The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine #3 (52) 2016
artist Korzhev, was indeed one of the key problems in the post-Soviet period. In 1976, the painter stepped down as head of Russia’s Artists’ Union, and in 1986 he stopped teaching. After this, his public role in society was reduced to a minimum, and he saw few people outside his family and a circle of close friends. His efforts, in this period, were directed mostly towards his art, the main focus of his life. Thus, Korzhev found himself in silent opposition to the new Russian leadership. Unwavering in his views, in the late 1990s the artist refused a state award bestowed upon him by the government of the new Russian Federation.7 In a note explaining his decision, Korzhev wrote of his motives: “I was born in the Soviet Union and sincerely believed in the ideas and ideals of the time. Today, they are considered a historical mistake. Now Russia has a social system directly opposite to the one under which I, as an artist, was brought up. The acceptance of a state award would be equal to a confession of my hypocrisy throughout my artistic career. I request that you consider my refusal with due understanding.”8 As a mature artist, Korzhev did not seek to openly criticize the political or social system of contemporary Russia. This is not, indeed, part of the artist’s role. His experience and views were, however, inevitably reflected in his later works. Korzhev’s thoughts and feelings came alive in his canvases, and also on paper: throughout most of his life, the painter kept a diary. He also left behind copious notes with reflections on art, contemporary culture and social issues. Not intended for publication, these manuscripts and diaries are virtually unknown to the public: the rich archive is in the keeping of Korzhev’s family.9 Leaving his public duties behind and retreating to the seclusion of his studio, in the latter decades of his life Gely Korzhev was able fully to realize virtually all his creative ambitions. What joy this is for an artist! The geographical location of Korzhev’s artistic legacy has naturally been affected by the way in which circumstances split the artist’s working life into two parts. Thus, most of his large-scale canvases from the Soviet period became key pieces in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery, as well as various regional museums. The second part of Korzhev’s artistic legacy, equally important for understanding his oeuvre, is to be found in private institutions and collections worldwide. The large-scale canvases of the last three decades of his life, as well as his early works, sketches and composition studies remain virtually unknown to the wider Russian public. Many of his important paintings were taken out of Russia without having once been exhibited in the artist’s homeland. This retrospective thus offers a wonderful opportunity to consider the different parts of Korzhev’s creative legacy together, and to gain a deeper appreciation of his artistic range and complexity as a painter. Talking of his style and methods in art, Korzhev used the term “social realism”, placing great importance on both the first, and the second word in that description. Looking back at the past, he mused:
Мясник. 1990. Холст, масло. 89 × 79,4. Музей русского искусства, Миннеаполис, США The Butcher. 1990. Oil on canvas. 89 × 79.4 cm. Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis, USA
“I believe it [Socialist Realism] should have been named ‘social realism’. Socialism is associated with politics, but instead it should be aimed at social issues. Then it would have been powerful.”10 This was the type of realism to which Korzhev aspired. Despite all the suffering he felt with his inner rejection of life in post-Soviet Russia, the artist never ceased to be concerned with, and about the Russian people: the plight that many had experienced with the collapse of the USSR, and the potential that still remained. In an interview given in 2001, Korzhev described his social standpoint as an artist: “For those who are running the country I have, as SaintExupéry put it, a deep dislike. Those circles that are currently flourishing and are now at the forefront hold no interest for me. As an artist, I see absolutely no point in studying that part of society. The people who do not fit into this pattern, however – now they are of interest. The ‘superfluous’ men, the outsiders – today, they are many. Rejected, ejected from normal life, unwanted in the current climate… I am interested in their fate, in their inner struggle. As far as I am concerned, they are the real, worthy heroes for the artist.”11 These new heroes indeed began to populate Korzhev’s works, as the artist took on the social issues facing contemporary Russia in works such as “Rise, Ivan!” (1995, Institute of Russian Realist Art), “Adam Andreevich and Eva Petrovna” (19961998, private collection, Moscow) and “Parental Rights Revoked” (2006, Institute of Russian Realist Art). The contemporary Russian reality which Korzhev observed in the final decades of his life did not inspire the 25
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