ART 286 The Russian Avant-Garde

The first decades of the 20th century witnessed revolutionary transformations in the cultural and political life of the Russian world. The Avant-Garde movements were determining forces in shaping our idea of culture. The Avant-Garde was synonymous with progress, social disruption and change. It sought controversy and has remained controversial to this day. The course focuses on the theory and practice of the Russian Avant-garde with particular stress on aesthetic, historical, and political interconnections between the Russian Avant-Garde and the West. The movements covered: futurism, cubo-futurism, neo-primitivism, suprematism and constructivism. The artists studied: Natalja Goncharova, Lubov Popova, Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Pavel Filonov, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, the film makers Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, and the composers Alexander Scriabin and Igor Stravinsky. The survey also includes questions of art and politics (art as a propaganda tool) and art and the popular culture.