Mark Epshtein (1899-1949) was one of the leading artists of the Culture League. Together with other famous artists-innovators (Aleksandr Tyshler, Lazar Lissitzky, Boris Aronson, Joseph Chaikov, Isaak Rabinovich, Solomon Nikritin, Sara Shor) he synthesized avant-garde ideas with the Jewish art traditions in the 1920s. His figure, like that of many others, long remained in the shadows of official Soviet art history. Not all his works were preserved until today. The largest collection of his works belongs to the National Art Museum of Ukraine. The artist’s sister gave the pictures to the Museum in 1967.
In the mid-December the National Art Museum of Ukraine will present Mark Epshtein’s works both from its own collection and from the Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine. This comes up to 100 works, most part of which will be presented for the first time. They fully reflect the artist’s life in Kyiv, times of his artistic rise, when he realized the bold creative ideas. His original compositions in Cubo-Futurism like The Cellist, The Family, The Tailor, Two, and The Milkmaid are part of the history of modern Ukrainian art.
The retrospective exhibition will demonstrate the versatility of Mark Epshtein’s talent for the first time, as there are pictures devoted to different topics: sketches of theater costumes and sceneries, book graphic art, sculpture and so on. The viewers will see the evolution of his art and gain better understanding of the art processes of the 1920s.
Mark Epshtein’s exhibit will be held in the National Art Museum from December 17, 2010 until January 30, 2011.
