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The Swan

Screenprint
1992 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Griffelkunst Gallery (publisher)
Novikov (artist)
Place of origin
Germany (printed)

Timur Novikov founded and led the 'New Academicians' movement that dominated the St Petersburg art scene in the 1990s. This print is from a series that revisits the look and themes of his earlier paintings and textile pieces which placed iconic symbols of Russian folklore - or its twentieth-century counterpart, the myth of Soviet technological progress - against large fields of solid colour which seem charged with symbolic significance. Here an image evoking the classic Russian fairytale Swan Lake seems to be ironically superimposed on Malevich's suprematist Black Square.

Object details

Category
Prints
Object type
Screenprint
TitleThe Swan (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screenprint on black paper
Ink
Paper
Printing Ink
Screen Printing
Brief description
The Swan. 1992. Screenprint by Timur Novikov.
Physical description
Screenprint.
Dimensions
  • Height: 78.8cm
  • Width: 53.9cm
Production typeLimited edition
Marks and inscriptions
Timur 1992 (bottom right in pencil)
Gallery label
(22/10/2016)
In his early compositions Timur Novikov positioned small objects and emblems in large fields of colour. He explained, ‘Human vision has to do with objects of various magnitudes situated in space. Spaces of differing magnitudes are encountered much less often. It was this simple observation which led me to use fine detail on a large surface. I consider this spatial model to be more natural.’
Credit line
Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund
Subject depicted
Swans
Summary
Timur Novikov founded and led the 'New Academicians' movement that dominated the St Petersburg art scene in the 1990s. This print is from a series that revisits the look and themes of his earlier paintings and textile pieces which placed iconic symbols of Russian folklore - or its twentieth-century counterpart, the myth of Soviet technological progress - against large fields of solid colour which seem charged with symbolic significance. Here an image evoking the classic Russian fairytale Swan Lake seems to be ironically superimposed on Malevich's suprematist Black Square.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.2083-2004

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Record createdJuly 15, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O101539/the-swan-screenprint-novikov/
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