[Russian Exhibition. 1927]. ロシヤ展. 1927.

[Edited by Hoshino Tatsuo/星野辰男].

[Tōkyō], 朝日新聞 , 1927.
8vo, [2] pp., 6 l.il. (color), 7-70 pp. (ill.), 6 pp. (text).

In original wrappers featuring a mounted reproduction of Abram Arkhipov’s painting. Issued without title page.
In good condition, some sunning to wrappers, lightly rubbed, small losses and tears to spine, rust to staples, small losses around the edges. A fragile yet well-preserved copy.

An extremely rare catalog documenting the first major exhibition of Russian artists in Japan. In high-quality polygraphy—uncommon for Soviet catalogs.

Russian contemporary art was first introduced to Japan in 1920 with an exhibition of works by David Burliuk and Viktor Pal’mov. However, this event was a private initiative. Starting in 1925, following the establishment of Soviet-Japanese diplomatic relations, official Soviet organizations began organizing exhibitions in Japan. These began with solo exhibitions, such as those of Konstantin Kostenko and Avakim Miganadzhian, as well as specialized exhibitions. One exhibition highlighted Soviet industrial development through paintings and diagrams, while another featured books and posters. Notably, none of these exhibitions included a catalog.
The most prominent and likely the most significant exhibition of Soviet art in Japan before WWII became the 1927 exhibition, referred to by various titles, including ‘Art of New Russia’. This exhibition was held in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya and showcased works by artists from influential Soviet art groups, including ‘Bytie’ (‘Being’), the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR), ‘Makovets’, ‘Zhar-Tsvet’ (‘Fire-Flower’), the Society of Easel Artists (OST), and ‘Chetyre Iskusstva’ (‘The Four Arts’). The exhibition catalog was published exclusively in Japan.
This catalog is richly illustrated with works by notable Soviet artists, featuring both classical styles and avant-garde pieces, including Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (with his iconic portrait of Anna Akhmatova), Boris Kustodiev, Alexander Tyshler, Ilya Mashkov, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Pavel Kuznetsov, Abram Arkhipov, Konstantin Yuon, Robert Falk, David Shterenberg, Eugene Lanceray, Nathan Altman, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Vladimir Lebedev, Alexei Pakhomov, Vladimir Favorsky, Aleksei Kravchenko, and more. Notably, it highlights a self-portrait by 'brutal primitivist' Aleksandr Drevin, Udaltsova's husband, who was repressed during the Great Purge. Interestingly, Zinaida Serebriakova's works are also included, despite her move to Paris in 1924. All reproductions are captioned in Japanese and English.
The catalog concludes with two articles: ‘Main Trends and Artists in Contemporary Russian Art: Leningrad Art School’ by Nikolay Punin, and ‘Russian Peasant Art: Moscow School of Fine Arts’ by David Arkin.

We couldn’t locate any copy of this edition outside Japan via OCLC.