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FRAGILE PERSUASION:
Russian Porcelain and the Fine Art of Propaganda
Opening at Hillwood September 16
Exhibition brings together two centuries of Russian porcelain objects—
Seemingly delicate forms offer biting commentary and
persuasive propaganda
WASHINGTON –- In a true testament to “things are not always what they seem,” an exhibition of 79 objects made in Russia over nearly two centuries reveals the surprising messages within these seemingly innocuous objects. Fragile Persuasion: Russian Porcelain and the Fine Art of Propaganda, on view at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens from September 16 to December 31, 2008, examines the role that porcelain played in commenting on Russia's tumultuous history, from the late 19th century through the Revolution, the Cold War, and up to the present day. They may look like everyday collectibles, but unlike their counterparts produced in western Europe and North America, the porcelain figurines, plates, and vases in Fragile Persuasion reveal the significant part they have played in addressing Russia's most difficult social and political issues.
Selected from a larger collection of porcelains and paintings belonging to collector Yuri Traisman, this exhibition is the first in the United States to focus attention on the way that this traditional Russian art form was used for the purpose of political and social propaganda. “With all eyes on the Russian art market over the last few years, it is fitting that Hillwood, itself a preeminent collector's museum, bring to light this important collection and this previously little-explored aspect of Russian cultural history,” said Frederick J. Fisher, executive director of Hillwood. “By viewing these works alongside Hillwood's significant holdings of imperial porcelain, visitors will be afforded a unique opportunity to observe the shifting historical contexts in which this medium has been produced and understood.”
Most of the lavish Russian porcelain that is well-known today was commissioned by the tsars to furnish the many palaces of the Russian court. By copying the prized porcelain of France and Germany, its production, at first, reflected Russia's aspirations to become part of western Europe. It was the lively and colorful designs of this porcelain that caught the eye of Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post when she lived in Moscow as wife of Ambassador Joseph E. Davies in 1937 and 1938. With an impassioned eye for its quality and significance, Post became a leading collector of imperial porcelain and today Hillwood holds the most comprehensive collection of it outside of Russia.
Fragile Persuasion was first conceived by former Hillwood curator of Russian and Eastern European art Dr. Karen Kettering, and further organized and developed by current Hillwood staff. On view in Hillwood's Dacha, the exhibition will offer truly close encounters with these objects in an intimate setting. Hillwood's associate curator of Russian and Eastern European art Dr. Scott Ruby comments: “While it might seem that these objects are no more than small-scale decorative sculptures—in the vein of popular Hummels or Lladro figurines—closer examination will reveal them to be far more meaning-laden.”
Exhibition Highlights
Beginning with the social unease of pre-Revolutionary Russia, when the anxiety and skepticism that accompanied industrialization began to find expression in porcelain, a new means of social commentary was born. The earliest figures, produced mostly in privately-owned factories, address the social turbulence of the 19th-century, such as the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861, the increase of alcoholism among the peasantry, and governmental corruption. The Tipplers and Home from the Tavern (1870s-1890s) address both the unintended consequences of freedom from serfdom and the problems with state-controlled taverns and its monopoly on vodka sales. Many believed that the state's economic dependence on liquor sales spurred the breakdown of traditional culture and family life.
In the wake of the 1917 Russian revolution, all factories, including those privately owned, were nationalized by the new Soviet state. Porcelain became part of the new plan for monumental propaganda to reinforce the ideals of the revolution. Natalia Dan'ko (1892-1942) was instrumental in introducing this new type of porcelain figure, creating a series of statuettes depicting persons who embodied the revolution's political changes. Collective Farm Women (1938) and On Guard (1937) are examples of porcelain's new role, where sharp-shooting collective farm women and spy-spotting children demonstrate the fanatical devotion to the survival and defense of the new Soviet State.
Cold War era porcelain production embraced the scientific and artistic achievements of the Soviet regime as a way of advancing the ideals of the government and capturing the imagination of the public. Dan'ko's Papanin Expedition (1938) illustrates the well-publicized expedition of 1937 and 1938, in which explorer Ivan Papanin and his crew spent nine months on a Polar ice floe conducting scientific experiments. All members of the team, including the dog, Jolly, became national celebrities. By this time, the idea that porcelain could be a vehicle for promoting the idealized Soviet world view was firmly established and Dan'ko's depiction suggested to the Soviet citizens a heroic ideal to which they could aspire.
By the 1950s, mechanized porcelain production changed the face of Soviet porcelain, encouraging the production of inexpensive porcelains geared for tourists. Even in the wake of World War II devastation and in the face of continued Cold War ho+stilities with the U.S., Soviet porcelain figures continued to project a daily life of peace and prosperity. Galina Stolbova's The First Day of First Grade (1954) was a popular and often reproduced sculpture. While producers of porcelain figures in the West tended to use children to represent an idealized innocence, artists at Soviet factories emphasized the benefits theoretically available to all Soviet children, such as free healthcare and education. Here, the little girl in her black-and-white Soviet school uniform expresses the educational benefits that Socialism had to offer.
The exhibition concludes with several objects by contemporary artist Grisha Bruskin. He, along with several other contemporary artists, began to revive porcelain as an artistic medium, feeling that its original tradition had been lost during the Soviet era. Bruskin combines the pre-Revolutionary tradition of depicting various groups and social classes within Russian society with the Soviet practice of creating idealized subjects to create his own collection of Russian archetypes that are distinctly contemporary.
Exhibition Programs
A printed tour, lecture, and gallery talks will be available to guide visitors through Fragile Persuasion and its connections to Hillwood's collections. Examination of the Russian
holdings in Hillwood's collection will aid visitors in the understanding of Post's collecting vision, reveal what was happening in the world of porcelain production during her time in the Soviet Union, and allow for comparing and contrasting the multiple roles and uses of Russian porcelain over the centuries.
For a full exhibition press kit, including high-resolution images, please contact: lrossotti@hillwoodmuseum.org
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