Viktor Kholodkov collection of VKhUTEMAS records and artworks, 1920-1929

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Summary

Creators:

VKhUTEMAS (Art school) and Kholodkov, Viktor

Abstract:

The collection features records and artworks from VKhUTEMAS (Higher Artistic-Technical Workshops), a state-sponsored design school established in Moscow. These materials cover nearly the entire existence of VKhUTEMAS, from its founding in 1920 until 1929, a year before its closure. In 1927, the school was renamed VKhUTEIN (Higher State Artistic and Technical Institute). The records include student cards, evaluations, photographs, brochures, administrative records, and school newspapers, all documenting VKhUTEMAS's innovative curricula. The bulk of the collection consists of drawings, paintings, photographs, experimental books, and other works created by students and faculty members.

Extent:

51.5 Linear Feet

Language:

Collection material is in Russian.

Preferred citation:

VKhUTEMAS Collection, 1920-1929, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 950052.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa950052

Background

Scope and content:

The VKhUTEMAS records and artworks document the work of students and faculty members of the school from 1920 to 1929. It contains student diplomas, evaluation reports, identification cards and newspapers. However the larger portion of the collection contains drawings, paintings and prints on paper and canvas, experimental books, photographs, textiles and porcelain, all of which were produced for class assignments. They are primarily works on paper that were assignments in color theory, portraiture, still life, printmaking, graphic design, textile design and ceramics. Among these can also be found the work of VKhUTEMAS / VKhUTEIN faculty members. Included are photographs, books, oil paintings, three woodblocks, two pieces of porcelain, five school newspapers and several administrative documents.

Artists extensively documented in the collection include Olga Deineko, Vladimir Favorski, Boris Korolev, Klavdia Kozlova, Mikhail Tarkhanov, Iossif Tchaikov, Alexandre Toporkov, and Grigori Zimine.

Biographical / historical:

VKhUTEMAS is the acronym for the Russian State and Technical School founded in 1920 in Moscow, whose faculty comprised Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, and Gustav Klutsis.

Established by state decree, VKhUTEMAS was initially modeled on the experimental Free Workshops (SVOMAS) in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1927-1928, it was renamed the Higher State Artistic and Technical Institute, or VKhUTEIN. The school's mandate was to serve as a specialized educational institution for advanced artistic and technical training, preparing highly qualified master artists for careers in industry or education. One of VKhUTEMAS's major achievements was its three-tiered Basic Course. Students first developed studio art techniques, then incorporated them into a specialized industrial/professional education. This basic course was supplemented with subjects such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, geometry, the theory of shadows, military training, the scientific theory of color, a foreign language, and the history of art.

The VKhUTEMAS records and artworks were assembled by Viktor Kholodkov (1948-2015), a Russian-American art dealer and collector who acquired pieces directly from artists and their families. Born in Kharkiv, Kholodkov became an art dealer in Moscow, specializing in early Soviet avant-garde art, particularly the works of VKhUTEMAS. He was closely associated with art collector Nikolai Khardzhiev.

In 1989, Viktor Kholodkov immigrated to the United States, bringing with him his collection of prints and paintings related to VKhUTEMAS. In 1992, paintings from his collection were exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in the exhibition titled The Great Utopia: Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde. In 1995, the Getty Research Institute acquired records and artworks related to VKhUTEMAS that Kholodkov had gathered, while his early Soviet sheet music covers were purchased by the Library of Congress. His papers, which also feature music covers, were acquired by Columbia University.

Viktor Kholodkov passed away in San Diego, California in 2015.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 1995.

Processing information:

Teresa Morales processed and arranged the collection, and created the finding aid, from February to June 1996. Guiding the organization of the collection is the dealer's inventory, which arranges artwork alphabetically by artist's name and by size of item regardless of medium. It also assigns each item an identification number, attribution of the work, dates, and provenance. This number displays in brackets for each item.

The one divergence from the dealer's inventory is in the spelling of artist's names. For accuracy and consistency in the spelling of names, the text of S. O. Khan-Magomedov (VHUTEMAS: Moscou, 1920-1930, 2 vols., Paris: Editions du Regard, 1990) has been utilized.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized in two series: Series I. School and student documentation; Series II. Artworks.

Physical location:

Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Art schools
Art schools -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow -- History -- 20th century
Art -- Study and teaching
Design -- Russia (Federation) -- 20th century
Names:: VKhUTEMAS (Art school)
VKhUTEIN (Art School)

Access and use

Restrictions:: Open for use by qualified researchers, except for works that are fragile and that are restricted.
Terms of access:: Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.