IZO Narkompros
Department of Visual [Plastic] Arts [Otdel izobrazitelnykh iskusstv Narkomprosa (IZO); Отдел изобразительных искусств Наркомпроса (ИЗО)] was established on 29 January 1918 within Narkompros (est. November 1917 replacing the former Ministry of Culture; headed by Anatoly Lunacharsky).
IZO was headed by the painter David Shterenberg, who was based in Petrograd (St Petersburg), assisted by Vladimir Tatlin in Moscow. Malevich was elected to the Moscow section, soon followed by Vasily Kandinsky when Tatlin moved to Petrograd. Aleksandr Rodchenko was assistant director. Kandinsky was head of the Purchasing Committee whose members included Malevich, Rodchenko, Liubov Popova, Ivan Kliun, A. Morgunov, et al. [1]
IZO organized a series of state exhibitions (twenty‐one between 1918 and 1921), administered the new art schools (SVOMAS/VkHUTEMAS) and research institutes (INKhUK), and was involved in public commissions. Many avant-garde artists and critics were involved with IZO Narkompros in one way or another. [2]
IZO published several short-lived journals. Between 7 December 1918 and April 1919, it printed 19 issues of the newspaper Iskusstvo kommuny [Искусство коммуны; Art of the Commune] with Brik, Kushner and Mayakovsky as its main authors; the contributors included Altman, Malevich, Pougny, and Punin. In 1919, one issue of its newspaper Izobrazitelnoe iskusstvo [Изобразительное искусство] was published in Petrograd, with Punin, Brik, Malevich and Kandinsky in its editorial board. [3] [4] [5] [6]. Eight issues of Iskusstvo [Искусство; Art] were printed in Moscow between December 1918 and April 1919. (see Lodder 1993)
Literature
- Lunacharsky's text on IZO, c1920. (Russian)
- Christina Lodder, "Art of the Commune: Politics and Art in Soviet Journals, 1917-20", Art Journal 52(1): "Political Journals and Art, 1910-40", College Art Association, Spring 1993, pp 24-33. (English)
