Exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft (1945-1989)

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

The exhibition activity of handicrafts of the Palekh lacquer miniature was an important means of propaganda and popularization of this art form already at the very beginning of its existence, in the 1920s - 1930s. In the post-war period, art exhibitions continued to play a significant role in the public recognition of the Palekh art organization, and the role of exhibition activities in the period under review increased even more due to an increase in the number of exhibitions, as well as the emergence of new types of exhibition projects.

An important direction of the exhibition activity of the craft in the post-war period was the organization of traveling art exhibitions, the main purpose of which was to get acquainted with the Palekh lacquer miniature of residents of rural areas, as well as provincial cities of the Soviet Union, i.e. those viewers who had not had ample opportunities to see these products firsthand (in the pre-war period, handicrafts were mainly exhibited in Moscow, Leningrad and Ivanovo). Already in 1946, the State Museum of Palekh Art (hereinafter – GMPI) created a special fund for such a traveling exhibition, which became an important means of promoting and popularizing Palekh art ^{[22, p. 78]}. It is important to note at the same time that, unlike Republican and All-Union exhibitions, the traveling exhibition of the GMPI took place mainly in small towns and rural areas of the USSR. For example, in 1952, a traveling exhibition of works by Palekh artists was held in Kaluga, Ryazan and Yaroslavl, gaining wide popularity among the population: for example, the number of visitors to the exhibition in Kaluga was 3,120, and in Ryazan – 3,253 people (for comparison: the GMPI in Palekh for the first 10 months of the same 1952 was visited by 4,643 spectators) ^[7]. The traveling exhibition of the State Museum of Fine Arts (numbering about 150 works of lacquer miniatures, as well as preparatory drawings and sketches of book design of paleshans of all generations) became one of the most long-term exhibition projects of the museum, traveling around the vast country until the very end of the Soviet period. So, in the autumn-winter of 1974, the traveling exhibition of the GMPI was located on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR ^[35], and in 1982-1984 it took place along the route Gorky – Abakan – Tashkent – Makhachkala – Derbent, having gathered an impressive number of spectators in 400 thousand people ^[34] (for comparison: the GMPI itself in 1982 was able to accept only about 45 thousand visitors) ^[6]. It is significant at the same time that the traveling exhibition, created in 1946 by the GMPI, was not the only one of this kind: for example, in November-December 1954, the GMPI hosted an exhibition of works of art of Communist China dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the formation of the People's Republic of China (it consisted of 79 exhibits, including political posters, engravings, lithographs and color reproductions of easel paintings), while after the end of the exhibition, the exhibition moved to the collective farms of the Palekh district of the Ivanovo region, also becoming mobile ^[19]. 

In the second half of the 1940s - the first half of the 1950s, the products of the Palekh lacquer miniature participated in foreign exhibitions as actively as in the pre–war period. Already at the beginning of 1945, a review of handicrafts was held in Mexico City, and in the summer of 1945, an exhibition of palekh products was held in Cairo and Tehran ^{[36, p. 152-153]}.  The Palekh Art Organization creates works for World Festivals of Youth and students: for example, in June-July 1953, the Palekh branch of the USSR Art Fund executes a large order for the IV World Festival (held in August 1953 in Bucharest), including such iconic works for the creativity of Palekh masters as "Wedding on a collective farm" A. M. Kurkina, "Song of Peace" by V. Z. Rozhkov, "Song of Friendship" by B. M. Nemtinov ^[10]. In addition to the production of lacquer miniature samples, Palekh masters during this period actively participate in exhibition activities and as pavilion designers: for example, in 1954, for the famous All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow, the famous artist Palekh T. I. Zubkova made sketches of ornamental panels of the pavilion of the Central Regions of the RSFSR ^{[5, p. 114; 12]}.

The most important viewing of the products of the Palekh lacquer miniature of the mid-1950s was a large retrospective exhibition in honor of the 30th anniversary of the craft, held in Moscow in 1955. Back in 1935, during the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Artel of Ancient Painting (the first organizational form of the existence of the Palekh lacquer craft), its major retrospective exhibition was held ^{[21, p. 53]}, and in the future the organization of major retrospective exhibitions dedicated to the anniversaries of the Palekh craft became a tradition (excluding the 20th anniversary, which came for wartime). Nevertheless, the opening of the 1955 retrospective exhibition of Palekh art (the first of its kind after the war) was postponed for a long time. So, in December 1954, the director of the Palekh branch of the USSR Art Fund, K. K. Evmenenko, wrote in the local newspaper "Tribune of Palekh" that the exhibition would open in February 1955.^[11] At the specified time, the exhibition, however, did not take place, and in June 1955, the secretary of the party bureau of the Palekh Organization of artists, V. D. Dudorov, in that He promised the newspaper that the Moscow exhibition would open in early July ^[9]. As a result, the exhibition opened only in August 1955, having worked, however, for a relatively short time (for exhibitions of such a large scale) – until September of the same year.

However, despite certain difficulties, the exhibition, called "30 years of the art of the Soviet Palekh" and held in the Exhibition Hall of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Artists of the USSR (on Kuznetsky Bridge), became a major exhibition event of artistic Moscow, earning many positive reviews in the metropolitan press ^[13]. About 600 works of all generations of Palekh miniaturists were presented at the exhibition ^{[15, p. 5]} (lacquer miniature, book illustration, porcelain products, wall painting sketches), including 52 works created in 1955 specifically for this exhibition and selected by the Art Council of the Palekh branch of the USSR Art Fund (box N. F. Vikhreva "New Toy", A.V. Borunov's box "Humpbacked Horse", A.V. Kovalev's decorative dish "Blossom, collective farm Land" and many other works) ^[9]. In December 1964, as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the art of crafts, an even larger retrospective exhibition was held in Moscow and Palekh, called "40 years of the art of the Soviet Palekh" ^[8] and already included about 800 exhibits; the works of various types of art were performed on a variety of topics by artists of all generations (sketch The mural "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by A.V. Kotukhin in 1932, a sketch of the curtain for the play "The Golden Cockerel" by N. M. Parilov in 1946, a lacquer plate by G. M. Melnikov "For the Power of the Soviets" in 1961 and other works) ^{[33, p. 3]}. The retrospective reviews of 1974 and 1984 (on the 50th and 60th anniversary of the Soviet Palekh) were especially large: in particular, the exhibition held at the GMPI in December 1974 consisted of about 1,500 exhibits, becoming generally the largest exhibition project of Palekh handicrafts of the Soviet era ^{[14, p. 5]}.

The form of a personal exhibition, usually timed to the anniversary of a major Palekh artist, was also often used by the GMPI (it is noteworthy that such a practice of the museum has been preserved in our time ^{[17, p. 62]}). Personal anniversary exhibitions were held by the GMPI regularly throughout the entire period under review, becoming the most popular form of temporary exhibition projects of Palekh handicrafts. Such was, for example, a personal exhibition of the works of the famous Palekh artist and teacher of the local art school N. F. Vikhrev, organized at the GMPI in April 1969 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the master ^[2]. Another example from this very numerous series is the anniversary exhibition of the works of one of the founders of the Palekh craft A. A. Dydykin, organized by the GMPI in April 1974 and timed to the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth ^[26]. In addition to the anniversaries of famous paleshans, temporary exhibitions of the GMPI could be timed to dates important for the history of the country: so, in May 1965, an exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War was opened in the museum (the products of lacquer miniatures and sketches of paleshans made during the war and the first post-war years were presented at the review: I. P. Vakurov's box "Victory" in 1945, A. V. Kotukhin's box "In the Frontline forest" 1948 and other works) ^[18].

Especially large and numerous were the solo exhibitions at the State Museum of Fine Arts of the famous miniature painter N. M. Zinoviev, a living guardian of the spirit of craft, a master who was rightly called "the elder of the art of Palekh" ^[28]. Thus, the exhibition of N. M. Zinoviev's works at the State Museum of Fine Arts, held in June 1958 and dedicated to his 70th birthday, consisted of about 200 works and included samples of lacquer miniatures, porcelain products and wall paintings ^[32] (the artist worked a lot and fruitfully in all these types of art throughout his life). In May 1978, on the 90th anniversary of N. M. Zinoviev, another solo exhibition of the famous paleshanin took place at the GMPI, which at that time generally became the most extensive exhibition of the museum of all dedicated to one artist: it presented the master's works not only from the funds of the GMPI, but also from other museums of the country, which occupied entire four halls ^[31]. 

Another illustrative example of this kind was the personal exhibition of works by the famous Leningrad artist E. I. Pashkov (Evgeny Ivanovich Pashkov, being repressed and exiled from Leningrad to Palekh in the 1930s, studied at a local art school, actively participated in the creative life of the craft in the first half of the 1940s, after which he returned to live and work to Leningrad) ^{[20, p. 92]}. The exhibition of E. I. Pashkov's works, reflecting all the periods of his work, was opened at the State Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR in Leningrad (the modern Russian Ethnographic Museum) and in the House of Friendship with the Peoples of Foreign Countries in Moscow, having gathered over 100 thousand visitors ^[16]. (it is interesting that a group of paleshan led by N. M. Zinoviev specially came to the opening of this exhibition in Leningrad, who wrote the warmest words about the Leningrad artist in the book of reviews ^[29]).

As in the pre-war period, the Palekh organization in the period under study takes an active part in thematic art exhibitions, whose number in the post-war and subsequent periods was truly colossal and reflected all the attention of the Soviet state to the aesthetic education of its citizens. Thematic exhibitions of all levels (All-Union, Republican, zonal, regional and district) were often timed to significant anniversaries and memorable dates for the country, and an important place at such exhibitions was occupied by products of Soviet Palekh art. Such was, for example, the All-Union jubilee exhibition in Moscow in 1956 "The First Russian Revolution of 1905", to which Palekh artists of the younger generation presented their works: A. M. Kurkin's casket "Mayevka on Talka", A. V. Borunov's casket "M. V. Frunze's Transfer from Shui to Vladimir prison in 1907" and others works ^[30]. In February-March 1968, the Palekh organization took part in the All-Union jubilee exhibition "On Guard of the Motherland", dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the USSR and held in the Central Exhibition Hall of Moscow; at this largest exhibition, which was visited by more than 200 thousand spectators, palekhans presented such important works for the history of the craft as the cigarette case A. I. Blokhin's "Partisans", K. S. Bokarev's casket "Komsomol members went to the Civil War" and many other works ^[1]. The participation of the Palekh art and production workshops (the then form of the organization of crafts) in exhibitions of the republican level was also regular: for example, in 1975, at the Fifth Republican Exhibition "Soviet Russia", the Palekh masters presented 24 works that received the highest rating of the exhibition committee, among them the plate of N. P. Bogacheva "Homeland", the casket of V. M. Khodova "Vasily Buslaev" and other works ^[23].

The samples of Palekh art exhibited at such shows invariably evoked the most enthusiastic and grateful feedback from visitors. So, in the autumn-winter of 1964, the Palekh art and production workshops took part in the Moscow zonal exhibition "In a single formation" (held in one of the pavilions of VDNH); about 2 thousand works of all types of Soviet fine art were presented at this review, through which more than 80 thousand visitors passed, but according to the number of reviews and it was Palekh products that were praised in the first place. In particular, the admiration of the audience of this exhibition for Palekh is well illustrated by the words left in the book of reviews by Leningrad students: "What could be more beautiful than Palekh works! They reflect the whole genius of the Russian people, all their love for the beautiful" ^[4].

Especially long and responsible was the preparation of craftsmen for the All-Union and Republican exhibitions dedicated to the most important dates and anniversaries of the USSR; paleshans responsibly began preparing for such shows a year and a half before their opening. One example is the jubilee 4th Republican exhibition "Soviet Russia" in 1970, as it is known, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin. Using the example of this art show, for which the Palekh branch of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR began to prepare back in August 1968, it is indicative to analyze exactly how the organization of the Palekh craft carried out preparations for major exhibition events of the period under study.

In August 1968, the Palekh branch of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR (together with the exhibition committee organized by the Art and Production Workshops) approves a thematic plan of works by Palekh artists for the upcoming exhibition, formed from applications from the artists themselves (there were more than forty such applications already at this stage) ^[3]. The thematic plan of the works proposed by the masters of the craft was recommended to the republican exhibition committee, and contracts were immediately concluded with the masters for the creation of works (N. I. Golikov's box "Lenin with us", V. M. Khodov's plate "The Wind of Revolution", A. S. Peskov's plate "The Voice of the Earth"). At the same time, Palekh artists could submit other works to the exhibition committee on their own initiative in excess of the concluded contract (and over the next ten months 30 such works were collected). In May 1969, a zonal exhibition committee formed from Moscow artists and art historians came to Palekh to view the future exhibits of the exhibition. At the end of the month (on the 20th of May), the zonal exhibition committee analyzed and gave its assessment to 53 contractual and 30 counter works, fully approving some, rejecting some, and ordering some to be redone ^[27]. As a result, by June 1969 (nine months before the start of the exhibition), many Palekh artists who have signed contracts finish their works by submitting them to the local exhibition committee (A. M. Kurkin's casket "Songs of Bygone Campaigns", N. M. Zinoviev's cycle of plates "The Origin of Life on Earth" and other works) ^[24]. All these works, according to the main and additional agreements with the artists, appeared at the 4th Republican Exhibition "Soviet Russia", held in Moscow in the spring of 1970, and after this important review, Palekh products were also exhibited at the Moscow All-Union Exhibition of Decorative and Applied Art (also dedicated to the Lenin anniversary), where 39 works were presented crafts (and among them the famous in the history of the Palekh fishery A.D. Kochupalov's casket "Appassionata") ^[25]. During the period under study, the staff of the GMPI also used the form of a thematic exhibition extremely actively, each time successfully finding new facets of the history and modernity of the Palekh craft: the exhibition of monumental and decorative painting paleshan 1974 ^[26], the exhibition of works by young artists Palekh 1984 ^[34] and many others. 

Thus, throughout the entire post-war Soviet period, exhibition activity was an important factor in the public and official recognition of the artistic craft of the Palekh lacquer miniature. Continuing the tradition of the craft's participation in major exhibition projects of the 1920s - 1930s, the organization of Palekh artists, together with the State Museum of Palekh Art, during the post–war period took an active part in Soviet art exhibitions of various types - personal, retrospective, thematic and mobile, receiving positive feedback from visitors. The accumulated traditions and the social success achieved in Soviet times allowed the Palekh craft to continue its exhibition activities in the tragic and troubled period of the 1990s and 2000s.

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