Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: VKhUTEMAS collection
Date (inclusive): 1920-1929
Number: 950052
Creator/Collector:
VKhUTEMAS (Art
school)
Creator/Collector:
Kholodkov, Viktor
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Papers and artwork from VKhUTEMAS
(Higher Artistic-Technical Workshops), a state-sponsored school of design established in
Moscow. The materials span virtually the entire existence of VKhUTEMAS, from its founding in
1920 until 1929, a year before it closed. The name of the school was changed to VKhuTEIN
(Higher State Artistic and Technical Institute) in 1927. Papers comprise student records,
evaluations, and photographs, as well as brochures, administrative records, and school
newspapers that document VKhUTEMAS's innovative curricula. The bulk of the collection
contains drawings, paintings, photographs, experimental books and other work created by
students and professors.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this
collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in
Russian
VKhUTEMAS, a school of design, was established in Moscow in 1920 by state decree. Initially
modeled on the experimental Free Workshops (SVOMAS) in Moscow and St. Petersburg, VKhUTEMAS
changed its name to Higher State Artistic and Technical Institute, or VKhUTEIN, in 1927-28.
Part of the school's mandate was to serve as a specialized educational institution for
advanced artistic and technical training, preparing highly qualified master artists for
careers in industry or education. A major achievement of VKhUTEMAS was the three-tiered
Basic Course. Students first developed studio art techniques, then incorporated them into a
specialized industrial/professional education. Augmenting this basic course were chemistry,
physics, mathematics, geometry, the theory of shadows, military training, scientific theory
of color, a foreign language and the history of art. The archive contains 7 linear feet of
material organized in two series. Student diplomas, evaluation reports, identification cards
and newspapers comprise Series I., the smaller portion of the archive. Series II., the
larger portion of the archive, contains drawings, paintings and prints on paper and canvas,
experimental books, photographs, textiles and porcelain, all of which were produced for
class assignments. Among these can also be found the work of VKHUTEMAS / VKHUTEIN
professors.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions .
VKhUTEMAS Collection, 1920-1929, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession
no. 950052.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa950052
The collection was assembled by Viktor Kholodkov, who left the Soviet Union in 1989. He
purchased items directly from the artists or their families. The Getty acquired the
collection in 1995.
Teresa Morales processed and arranged the collection, and created the finding aid, from
February to June 1996. The text of S. O. Khan-Magomedov was utilized for the spelling of
artists' names (
VHUTEMAS: Moscou, 1920-1930, 2 vols., Paris: Editions du
Regard, 1990).
Scope and Content of Collection
The VKhUTEMAS collection documents the work of some students and faculty members in
attendance at the Higher State Artistic and Technical Workshops in Moscow from 1920 - 1929.
Examples in this collection, predominantly works on paper, are from assignments in color
theory, portraiture, still life, printmaking, graphic design, textile design and ceramics.
Also included are photographs, a number of books, eleven oil paintings, three woodblocks,
two pieces of porcelain, five school newspapers and several administrative documents.
Guiding the organization of the collection is the dealer's inventory, which arranges
artwork alphabetically by artist's name and by size of item regardless of medium. It also
assigns each item an identification number, showsattribution of work, dates, and provenance.
This number displays in brackets for each item. The one divergence from the dealer's
inventory is in the spelling of artist's names. For accuracy and consistency in the spelling
of names, the text of S. O. Khan-Magomedov (
VHUTEMAS: Moscou, 1920-1930, 2
vols., Paris: Editions du Regard, 1990) has been utilized.
Viktor Kholodkov, who left the Soviet Union in 1989, purchased this collection directly
from the artists or their families.
The collection is organized in two series:
Series I. School and student documentation;
Series II. Artwork
VKhUTEMAS (Art school)
VKhUTEIN (Art School)
Art schools
Art schools -- Russia (Federation) -- Moscow -- History -- 20th
century
VKhUTEMAS (Art
school)
Kholodkov, Viktor