Is it Russian or not? This exhibit shows examples of the
influence of the Russian avant-garde on contemporary American
popular culture. Around a century ago, in the early part of the
twentieth century, there was a supernova of creativity and
experimentation known as the Russian avant garde. These artists
worked in all media, including prose, poetry, painting,
sculpture, music, theater, and film. This burst of
experimentation was short-lived, however, as the policy of
socialist realism put an end to all this playfulness by 1934.
Yet the influence of these artists, including Rodchenko,
Malevich, Tatlin, El Lissitzky, Mayakovsky, Meyerhold,
Shostakovich, and Eisenstein continues to the present day.