
ProletarianArtandFestiveDecorationsof Petrograd,
1917-1920
By
NataliaMurray
Coverillustration:Unknownartist.FestivedecorationsonSadovaiastreetinPetrograd.MayDay1920.
Photo:ЦГАКФФДСПБ(CentralStateCinePhotoPhonoArchiveSt.Petersburg),Гр4902.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Murray,Natalia,author.
Title:Artfortheworkers:proletarianartandfestivedecorationsofPetrograd,1917-1920/byNataliaMurray.
Description:Rootsofproletarianculture–FestivalsandproletarianartunderthetsarsandtheProvisional
Government–NarkomprosversusProletkult:festivalsandproletarianartaftertheBolshevik
Revolution–Thevictoryoffigurationoverfuturism:fromculturaldiversitytomilitaryparade–Street
art-collective,politicised:thenewpublicspectacle.|Leiden;Boston:Brill,2018.|Series:Russianhistory
andculture;Volume20|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2018003532(print)|LCCN2018004006(ebook)|ISBN9789004355682(E-Book)|ISBN
9789004355651(hardback)
Subjects:LCSH:Artsandsociety–Russia(Federation)–SaintPetersburg–History–20thcentury.|
Festivals–Politicalaspects–Russia(Federation)–SaintPetersburg–History–20thcentury.|Communism
andart–Russia(Federation)–SaintPetersburg.|Workingclass–Russia(Federation)–Saint
Petersburg–History–20thcentury.|SaintPetersburg(Russia)–Civilization–20thcentury.
Classification:LCCNX180.S6(ebook)|LCCNX180.S6M8652018(print)|DDC701/.03–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018003532
TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN1877-7791
ISBN978-90-04-35565-1(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-35568-2(e-book)
Copyright2018byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi,Brill
SenseandHoteiPublishing.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedinaretrievalsystem,or
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,
withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher.
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Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaperandproducedinasustainablemanner.
Tomybeloveddaughter,Alexandra
∵

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
NotesonTransliterationandConventions xi
ListofIllustrations xii
AbbreviationsandGlossary xxi
Introduction 1
1 RootsofProletarianCulture 32
2 FestivalsandProletarianArtundertheTsarsandtheProvisional
Government 58
3 NarkomprosversusProletkult:FestivalsandProletarianArtafterthe
BolshevikRevolution 92
4 TheVictoryofFigurationoverFuturism:fromCulturalDiversityto
MilitaryParade 189
5 StreetArt–Collective,Politicised:theNewPublicSpectacle 222
Epilogue 270
Bibliography 281
Index 295

Acknowledgements
Throughouttheresearchandthewritingof thisbook,manyfriendsandcol-
leagueshavebeenenormouslysupportiveandhelpfultome,butIwouldpar-
ticularlyliketothankmysupervisor,ProfessorJohnMilner,whoadvisedmeto
extendmyresearchfromanarticleandwriteabookinstead.Thisbookcould
nothavebeenwrittenwithouthishelp,adviceandsupport.
I would also like to express my special gratitude to the curators of the
DrawingsDepartmentattheRussianMuseuminSt.Petersburg,IrinaArskaia,
ValentinaSkripkinaandLudmilaVostretsova,fordiscussingmybookwithme
andforshowingmethesketchesforthestreetdecorationsof Petrogradheld
in their special trust. I owe a major debt of gratitude to Dina Kleiman from
theRussianMuseum,whosentmesomevitalbooksandphotographswhichI
haveusedinmyresearch.
Thisbookbenefitsgreatlyfromexhaustiveresearchinarchives,museums
and libraries in St. Petersburg and Moscow, all of which would have been
much more difficult without the generous support of the Likhachev Foun-
dation,whichprovidedmewithafellowshipandintroducedmetothemost
wonderfulElenaVitenbergwhoarrangedmyresearchvisitsinSt.Petersburg.
I am especially grateful to the head of the Prints Department at the Na-
tional Library in St. Petersburg, Elena Barkhatova, who facilitated access to
theManuscriptsDepartment,whichwasessentialformyresearch(especially
since it provided me with the chance to read Nathan Altman’s unpublished
writings), as well as Svetlana Khodakovskaia and Aleksei Kulegin from the
Museumof PoliticalHistoryof Russiawhopresentedmewithacatalogueof
bannersfromthemuseum’scollectionandallowedmetoresearchtheirpho-
tographic archive. I would also like to thank Julia Demidenko for giving me
accesstosketchesandphotographsoffestivedecorationsofPetrogradheldin
thecollectionoftheStateMuseumofhistoryofSt.Petersburg,
Manyfriendsandcolleaguesdiscussedandsharedideaswithme.Iamim-
menselygratefultoProfessorChristinaLodderforhercontinuoussupportand
inspiration.ThismanuscriptwouldneverhavebeencompletedwithoutLau-
ren Warner who painstakenly copy-edited it at rather short notice. I would
also like to thank Elena Sudakova, Natalia Budanova, Maria Starkova, Maria
Mileeva,NicholasBuenodeMesquita,MariaKokkori,JordanTobinandMarie
Collier. Their immense encouragement and trust in this research were irre-
placeable.
My family has been hugely supportive and patient with me when I was
workingonmybook.Iwouldliketothankmylatefatherforhisfaithinme,
x Acknowledgements
andmylatemother,whoinspiredmyinterestinarthistory.Veryspecialthanks
gotomybeloveddaughter,Alexandra,forallowinghermothertoconcentrate
onherresearch.
Lastbutbynomeansleast,Ithankmyhusband,Nicholas.Hereadandpa-
tiently edited this manuscript more times than anyone should have to and
provided persistent and constructive criticism of my English language and
knowledgeof Russianhistory.Withouthimthisbookwouldhaveneverbeen
completed. Words cannot convey my gratitude to him and to all my friends
andcolleagues.