Article

Name: A Portrait of an Artist in Germany: Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and “Russian Berlin” Part One: From Petrograd to Europe

Authors: A. B. Ustinov

«Aquilon» Books & Publishing, San Francisco, USA

In the section Visual Arts: Plots and Fortunes

Abstract: The essay describes in detail the journey of Mstislav and Elizaveta Dobuzhinskys to Europe in 1923, their visit to Lithuania, and their arrival in Germany. The author reconstructs the circumstances of the Dobuzhinskys’ visit from newspaper chronicle, archival materials and letters from the artist to his close friends Alexandre Benoit, Georgy Vereisky, Boris Kustodiev and Fedor Notgaft; but especially, to his sons Rostislav and Vsevolod. The author describes the context of Dobuzhinsky’s initial stay in Germany, including the specifics of the artist’s relations within “Russian Berlin.” Unlike the trips of Soviet writers that became familiar by 1923, visits by artists from Soviet Russia remained quite rare. In Dobuzhinsky’s case, he was able to come to Germany on a business trip under the auspices of the Narkompros, which, despite his independent position in Petrograd, supplied his trip with an additional facet. As a result of that perception, Dobuzhinsky fails to fulfill his working plans to establish cooperation with Russian publishers in Germany. The author believes, that a possible explanation for such detachment stems from the tension in the “Russian Berlin” around the issues of fine art, caused by the “First Russian Art Exhibition” (Die erste russische Kunstausstellung) held at the end of 1922. This first official exhibition, organized by the Soviet government, polarized Russian émigrés’ attitude towards contemporary artists, whom the organizers of the exhibition deliberately divided into “revolutionary” or “left” and “traditional” or “right.” For the émigré public, the former represented “Bolshevik” art, while the latter “truly Russian.” The exhibition also caused another round of public confrontation inside the Russian media, specifically the pro-Soviet newspaper “Nakanune” and the conservative “Rul.” This confrontation culminated in a scandal around Filipp Maliavin’s interview, published by the latter shortly after the opening of the “First Russian Art Exhibition.” The “Nakanune” side was represented by its regular art critic Georgy Lukomsky, who used to be associated with the “World of Art” society. At one time, he became one of the characters in the “ABC of the World of Art,” created by Dobuzhinsky, but, once in Germany, he “changed milestones” and took a pro-Soviet position in relation to the exhibition. After Dobuzhinsky arrived in Berlin, Lukomsky published a generally complementary, but rather chaotic article about him. However, Lukomsky’s reputation as a conflicting art critic for the “Nakanune” could have been not good for Dobuzhinsky. Unfortunately, his cooperation with the Russian publishing houses in Berlin did not work out and his mastery as a graphic artist and illustrator remained during his stay in Germany, with rare exceptions, unclaimed.

Keywords: history of Russian emigration, history of Russian art of the 20th century, Russian Berlin, Russian artists in Germany, Russian book publishers, First Russian Art Exhibition, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Alexandre Benoit, Georgy Vereisky

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