No more taboos: Tiraspol celebrates birthday of city's own Mikhail Larionov

Tiraspol's favorite son: The paintings of local-born Mikhail Larionov, shown, now sell for up to 2,200,000 British pounds

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - On the 127th anniversary of his birth, avant-garde paint artist Mikhail Fedorovich Larionov (1881-1964) is being honored by his hometown Tiraspol. The city is celebrating one of the so-called "Outstanding People of Pridnestrovie" who was born in Tiraspol today, June 3, in the year 1881 when Pridnestrovie - also known (incorrectly) as Transnistria - was still part of Russia and not yet an independent country.

Tiraspol-born Mikhail Larionov is Pridnestrovie's most famous painter and one of the leading members of Eastern Europe's avant-garde movement which flourished in the 1920's.

Larionov was not just one of Russia's (and Pridnestrovie's) most important painters but also a key figure in leading artistic developments at the time.

The central, radical figure became a founding member of two important Russian artistic groups, "Jack of Diamonds" (1909–1911) and the more radical "Donkey's Tail" (1912–1913). He gave both groups their names.

In 1910 Mikhail Larionov painted this self portrait. The art of Pridnestrovie's best known painter was suppressed in the Soviet Union but survived in Tiraspol.

His first solo show was for one day in Moscow in 1911. In 1913 he created Rayonism, which was the first creation of near-abstract art in Russia.

Taboo in Communist USSR

The Communist leadership in the Soviet Union suppressed avant-garde art and the work by Tiraspol's Mikhail Larionov was no exception.

At first the Bolshevik Revolution under the leadership of Lenin supported the new abstract art but from 1920 onwards the freedom of artists in Russia was increasingly curtailed.

Lenin died in 1924 and Stalin who succeeded him as leader of the Soviet Communist Party, brought about an extreme form of totalitarism. In 1932 socialist realism became the official state policy.

The Russian avant-garde movement was seen by the Communists as politically and culturally subversive and was forced underground in the nineteen-twenties. Fans and followers in Tiraspol and elsewhere hid away their paintings to save them from destruction and preserve the lifework of Larionov when the natural ravages of an antagonistic system would have destroyed it.

The PMR Central Bank, based in Pridnestrovie's capital Tiraspol, honored local-born Mikhail Larionov with this commemorative coin minted in solid silver.

Now the authorities of Pridnestrovie are undertaking a major campaign to revive it as part of Tiraspol's forgotten cultural wealth. Instead of official Soviet art, Pridnestrovie is today highlighting the art that was censured in public during the Soviet era.

Larionov paintings saved by courageous Greek collector

In the period when the Soviet Union existed, many of Larionov's paintings were saved by a Russian-born Greek collector, George Costakis, who was a resident of Moscow and married to a Russian wife, Zina. Pridnestrovie at the time was an autonomous republic with Tiraspol as its capital, and before 1940 Moldova was not part of the Soviet Union (it was part of Romania, and not connected to Pridnestrovie in any way).

While Stalin's henchman Andrei Zhdanov was vigorously stamping out formalism and liberalism in all the arts, George Costakis was busy tracking down the art of the country's avant-garde and rescuing it from destruction.

George Costakis, who saved many of Larionov's works.

Thanks to his Greek passport, Costakis had more freedom than ordinary Moscow- or Tiraspol-based art lovers at the time. To get an extra level of political immunity for his activities, he also obtained employment with the Canadian Embassy in 1943.

Many works, who had been hidden, found their way to safety in the very private Costakis collection. Larionov paintings that had been deliberately secreted from Soviet censors were collected by George Costakis who at the time gave small private tours in his Moscow home to foreign visitors like Marc Chagall, David Rockefeller, Averell Harriman and American collectors of abstract art.

Two years ago today, PMR's post office celebrated Mikhail Larionov's 125th birthday with this special first day cover postmark.

The fear of discovery under Stalin gave way to a mild sort of tolerance as long as the Larionov paintings were not shown publicly. In 1972 George Costakis was able to organize a closed exposition of work by Mikhail Larionov at the Kurchatov Institute of Physics, in Moscow, which was only open to senior scientists and high level Communist Party officials.

Four Million Dollar Painting

In June 2007 London auction house Sotheby's obtained a record price for Larionov's Still Life with Jug and Icon (shown below). The top lot in the sale was Still Life with Jug and Icon, which sold for £2,260,000 (approx. $4.3 million USD), more than double its pre-sale estimate of £1 million.

Invoking a Tiraspol scenery and the Dniester river which separates Pridnestrovie from Moldova, this Mikhail Larionov painting is now featured on a postage stamp used on letters circulating inside the country.

" - We achieved 12 new world auction records for artists in this sale, and the top price was bid for Larionov’s early masterpiece, Still Life with Icon and Jug, which more than doubled the pre-sale estimate and exceeded the £2 million barrier," said Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Russian department in London.

In an effort to keep the importance of Larionov's local roots alive, Pridnestrovie has issued a memorial silver coin in his honor. The country's post office also printed two stamps featuring his paintings, and in 2006 used a special postmark on letters which were sent within Pridnestrovie during the artist's June 3 birthday.

Pridnestrovie, also known as Trans-Dniester, Transdniestria and Transnistria (full name: Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica or PMR), has functioned as a de facto independent state since declaring independence in 1990, in the time of the dissolution of the USSR. Although not recognized diplomatically, it meets the requirements for statehood under international law. It is organized as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, police and postal system. Its democratically elected authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, a national anthem, and a coat of arms. PMR is situated in the south-eastern part of Europe. It borders Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Its territory is 4,163 sq.km. or about 1,607 sq.mi., and it has a population of 550 thousand people according to the country's latest official census. (Images courtesy of PMRstamps.com)

See also:
» Tiraspol unites for peace, independence in anniversary expo
» After freedom and reform, Pridnestrovie says it is no longer Communist

This Mikhail Larionov painting, "Still Life with Jug and Icon", sold for £2.2 million ($4.3M USD) at Sotheby's in 2007. The painting features an abstract map of Europe which includes Larionov's birthplace Pridnestrovie and the nearby Black Sea.