Russian Jewish artists in a century of change, 1890-1990

Abstract

With the break-up of the Soviet Union, countries and cultures under Soviet control opened up to the West. In the past few years, as information has begun to flow more freely, art historians have found themselves having to re-examine subjects in the light of newly accessible information. Nowhere is this situation more apparent than in the study of Jewish artists in Russia. Until recently, books and catalogues written in the West have concentrated on work done by Russian Jewish artists in exile. Now, for the first time, an international group of scholars has been assembled to address the last hundred years of art produced by Jews living in Russia itself. Under Tsarist rule, Jews were confined to communities within the Pale of Settlement, and those interested in pursuing artistic careers were educated locally or found that opportunities to attend urban academies were severely limited. Nonetheless, a significant Jewish presence existed on the Russian art scene before the Revolution. Having suffered persecution and circumscribed professional opportunities for decades, many Jewish artists welcomed the Revolution and threw themselves into the task of building the new Communist society. With the lifting of sanctions on Jews, many found jobs in the new Soviet bureaucracy of culture or as influential teachers, designers, and photographers. Some, like El Lissitszky, became world-famous members of the Russian avant-garde. With the advent of Stalin, the eternal political game played by Russian governments with ethnic minorities took another diabolical turn. Many Jews who had attained positions of responsibility became victims of Stalin's purges. Some survived, adopting the officially sanctioned Socialist Realist style; others emigrated. Beginning in the Khruschev years, the Russian underground gradually gained momentum. Jewish artists, who played an essential role in keeping unofficial art alive, worked solely for themselves or exhibited in their own apartments. Nonetheless, the political tide turned slowly. Today, the new openness between Russia and the West has made it possible for the work of these individuals to be set against a narrative of tragedy and transcendence stretching back over many years. Given the present state of research, this text purposely proposes more questions than it answers. An historical overview by historian Michael Stanislawski is followed by seven essays by an international roster of art historians who address, in chronological sequence, the difficult, frequently uplifting history of Jewish art in Russia in the modern period. Essays are contributed by Ziva Amishai-Maisels, John E. Bowit, Boris Groys, Victor Misiano, Aleksandra Shatskikh, Michael Stanislawski and Seth L. Wolitz.