Eric Estorick’s Adventure in Soviet Art
At the height of tensions during the cold war (Холодная война), Russian artists never imagined their work being appreciated outside the eastern bloc. But in 1960 the American art collector Eric Estorick travelled to the Soviet Union and was so taken with (увлекся) the work of artists from Leningrad Experimental Graphics Laboratory that he bought up hundreds of works, exhibiting them at his Grosvenor Gallery in London in 1961. Inspired (вдохновленный) by that landmark show, the Estorick gallery is now mounting a display of work by 15 such artists. “Estorick recognised the significance of this community even before Russian art historians,” says curator Marie Stock. “These works represent the authentic and individualised reality of everyday life with the artists’ own personal ideas, sincerity and humour.”
The exhibition is now open in London. Have a look at some of the drawings presented in the Guardian:
