Exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft (1923-1939)

Lavrov Dmitrii Evgen'evich ORCID: 0000-0002-2607-7220 PhD in Art History Senior Educator, the department of Museology, Saint Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, nab. Universitetskaya, 7-9, aud. 91 agitlak@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Participation in domestic and foreign art exhibitions was extremely important for the life of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft throughout the Soviet period. It can be argued that the very appearance of the Artel of Ancient Painting in December 1924 – the first organization created by the Palekh masters of lacquer miniature – was directly related to the exhibition activities in which these artists were involved.  

As is known, even in the first post-revolutionary years, a local art artel was created in Palekh for painting wooden products (Palekh Artel), but the former icon painters who composed this organization soon became convinced of the futility of these activities ^{[26, p. 9]}. The first experiments of the founders of the Palekh lacquer miniature art, I. I. Golikov and A. A. Glazunov, took place in Moscow in the autumn of 1922. ^{[7, p. 87]} The possibility of a critical comparison of wooden samples of the Palekh art artel and papier-mache products of the I. I. Golikov and A. A. Glazunov group quickly appeared. In the spring of 1923, the First All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition of the State Academy of Art Sciences (GAKHN) took place in Moscow, at which the products presented by the Palekh Art Artel – in particular, the wooden box-barrel "Shepherdess" by A.V. Kotukhin – received a Diploma of the II degree indicating the shortcomings; the papier-mache products presented by I. I. Golikov (signed by A. A. Glazunov) were awarded a Diploma of the first degree and acquired by the Moscow Handicraft Museum ^{[2, pp. 206-207]}. 

Already in the summer of 1923, the director of the Handicraft Museum, A. A. Voltaire, gives the paleshans an order for the manufacture of lacquer miniature products on papier-mache for the upcoming All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft-Industrial exhibition. A.V. Bakushinsky, a well-known art critic and patron of Paleshan, took the order together with a semi–finished papier–mache product to Palekh and for several weeks provided artistic guidance to the Palekh artists who agreed to work - participants of the Palekh Art artel (I. M. Bakanov, I. V. Markichev, A.V. Kotukhin), achieving the necessary results by August 1923 - the time the beginning of the All-Russian Exhibition ^{[2, p. 209]}. The products of the lacquer miniature on papier-mache prepared for the exhibition were nameless (with the designation only of the collective – the Palekh Art Artel) and were made on the themes of folk songs; in this regard, the memoirs of one of the masters, A.V. Kotukhin, about how the search for themes for these products took place are interesting: "At first we were at a dead end, not knowing what to write. In the end, they decided to write scenes from songs, and for the first time I wrote "Along the River"" ^{[19, p. 227]}.

The All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Industrial Exhibition, as is widely known, was held in August-November 1923 in Moscow, and, becoming the first large-scale viewing of the achievements of the Soviet country, turned out to be the prototype of the famous VSHV (VDNH). The products of the Palekh artists demonstrated in the Handicraft Department, at the insistence of A.V. Bakushinsky (who held the post of a member of the expert commission), as well as due to their own artistic merits, were awarded high awards: the artists of the Palekh Art Artel, who presented samples of lacquer miniatures, were awarded a Diploma of the first degree with the wording: "for the excellent execution of products and application high-tech icon-painting skills for painting on papier-mache" ^{[27, p. 51]}. After the end of the exhibition, the samples made by paleshans, which certainly had an experimental character, were sent to the Handicraft Museum. The products of Palekh artists, exhibited at the All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Industrial Exhibition in Moscow, became the object of display at the Venice Biennale in 1924 – the first major international show in which the products of the Palekh lacquer miniature took part ^{[17, p. 37]}.

Thus, already the first experience of participation of products of the Palekh lacquer miniature, and immediately – in very large exhibition projects – turned out to be very promising and successful; it was no accident that the famous miniature artist A.V. Kotukhin admitted years later that it was after the All-Russian Exhibition of 1923 that he "had faith in the life of our [Palekh] art" ^{[19, p. 221]}. This success and the prospects for public recognition of a new kind of art became an important reason for the collapse in 1924 of the Palekh Art Artel (recall, engaged in painting wooden products) for the organization of a new business (miniature painting of papier-mache products) ^{[2, p. 210]} and the formation on December 5, 1924 of the Artel of ancient painting, which became conditional (but at the same time, it is a widely known) starting point of a new artistic Russian craft – the craft of the Palekh lacquer miniature.

The most important event in the exhibition activity of the Artel of Ancient Painting in the mid-1920s was its participation in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, held in April-October 1925. The participation of the USSR (only six months before the start of this show, in October 1924, officially recognized by France) was organized by the GAKHN ^{[25, p. 90]}, the selection of exhibits was carried out by an Artisanal Museum, the chairman of the Board of the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Abroad (VOX) O. D. Kamenev was the head of the selection committee ^{[36, p. 104]}. The products of the Palekh miniaturists (except Palekh, Fedoskin's craft also took part in the review) were presented at the Exhibition within the framework of the Russian Art and Industrial Department and included a large number of works made on propaganda themes (I. P. Vakurov's 1925 metal winged tray "Revolutionary Village", I. M. Bakanov's box "Children's Round Dance" 1925 and other works). The artel of ancient painting at the exhibition receives a Grand Prix, each of the members of the Artel participating in the exhibition receives a diploma ^{[1, p. 116]}, and the miniature painter I. P. Vakurov, in addition, receives Gold and Bronze medals ^[12]. Interesting are the memories of the artist N. M. Zinoviev about the holiday organized by the Artel of Ancient Painting in the early autumn of 1925 after the success at the Paris exhibition (the artists then had a picnic in a young birch forest in the vicinity of Palekh) ^[16]. It was the success of the Artel at this review (reinforced in November 1925 by the laudatory reviews of the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia) He became an important reason for the beginning of the active entry of new members into the Artel: for example, in 1926, former icon painters A. A. Dydykin, N. M. Zinoviev, L. I. Belousov joined the Artel, multiplying the glory of the Palekh craft with their products ^{[17, p. 41]}.

In the second half of the 1920s, the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting took part in many shows notable for the history of the craft: the Soviet exhibition held in New York in February 1928, at which, as the local press noted, it was the Palekh miniatures that made a real splash, and all items intended for sale were immediately sold out ^[8]; Nizhny Novgorod Fair (summer 1929), for the Art Department of which the Palekh artists I. I. Golikov, I. M. Bakanov, I. V. Markichev and D. N. Butorin executed decorative panels with glue paints on canvas (this was the first experience of the Soviet Palekh turning to monumental painting) ^[24], and many others.

Very important for this period was the famous exhibition "10 years of October", held at the end of 1927 in Moscow ^{[20, pp. 246-247]}. The Artel of Ancient Painting (with the assistance of A.V. Bakushinsky) received a significant order from the Council of People's Commissars, receiving the close attention of the organizers of the exhibition, including the People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky, who highly appreciated the products presented by the Palekh Artel ^{[2, p. 124]}. For the exhibition, which had different names ("10 years of October", "Art exhibition dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution", "Exhibition of orders of the Council of People's Commissars", "Exhibition of public procurement and orders related to the 10th anniversary of the Revolution" ^{[25, p. 107]}), paleshans presented several items who occupied a separate showcase and now have become the most famous examples of the so-called "propaganda varnish" of the 1920s: I. I. Golikov's round plate "III International", N. M. Zinoviev's plate "Komsomol in the Village", I. V. Markichev's plate "Peasant Uprising in the Village" ^{[20, p. 247]} and others works. For the presented products, the Palekh Artel receives a prize of 1000 rubles, as well as important additional orders. So, in December 1927, a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) A.D. Tsyurup ordered a writing device with a painting on a revolutionary theme to the Artel of Ancient painting ^{[36, p. 225]}, and in 1928 another member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), Ya. E. Rudzutak, ordered a casket with the image of a Red Army soldier in the village to the Palekh Artel ^{[27, p. 58]}. Thus, the exhibition "10 years of October", in addition to the material success and public recognition of the craft, caused a wave of interest in the Palekh miniature with propaganda plots among the highest party figures of the USSR.

The exhibition activity of the Artel of Ancient Painting in Leningrad was of great importance for the topic under consideration. For the first time, residents of the city on the Neva were able to see the products of the Palekh miniature already in 1925, in the building of the State Institute of Art History (the current Russian Institute of Art History); small-sized products of the founders of the Artel I. V. Markichev, A. V. Kotukhin, I. I. Zubkov were presented at the exhibition, especially the miniatures of I. I. Golikov ^[34]. The well-known Soviet art historian A. S. Gushchin, a specialist in ancient Russian art, who at that time worked as a senior researcher at the State Institute of Art History, was closely involved in the fate of the Palekh craft. It was A. S. Gushchin who organized an exhibition of Palekh lacquer miniature products in Leningrad in 1929 ^{[17, p. 50]}, following the results of which, on January 29, 1929, at the Society for the Encouragement of Arts (on 38 Herzen Street), he read a report, and in it, in particular, states: "The Revolution breathed into him [Palekh art. – D. L.] new forces and completely changed its very character, enabling the masters to break with the dead tradition of icon painting and opening the way for them to new creativity" ^{[10, p. 4]}. A. S. Gushchin expressed the same ideological justification for the need to use icon-painting techniques in the products of Soviet applied art in the pamphlet "Palekh Miniaturists" published in 1930: "In these miniatures, the ancient technique and formal techniques of icon-painting art, so alien to us now in essence, but valuable for its rich and peculiar artistic culture, are used for transmission of new, secular and everyday content" ^{[11, p. 3]}.

The exhibition "Art of Palekh" organized in Moscow by the All-Industrial Council and the Cultural Association in January-February 1932 became very important for the further development of the craft, as a result of which the art of Palekh confirms its status as a unique center of Russian folk culture. At the review, which took place within a month in the premises of the All-Artist, 252 objects were presented, including 15 works of lacquer miniatures made on the themes of the works of A. S. Pushkin, as well as porcelain products, wall panels and student works ^{[6, pp. 20-21]}. It is due to the success of the exhibition "The Art of Palekh" that the publishing house "Academia" decides to entrust the Palekh artist I. I. Golikov with illustrating the famous edition of "Words about Igor's Regiment" ^{[32, p. 34]}, and the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting receives an order from the Central House of the Red Army for products for the upcoming exhibition "15 Years of the Red Army" ^{[3, p. 209]}. Following the results of the exhibition, a conference was held (however, the chairman of the Palekh Artel A. I. Zubkov, who was present at it, called it a "production meeting" ^{[17, p. 51]}), at which Palekh artists, among others, spoke: in particular, a member of the Artel of Ancient Painting N. M. Zinoviev made a speech in which he drew attention the Moscow public pointed out the lack of education of many Palekh masters, which, according to the speaker, prevented their maximum creative disclosure ^{[17, p. 52]}. 

In October 1933, the All-Artist, together with the Institute of Art and Handicraft Industry, organizes the next major exhibition in Moscow, called "Russian Art Varnishes". The review, to which the Palekh artel presented 113 works (32 of them were devoted to the works of A. S. Pushkin), became the first exhibition of miniatures of Palekh and Mstera together with products of the Moscow region lacquer crafts (Fedoskin and Zhostov) ^{[31, p. 3]}. As in the case of the 1932 exhibition "The Art of Palekh", the exhibition of 1933 was remembered by artists with a lively discussion about the ways of development of the Palekh craft, in which A.V. Bakushinsky participated (who made a report on the "Artistic and production results of the exhibition of lacquers"), as well as the famous writer and patron of Palekh artists E. F. Vikhrev, who read the report "Russian artistic Varnishes", in which, in particular, he stated that miniaturists need creative business trips for the full development of their potential ^[9]. The artel of ancient painting also took part in the famous exhibition "15 years of the Red Army" in 1933, where, in addition to lacquer miniatures, panels made by Palekh artists painted in tempera on canvas ("Iron Stream" by I. M. Bakanov 1931) were presented

         The State Museum of Palekh Art (GMI), which opened in Palekh on March 13, 1935, during the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting ^{[21, p. 53]}, was originally conceived not only as a permanent exhibition of the Palekh icon and lacquer miniature, but also as a platform for holding various temporary exhibitions; so, already at the opening of the museum, in March 1935, several small exhibition projects took place ("Literary works of E. F. Vikhrev", "A. S. Pushkin in the works of Palekh artists"). Thus, the GMPI immediately became a major center for temporary exhibitions of Palekh artists, and not only in the field of lacquer miniatures. So, in March 1936 (on the anniversary of the opening of the GMPI), the museum hosted a temporary exhibition of paper clippings of the famous Akaky Ivanovich Vorobyov (Kapiton) in Palekh ^[18], and in November 1938, at a temporary exhibition at the GMPI (dedicated to the XXI anniversary of the October Revolution), along with a lacquer miniature, sketches were exhibited wall paintings made by Palekh miniaturists for the room of A. S. Pushkin and the Chess Room of the Ivanovo Palace of Pioneers ^[35].

Especially eventful was the exhibition activity of the Palekh Artists' Association (the so-called new form of organization of Palekh artists) in 1937. In January (from the 12th to the 25th), 1937, an important exhibition for the entire history of the Palekh fishery took place in the Ivanovo Regional Museum of Local Lore (Burylinsky) of the city of Ivanov ^[29]. The event, initiated by the Department of Arts Affairs at the Ivanovo Regional Executive Committee and led by the then director of the GMI, G. V. Zhidkov, became a new word not only in the field of organizing exhibitions of folk art (it was the first show at which Palekh, Mster and Kholui lacquer miniature were shown together), but also in the field of exhibition practices of Palekh art proper. Thus, this exhibition was the first in the history of the Soviet Palekh, which presented not only a miniature, but also samples of other artistic products, which had already begun, along with a miniature, to glorify Palekh: book illustrations, wall painting sketches, porcelain, textile drawings, theater decorations ^[14]; thus, at this exhibition, the Soviet Palekh was shown for the first time in almost all the diversity of his artistic genius. Finally, the exhibition showed the works of not only mature masters-miniaturists, but also the works of young artists of Palekh ^[15]; in other words, the review for the first time presented a lacquer miniature of all periods of the existence of the Palekh craft, giving a holistic picture of its development since the Revolution.

The products of the Palekh craft exhibited in Ivanovo became the basis of the department "Art of the Palekh, the Mstery and the Lackey" at the exhibition of folk art of the RSFSR, opened in March 1937 in the Moscow State Tretyakov Gallery ^[23]. The exhibition, organized by the All-Union Committee for the Arts, also showed Muscovites samples of various types of Palekh art; in addition, the exhibition, for the first time in the history of Palekh, showed preparatory drawings made by Palekh artists for lacquer miniature products ^{[5, p. 13]}: a sketch by F. A. Kaurtsev for his plate "Stationmaster" 1936. ^{[5, p. 107]}, I. I. Zubkov's sketch for the Rusalka casket in 1936 ^{[5, p. 106]}, and other drawings.

The largest exhibition event of 1937 in the history of the Palekh craft, of course, was the famous International Exhibition of Art and Technology in Paris, held in May-November 1937. Palekh masters began to prepare for this exhibition a year and a half before the start of its holding, in January 1936, eventually presenting 32 works for review. A distinctive feature of the works was a clear interest in French culture, which was not characteristic of Palekh products before: many of the exhibits presented at the exhibition were based on the works of famous French writers (the miniature of S. D. Solonin "The Marriage of Figaro", the miniature of A. V. Kotukhin "The Comedies of Moliere", the work of I. V. Markichev "The Fables of La Fontaine") ^[30]. A particularly outstanding and innovative work in this series was the round plate "On Fire" written in 1936 by the famous Palekh artist N. M. Zinoviev (based on the novel by Henri Barbusse), in which for the first time the artistic means of the Palekh lacquer miniature were used to show an extremely tragic anti-war scene (the meeting of soldiers crippled by battles with their fallen into poverty, desperate relatives and friends) ^[13]. For their works at the World Exhibition in Paris, Palekh artists were awarded high awards: for example, N. M. Zinoviev for his plate "On Fire" receives a Grand Prix, as well as a gold medal for caskets painted on the themes of the works of A. S. Pushkin ^{[36, p. 192]}, and the famous Palekh master I. I. Zubkov receives an honorary diploma for his work "Industrialization of Agriculture" ^[33].

The last major events of the exhibition activity of the Palekh craft in the pre-war period were the exhibitions of 1939 at the World Exhibition in New York (held from April 30, 1939 to October 27, 1940), the bulk of the miniatures sent by Palekh artists were made on the themes of Pushkin's fairy tales and Russian folklore, which was positively received by art criticism ^[37]. The second half of 1939 was marked by preparations for the anniversary exhibition "The Art of Palekh", dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the craft and held in Moscow, in November-December 1939. The thematic plan of the anniversary exhibition was drawn up by the chairman of the Palekh Artists Association A. G. Bakanov together with a group of supervisors who came to Palekh from Moscow, which included a long-standing a friend of the Palekh artists, an admirer of their talent, art critic M. P. Sokolnikov, who analyzed the lacquer miniatures and other works prepared by the Partnership for the exhibition ^[28]. As a result, at the exhibition organized by the All-Artist, more than 300 works of Palekh miniaturists were presented, including 63 sketches of book illustrations and wall paintings, as well as 180 caskets ^{[4, p. 5]} (miniature by S. P. Bakhirev "Collective Farm Harvest Festival" 1939, miniature by E. I. Pashkov "The Last Tabor" 1939 and others works).

Thus, as we can see, during the early period of the existence of the Palekh lacquer miniature – from its inception in the early 1920s to the beginning of World War II - it was exhibition activity that was an important factor in the development of Palekh's artistic craft, its financial and public recognition; it can even be argued in a certain sense that it was exhibitions that "generated" palekh lacquer miniature. The accumulated invaluable experience, as well as the assistance provided by the Soviet state, helped Palekh artists to preserve their potential during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War and to take a very active part in major exhibition projects of the Soviet state already in the post-war period ^{[22, p. 479]}.