Nikolai Khardzhiev and Russian Avant-Garde Modernism

Arguably, the Avant-garde was engaged in a personalized dialogue with society. Modernism was offering a new language and culture that might foment social change and political action. This is evident in the movement’s early infatuation with anarchism and socialism. It is also the reason that many of its practitioners supported the Bolshevik plan to create a new society. In the 1960s, Khardzhiev played a significant role in the rediscovery of Russian Modernism within the Soviet Union, mainly due to his personal relationships, several decades earlier, with many of its leading figures. His intimate knowledge of the various aesthetic experiments, his correspondence and personal associations with figures such as Aleksei Kruchenykh, Daniil Kharms, Kazimir Malevich, Mikhail Matiushin and many more, were essential texts, relevant to Soviet and Western scholars. Our volume of collected papers explores his multidimensional legacy. The scholarly essays in this collection are emblematic of the topics discussed at an academic conference held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2-3 June 2017). These contributions by the leading scholars of the period expand the scholarly discourse on art, literature and culture. Although Khardzhiev’s lasting influence is the starting point of this collection of essays, the enduring value of this book will be the multiple points of entry for future study of Russia’s avant-garde modernism.Arguably, the Avant-garde was engaged in a personalized dialogue with society. Modernism was offering a new language and culture that might foment social change and political action. This is evident in the movement’s early infatuation with anarchism and socialism. It is also the reason that many of its practitioners supported the Bolshevik plan to create a new society. In the 1960s, Khardzhiev played a significant role in the rediscovery of Russian Modernism within the Soviet Union, mainly due to his personal relationships, several decades earlier, with many of its leading figures. His intimate knowledge of the various aesthetic experiments, his correspondence and personal associations with figures such as Aleksei Kruchenykh, Daniil Kharms, Kazimir Malevich, Mikhail Matiushin and many more, were essential texts, relevant to Soviet and Western scholars. Our volume of collected papers explores his multidimensional legacy. The scholarly essays in this collection are emblematic of the topics discussed at an academic conference held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2-3 June 2017). These contributions by the leading scholars of the period expand the scholarly discourse on art, literature and culture. Although Khardzhiev’s lasting influence is the starting point of this collection of essays, the enduring value of this book will be the multiple points of entry for future study of Russia’s avant-garde modernism.B