Valentina Kulagina (Russian, 1902–1987)

1902. Born in Moscow.

1919. Begins studies as a painter at SVOMAS (State Free Art Workshops), Moscow, with Antoine Pevsner and Vladimir Favorski.

1920. When SVOMAS becomes VKhUTEMAS (Higher State Artistic and Technical Workshops), she takes the preliminary course with Liubov Popova and Aleksandr Vesnin and studies graphic design with Aleksandr Rodchenko.

1921. February 2, marries Gustav Klutsis.

1923–1925. Drops out of VKhUTEMAS. Readmitted in 1925.

1928. Member of the thirty-eight person team of artists who prepared the Soviet pavilion under El Lissitzky’s leadership for the Pressa exhibition in Cologne (May–October 1928).

1929. February, admitted into Oktiabr’ (October) artists’ group.

1929. September 26, graduates VKhUTEMAS in the graphics department. Her diploma project Stroim (see maquette and postcard below)—already evidencing her distinctive, stocky figures—is purchased by GIZ (State Publishing House).

1931. One of fourteen artists from the Soviet Union to be included in the exhibition Fotomontage, Staatliche Museen, Staatliche Kunstbibliothek, Berlin (April 25–May 31, 1931). Leaves Oktiabr’ to join RAPKh (Russian Association of Proletarian Artists).

1935. August 22, Birth of only child, Edvard (Edik) Gustavovich Kulagin.

1938. Klutsis is arrested and executed.

Student Work

Untitled, 1923
Lithograph
9 1/16 x 6 1/2” (22.8 x 15.2 cm)

Untitled, 1923
Lithograph
7 1/2 x 5 1/4” (19 x 13.3 cm)

Posters

Poster: 1905 god—put’ k Oktiabriu (The Year 1905—the Path to October), 1929
Lithograph
41 3/8 x 28 7/8” (105 x 73.2 cm)
Note: An incomplete printing proof of this poster (the orange and brown sections only) appears on its verso.

Poster: Mezhdunarodnyi den’ rabotnits—boevoi den’ proletariata (International Women Workers’ Day—A Battle for the Proletariat), 1931
Lithograph
39 5/8 x 27 5/8” (100.6 x 70.1 cm)

Poster: Na oboronu SSSR (To the Defense of the USSR), 1930
Lithograph
35 1/2 x 23 3/4” (90.5 x 65.6 cm)

Valentina Kulagina (Russian, 1902–1987) or Natalia Pinus (Russian, 1901–1986)
Preparatory drawing for an unidentified poster on  verso of Kulagina’s Mezhdunarodnyi den’ rabotnits—boevoi den’ proletariata (International Women Workers’ Day—A Battle for the Proletariat), 1931
Watercolor, graphite
27 5/8 x 39 5/8” (70.1 x 100.6 cm)

Poster: Dadim dlia stroiashchegosia sotsializma v 1931 godu 8 mln. ton chuguna (Let’s Give 8 million Tons of Pig Iron for Socialism in Construction in 1931), 1931
Lithograph
28 1/2 x 20 1/4” (72.2 x 51.1 cm)

Unique

Design for factory wall: Elektrokombinat (Electro-combine) with chart at left showing growth of the society of inventors, [1930]
Cut-and-pasted paper, gouache, and halftone photographs
7 1/8 x 11” (18.1 x 28 cm)

Maquette for book cover: A.[lexander] Tarasov-Rodionov, Oktiabr’ (October), Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo  (State Publishing House), 1930
Cut-and-pasted gelatin silver prints, gouache, and ink on paper
8 x 12 1/4” (21 x 31 cm)

States

Maquette: Tovarishchi gorniaki! (Comrades Coal Miners!), c. 1933
Gouache and pencil on paper
18 1/2 x 13” (46.9 x 33 cm)

Poster: Tovarishchi gorniaki! Vyvedem ugol'nuiu promyshlennost' na bol'shevistskuiu dorogu pobed! Vospitaem izotovykh peredovoi tekhniki! Izzhivem biurokraticheskii metod rukovodstva ugol'noi promyshlennost'iu! Dadim shakhtam i zaboiam postoiannye Inzhenerno-tekhnicheskie kadry! (Comrades Coal Miners!  Let's Make the Coal Industry a Bolsheviks' Victory! Let's Get Rid of Bureaucratic Methods in Management of Coal Industry! Let's Establish Permanent Engineering and Technical Manpower in the Mines!), 1933
Lithograph
40 3/4 x 28" (103.5 x 71 cm)

Deaccessioned

Maquette: Stroim (We Are Building), 1929
Cut-and-pasted printed and painted paper, sandpaper, gouache, and pencil on paper
22 5/8 × 14 1/4″ (57.5 × 36.2 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Poster: Mezhdunarodnyi den’ rabotnits (International Women Workers’ Day), 1930
Lithograph
42 7/8 × 28 3/8″ (108.9 × 72.1 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Postcard: Stroim (We Are Building), c. 1930
Letterpress
5 3/4 × 4″ (14.6 × 10.2 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Poster: Rabotnitsy—udarnitsy, krepite udarnye brigady, ovladevaite tekhnikoi, uvelichivaite kadry proletarskikh spetsialistov (Women Shockworkers, Fortify Your Shockworker Brigades, Master Technology, Increase the Cadres of Proletariat Specialists), 1931
Lithograph
39 3/8 × 28 5/16″ (100 × 71.9 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Journal cover: Krasnaia niva (Red field), no. 45 (1929)
Lithograph and letterpress
12 3/16 × 9″ (30.9 × 22.9 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Poster: Mezhdunarodnyi den’ rabotnits—boevoi den’ proletariata (International Women Workers’ Day—A Battle Day for the Proletariat), 1931
Poster for International Women Workers’ Day
Lithograph
38 × 28″ (96.5 × 71.1 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

 

The works shown here represent only a selection from the collection. Please contact us for further inquiry.