Russian Avant-Garde

Lot 235
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 6 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 470184
Lot 235 | Russian Avant-Garde
Estimate value
£ 6 000 – 8 000
Russian Avant-Garde

Collective farm. 1981-1986

[AVANT-GARDE. RUSSIA]. BAKHCHANYAN, Vagrich, and Rimma and Valeriy GERLOVIN (editors). Collective Farm. [Complete, in 6 issues]. New York: 1981-1986.



Exceptionally pristine and rare complete set of this work of Russian Conceptualism made of original drawings, collages, carbon paper in colour, rubber­stamp and xeroxart: one of 100 copies produced by the group of Russian artists who emigrated to New York in 1979, having being expelled from the Soviet artist’s organisation as authors of ‘provocative and harmful’ work. Issue 1, ‘Kolkhoz’, was entirely devoted to Russian art and was produced in 150 copies, with a ‘twin’ editorial board including a Moscow (The collective action group, Makarevich + Yelagina & co., The Toadstools) and a New York team (Bakhchanyan, the Gerlovins, the Tupitsyns); issues 2 to 6, produced in a number of copies varying between 50 and 100, were made up with envelopes instead of leaves, each acting as a mini-gallery and housing a number of works on paper. Issues 2 and 3, ‘Letters to the USSR’ and ‘Post Office Dinner’, 1982 (100 copies each) had an international breadth; issue 4, 1983 (80 copies) was entitled ‘Wonderkids’ and included ‘Famous art works (Miro, Picasso, Dubuffet, Twombly) influenced by children’s art … completed by children of contemporary artists’; issue 5, ‘5 years plan’ was produced in 50 copies in 1987 and arranged around themes such as Biosynthesis, Social Engineering, Industry, Politics/Military, Money/Law, Sound Theatre, Forbidden Fruits; issue 6, ‘Stalin Test’ (1986, 50 copies), gathered various Russians’ response to the editor’s visual ‘Stalin test’.



6 issues, various formats, sizes and techniques, complete, issues 2 to 6 consisting of bound envelopes with inserts. 1: Kolkhoz, 1981 (304 x 228mm); 2: Letters to the USSR, 1982, 22 envelopes (228 x 101mm); 3: Post Office Dinner, 1982, 25 envelopes (206 x 152mm); 4: Wonderkids, 1983, 11 envelopes (279 x 190mm); 5: 5 Year Plan, 1987, 12 envelopes (381 x 254mm): 6: Stalin Test, 1986, 16 envelopes (139 x 114mm). Unblemished.

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