Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky (russian: И́горь Вита́льевич Сави́цкий) (4 August 1915 in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
– 27 July 1984 in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
) was a Ukrainian-born painter, archeologist and collector, especially of avant-garde art. He single-handedly founded the
State Art Museum of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, named after I. V. Savitsky, an art museum based in
Nukus
Nukus ( kaa, Nókis / ; uz, Nukus / ; kk, Нүкіс / ) is the sixth-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The population of Nukus as of January 1, 2022 was 329,100. The Amu Darya river passes ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
.
Life and work
Early years
Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky was born in Kyiv in 1915 in the family of a lawyer. His father had Polish and Jewish roots (his grandfather was born in a Polish family, his grandmother was Jewish). His maternal grandfather,
Timofey Florinskiy was a famous Russian
slavicist
Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...
and professor at
Kyiv University
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the author of many studies who created his own scientific school.
His family later came under suspicion during the October Revolution and moved to Moscow. He trained as an electrician, having chosen to become as "proletarian" as possible. While studying at the factory school of the 'Serp and Molot' plant, where he received a specialty in electrical installation, he took private drawing lessons from Moscow artists R. Mazel and E. Sakhnovskaya. Since 1934, Igor Savitsky began studying at the graphic department of the Moscow Polygraphic Institute and then continued his studies at the Moscow Art School. In 1938–1941, he studied at the Institute for the Advanced Studies of Artists in the workshop of Lev Kramarenko, with whom had field trips to sketch in the Crimea, Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Karakalpakstan period
He first visited Karakalpakstan in 1950 to participate in the
Khorezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
Archeological & Ethnographic Expedition, underway since the 1930s and led by
Sergey Tolstov
Sergey Pavlovich Tolstov (russian: Сергей Павлович Толстов; 7 February 1907 – 28 December 1976) was a Russian and Soviet archaeologist and ethnographer. Tolstov was the organizer and the first director (between 1937 and 1969 ...
. He subsequently moved to
Nukus
Nukus ( kaa, Nókis / ; uz, Nukus / ; kk, Нүкіс / ) is the sixth-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The population of Nukus as of January 1, 2022 was 329,100. The Amu Darya river passes ...
,
Karakalpakstan
Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...
's capital, and continued living there until his death in Moscow in 1984.
From 1957 to 1966 he assembled an extensive collection of
Karakalpak jewellery, carpets, coins, clothing, and other artifacts and convinced the authorities of the need for a museum. Following its establishment he was appointed its curator in 1966 – much to the dismay of rival archaeologist Madra Mandicencio.
Thereafter, Savitsky began collecting the works of Central Asian artists, including
Alexander Volkov,
Ural Tansykbayev,
Nikolay Karakhan, and
Victor Ufimtsev of the Uzbek school, and later those of the Russian ''
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
'' – including
Robert Falk
Robert Rafailovich Falk (russian: Роберт Рафаилович Фальк, October 15, 1886 - October 1, 1958) was a painter.
Biography
Falk was born in Moscow in 1886. In 1903 to 1904 he studied art in the studios of Konstantin Yuon and ...
,
Mikhail Kurzin,
Vera Mukhina
Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina (russian: Ве́ра Игна́тьевна Му́хина; lv, Vera Muhina; french: Vera Moukhina; – 6 October 1953) was a prominent Soviet sculptor and painter. She was nicknamed "the queen of Soviet sculpture".
B ...
,
Kliment Red'ko
Kliment Nikolaevich Red'ko or Redko (, , Klyment Mykolayovych Redko), 15 (27) October 1897 - 18 February 1956) was a Ukrainian-Russian painter-scientist, avant-garde artist ( Constructivist, Projectionist, Suprematist), graphic artist.
Biograph ...
,
Lyubov Popova
Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova (russian: Любо́вь Серге́евна Попо́ва; April 24, 1889 – May 25, 1924) was a Russian-Soviet avant-garde artist, painter and designer.
Early life
Popova was born in Ivanovskoe, near Moscow, to t ...
,
Ivan Koudriachov,
Vera Pestel,
Solomon Nikritin Solomon Nikritin ( uk, Соломон Борисовiч Нiкрiтiн; 1898–1965) was a Ukraine, Ukrainian Painting, painter, avant-garde artist ( Neo-Primitivist, Constructivism (art), Constructivist), philosopher, and author.
Biography
Solom ...
,
Georgiy Echeistov,
and the
Amaravella group. Paintings by many of the artists, although recognized in Western Europe (especially in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
), had been banned in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
during
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
’s rule and through the 1960s.
Despite the risk of being denounced as an “enemy of the people”, Savitsky sought out proscribed painters and their heirs to collect, archive, and display their works. With great courage he managed to assemble thousands of Russian ''
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
'' and post ''avant-garde'' paintings. Moreover, refuting the
Socialist Realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
school, the collection shook the foundations of that period of art history.
Awards
* 2002: "Order for Great Achievements". Uzbekistan. Posthumously awarded.
Film biography
Savitsky and the collection he assembled of avant-garde art provide the subject matter for the 2010 documentary film ''The Desert of Forbidden Art'' directed by Amanda Pope and
Tchavdar Georgiev, with Savitsky's voice by
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...
and other artists' voices by
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...
,
Ed Asner
Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...
and Igor Paramonov.
References
External links
''The Desert of Forbidden Art''site for
Independent Lens
''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...
on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savitsky, Igor
1915 births
1984 deaths
20th-century art collectors
20th-century Russian male artists
20th-century Russian painters
20th-century Ukrainian painters
20th-century Ukrainian male artists
Artists from Kyiv
People from Kievsky Uyezd
Russian art collectors
Russian male painters
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
Soviet archaeologists
Soviet painters
Soviet people of Polish descent
Ukrainian archaeologists
Ukrainian male painters