Natalia Goncharova: Between Russian Tradition and European Modernism

150 color illustrations

The rediscovery of one of the most important painters of the Russian avant-garde, in the first comprehensive presentation.

Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova (1881–1962) left behind an extensive, diverse body of work. Starting out as a painter inspired by the folklore and art of her country, she produced colorful, strongly ornamental paintings. Her religious paintings based on icons were highly controversial. During her Moscow period, she began to work with cubism, giving the Russian avant-garde a significant push toward linking the traditional and the modern. Reading her letters and notes, one becomes aware of this non-conformist’s frequently biting, ironic tone.

In 1917 she settled in Paris permanently. There, she designed costumes and sets for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. In exile, however, the artist fell on hard times.

This publication illuminates the details of Goncharova’s life and work, and finally acknowledges the importance of this unconventional artist’s oeuvre, which, to this day, has not yet been properly recognized in her own country