Vladimir Lenin looms over a convivial gathering in a detail from Uzbek-born Alexander Volkov’s “In the Tea-House”, much as the Soviet Communist Party loomed over art in general. It’s one of the Soviet-era avant-garde works in the collection of the Nukus Museum of Art in Uzbekistan. Photo: courtesy Nukus Museum
Central Asian hoard of avant-garde art from Soviet era draws belated attention, just as its visionary founder Igor Savitsky forecast decades ago
- Igor Savitsky amassed the biggest collection of Soviet-era avant-garde art outside St Petersburg in remote Nukus, Uzbekistan. The art world has woken up to it
- He foresaw ‘people from Paris’ would come to the museum he founded, and indeed it recently loaned works for exhibitions there. Its future is uncertain, though
Vladimir Lenin looms over a convivial gathering in a detail from Uzbek-born Alexander Volkov’s “In the Tea-House”, much as the Soviet Communist Party loomed over art in general. It’s one of the Soviet-era avant-garde works in the collection of the Nukus Museum of Art in Uzbekistan. Photo: courtesy Nukus Museum
