История Ассоциации художников революционной России в изложении основателя: к публикации рукописи (к 100-летнему юбилею АХРР)

Abstract

One of the founders of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AARR) established in 1922 and its permanent secretary was the painter Eugene A. Katsman. Published for the first time, the transcript of his 1957 manuscript highlights some little-known points in the history of the Association. This article is introductory in nature and contains materials from another important source — E.A. Katsman’s diaries, which shed light on the circumstances of the preparation of the material, the author’s attitude to the phenomena in the artistic environment and public life, and his struggle for socialist realism. This publication is dedicated to the centenary of the AARR and designed to provide historians of culture with an honest opinion of a direct witness and participant in the events of a century ago. Both in the text of the published manuscript and in this introductory article, a number of outstanding artists of their time, cultural figures and Soviet political figures are mentioned. In the manuscript, Katsman characterized the major exhibitions and works created over the decade of the Association’s existence, and the diary fragments cited express his opinion on various issues of artistic life and the life of society in those years. The artist’s reflection in the diaries can become a valuable source not only for historians, but also for art critics.