RUSSIAN ICONS IN GERMANY: The Exhibitions of 1929

In 1929, a landmark international cultural project took place in Germany: an exhibition of Old Russian icons was brought from Russia and displayed in four German cities - Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. On the surface, the subject of the exhibition may seem surprising given that the Soviet Union aggressively pursued an anti-religious policy at the time, however, there were several elements at play that led to this event being held.

IGOR GRABAR. Self-portrait. 1934
Oil on canvas. 89 × 70 cm. © Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a renewed interest in Old Russian icons. For the first time, the focus of attention was on the icons' aesthetic form, which was reflected in the artwork of Russian symbolists and avant-garde artists. The confiscation of Church property that began in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution made icons accessible to researchers. Rescued icons were taken to museums, where they were restored and studied, and this led to academic breakthrough in the field. Employees of the Art Restoration Workshops (TsGRM)[1], founded by Igor Grabar, mounted expeditions in search of old icons and restored and studied them. Four large exhibitions of Old Russian art were organised in Moscow in 1918, 1920, 1925 and 1927. As Grabar noted, these exhibitions, promoted as shows of achievements in the field of scientific restoration of artwork, showed off to the general public “a significant collection of Russian icons, but not of the black and sooty variety with nearly indistinguishable faces or even compositions that used to be regarded as typical examples of the Russian icon style, but images that are light-hued and shine with bright harmonious colours”2. These images also drew the attention of foreign scholars, “especially German ones”, who had enough courage to come to post-revolutionary Russia. By Grabar's own account, the idea to put together a show of icons in Germany came about as early as 1921: “I have to say that, when Anatoly Lunacharsky approached me back then with a proposal to organise an exhibition such as this, I did my best to persuade him to shelve the idea - at those times of unreliable transportation and other economic adversities, I believed the undertaking was too risky and even outright dangerous for the safety of precious items so time-worn and fragile as the icons”[3]. It appears that the experience of sending a Russian art exhibition to America in 1924 allayed Grabar's fears and, when he left the post of director at the Tretyakov Gallery in 1925, he was able to focus on Old Russian art and the development of the restoration workshops. As the icons' artistic, cultural and historical value, along with the innovative restoration techniques, won recognition outside the Soviet Union, the restoration workshops climbed the institutional hierarchy at the same time as changing the overall attitude towards icons within the country.

In 1926, Grabar began to actively test the waters for the exhibition, writing: “Today, I'm in talks with different artistic institutions and individuals in Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris and London to organise a large exhibition of icons (originals) spanning the period from the 12th to the 17th century. The idea of the show originated in Germany, where it gained currency both within circles of Modernists and among archaeologists and art historians at the same time (Peter Berens, who built the German embassy building in St. Petersburg, professors Wiegand and Hoetzsch and other persons who visited Moscow - some of them repeatedly - and appreciated the artwork discovered during these 8 years).”[4]

The negotiations did not proceed smoothly. German cultural historian Martin Winkler wrote from Berlin on April 14, 1926: “My efforts to organise the icons exhibition in Germany have been stalled by the opposition of the institutions in charge, which took me by surprise. But I'm still hoping that it'll be my lectures that gradually break the ice and any concerns will be dispelled as soon as everyone understands that Old Russian art can rightfully claim a place of great prominence in the world art”[5] It would appear that Winkler's initiative was opposed by Wilhelm von Bode, nicknamed the “Bismarck of Berlin museums”, an art historian and one of the forefathers of modern museology. The passage below from Grabar's letter to his wife, written from the exhibition that opened in 1929, supports this hypothesis: “my misgivings have come to pass: our main antagonist is Bode. He detests icons”.[6]

Significant progress was made, but the exhibition was not realised in Frankfurt am Main in the autumn of 1927[7]. Finally, an institution willing to host the exhibition in Germany was found: the German Society for the Study of Eastern Europe (Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Studium Osteuropas)[8], chaired by former education minister of Prussia Friedrich Schmidt-Ott, with, as vicechair, Otto Hoetzsh, an historian, politician and member of the Reichstag.

The Soviet organisers of the exhibition, which was named “Old Russian Paintings. Russian Icons of the 12th- 18th Centuries” (“Denkmaler altrussischer Malerei. Russische Ikonen vom 12-18. Jahrhundert”), were Narkompros (People's Commissariat of Education) and, to the horror of museum employees, the trading firm Antikvariat (Antiquities), which was a division of Narkompros. The latter joined the project in 1928, enticed by the prospect of creating a market for icons in the West. Grabar himself was taking efforts to keep the firm's interest on the boil[9]. Researchers continue to debate what motivated him to go down this slippery road[10], but the exhibition found a sponsor. Antikvariat financed the organisers' business trips across Russia, where they would scour local museums for items fit for display, the cleaning and restoration of the items, the expenses of people who accompanied the exhibition and part of the expenditure on transportation and insurance of the exhibits[11]. The exhibition was intended to promote interest in Russian icons, to ensure the demand for them among art collectors; the exhibits themselves were not for sale[12].

The selectors included employees of Grabar's restoration workshops: A.I. Anisimov, Ye.I. Silin and Narkompros officer T.I. Sorokin[13]. The selected items included icons not only from the restoration workshops and the central museums, but also from museums in Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl, Tver, Vologda, Vladimir, Arkhangelsk and Sergiev-Posad. The preparatory stage attracted much public attention. Employees of the central and regional museums were unwilling to loan items for the exhibition as they were concerned, not unreasonably, that the pieces would not be returned: rumours had reached the museum community of secret international sales of artefacts from the Hermitage Museum. A commission set up by Glavnauka (Central Administration for Scientific, Scholarly-Artistic and Museum Institutions), which included experts from museums and Narkompros, attempted to prohibit the most valuable icons being taken out of the country.

Six icons from this category were replaced with copies executed by leading art restorers: Andrei Rublev's “Holy Trinity”; “Our Lady of Vladimir”, “Angel with Golden Hair” and “The Saviour Not-Made-by-Human-Hands” from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin; “Our Lady of the Sign” from Yaroslavl; and “Demetrius of Thessaloniki” from Dmitrov. However, the exhibition did feature authentic masterpieces, such as “Nicholas the Miracle Worker” from the Svyato-Dykhov Monastery in Novgorod and “Saints John Climacus, George and Blaise” of the Novgorod School (both produced in the 18th century); “Harrowing of Hell”, “Archangel Michael” and “Apostle Paul”, presumably by Andrei Rublev and Daniil Chorny, from the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir; Dionisius's “Crucifixion”; “Selected Saints” of the Pskov School; Simon Ushakov's “The Assumption of the Mother of God”, and many others.

The “Rublev” wall at the Berlin exhibition: “Archangel Michael” (at the first stage of art conservation), “Apostle Paul” and “Harrowing of Hell” from the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, copy of ”Holy Trinity” by Grygory Chirikov
Photo. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. First publication

Another group of selected exhibits was intended “to demonstrate the restoration methods such as those used at the restoration workshops, beginning with examples of simple cleaning of a surface and ending with complex and multi-layer restoration endeavours, executed with the use of X-rays and other techniques”[14]. In all, there were 132 icons included in the show's catalogue[15].

The exhibition was accompanied by Grabar and the restorer Alexander Bryagin. Thanks to the official reports sent to Narkompros and the correspondence, we can trace its entire journey. The exhibition opened in Berlin on February 18 in the exhibition hall of a former museum of decorative and applied art. Grabar wrote: “I proposed to place all small objects in glass cases, so that the walls would be occupied only with larger items. This afforded us the opportunity to arrange icons on the walls with much more freedom <...>, in the hope that we would maintain the monumental character of the arrangement of pieces throughout. <.> the local committee accepted the proposal, so the selection of a colour for the canvas began - by the time we arrived, the cloth was stretched on screens running the entire length of the wall. I insisted on a greenish hue - the only colour that never or almost never figures in Russian icons - and, after many objections - opponents insisted on white and pale-grey - this was accepted”.[16]

A series of lectures was prepared for the Berlin exhibition and the first - “Discovering Great Old Russian Paintings” - was delivered, in German, by Grabar. It was devoted to the restoration practices of the restoration workshops and, according to the lecturer, enjoyed great success. The subsequent lectures at the City Library of Berlin were delivered by prominent German historians and art scholars, such as Adolph Goldschmidt, Oscar Wolf, Martin Winkler and Philipp Schweinfurth.

Tours of the exhibition were arranged. Grabar wrote in a letter to his wife: “I <...> have to speak publicly at least 3 or 4 times a week <...> at the exhibition, directly showing off the artwork itself. This is something between Vortrag and Fuhrung, between a lecture and a tour, but because the public I have to address is a select group and, on every occasion, a group of individuals with more or less similar social, scholarly, artistic or antiquarian profiles and interests, every time, I present the stuff differently <...>. Needless to say, the group is usually joined by others listening in and we end up with an audience of 100 or 150. This goes on for one and a half or even two hours.”[17] He mentioned a strong interest on the part of the audience: “The public listens to me so attentively and sympathetically, looks me in the eyes so gratefully, with such moving affection, that, every time, I feel ashamed. I've never had such an audience.”[18]

Another indication of the success of the Berlin exhibition was the sale of nearly all of the 1,500 copies of the catalogue[19]. One more print run had to be produced.

The exhibition enjoyed the same success in Cologne. It opened on March 24 at the Museum of Applied Arts. Grabar wrote to his wife: “It all came together like clockwork. We haven't seen anything like this of course in Russia, so you'd have to come to Germany to witness it. The wall across the room from the entrance is spectacular - it takes your breath away. At the centre of it are ‘Selected Saints' from the Tretyakov Gallery; to the left and to the right, on each side there is an archangel from the Deesis tier of the Spassky Monastery in Yaroslavl and further on the left-hand side is Chirikov's ‘Trinity'[20], followed by Rublev's ‘Wisdom Hath Builded Her House' and ‘Harrowing of Hell'; to the right: ‘Our Lady of the Sign' from the town of Kashin and, further to the right, ‘In Thee Rejoiceth' from Dmitrov and ‘The Resurrection of Lazarus' from Tver”.[21]

Exhibition of Icons Cologne. March 24 - April 4, 1929
The wall opposite the entrance. Among the exhibits: “Harrowing of Hell” (presumably by Andrei Rublev), “Wisdom Hath Builded Her House” from Kirillov Monastery near Novgorod, “Selected Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John the Chrysostome, and Paraskevi” of the Pskov School, “Our Lady of the Sign” from the Resurrection Cathedral in the town of Kashin, “In The Rejoiceth” from the Dormition Cathedral in the town of Dmitrov (in the process of art conservation and clearing).
Photo. © Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. First publication

About 300 people were invited to the opening. The vernissage proceeded with much ceremony. Konrad Adenauer, the future Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, made a speech. Musicians performed Bach's adagio and toccata in C.-major and Henry Eccles's “Largo” on piano and cello[22]. Grabar wrote: “The music performance was included at the insistence of Oberburgermeister Adenauer, who has been the city's autocratic ruler for 14 years already. Bach and his French contemporary Eccles proved the perfect accompaniment for the icons”.[23]

Our Lady of the Sign. Late 15th-early 16th century
Primer, egg tempera on wood. 133 × 100 cm. © Tretyakov Gallery

Grabar reported to Narkompros: “In Cologne, the show caused even more of a stir than in Berlin. As is clear now, the reason for its success lies not so much in the fact that Cologne is Germany's largest centre of Catholicism, but in that it used to be the country's hotbed of artistic activity since the Cologne School of Painting of the 14th and15th centuries is very close to the peak period of the Novgorod School, which took place during the same two centuries. Besides, Cologne was linked with Novgorod via the Hanseatic League, a circumstance which, in the minds of Cologne's residents, also creates a bond with their distant north-eastern neighbour”.[24]

Open for just 12 days, the exhibition was attended by more than 4,000 people[25]. For Cologne, it was a great success, and negotiations for a new project began. The organisers' cherished idea was to display, side by side, the icons and exhibits from the Cologne School of Painting - they planned to do this at a large show called “Cologne 1929”, which opened at the end of May[26]. Because Grabar's business trip was coming to an end, he arrived in advance and sketched out how the paintings should be arranged on the walls, but could not attend the event and serve as a guide[27].

In Hamburg, the exhibition opened on April 13, 1929, in the Kunsthalle. Unlike in other cities, the organisers in Hamburg could not reproduce the monumental-looking arrangement of paintings on the walls. The show space consisted of an enfilade of nine rooms, which allowed the different schools to be separated, but did not afford visitors enough space to look at the items from a sufficient distance. The show came to a close on April 25, having attracted about 7,000 visitors in less than two weeks[28].

Exhibition of Icons. Munich. May 8-23, 1929
In the centre to the left: “The Assumption of the Mother of God” by Simon Ushakov
Photo. © Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. First publication

The show in Munich (opened May 8, 1929) was especially spectacular because of the layout of the space in which it was situated - an assembly hall at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Grabar wrote in his report: “The icons had to be hung in the conference hall of the Academy, where the walls are entirely covered with 18th-century tapestries depicting frescoes from the Raphael Rooms. The icons therefore could not be secured on the walls, and all items had to be seated on drawing easels. <.. .> The viewer does not at all notice the easels as there is a canvas of a lovely greyish hue matching the tapestries spread over, and hiding, the easels' lower sections, up to just over one metre above the ground; and the middle sections are covered by the icons. <.> we set about arranging the display - contrary to our expectations, the arrangement turned out to be not just successful, but really quite spectacular, as it would have been hard to find a better background for the icons than the Raphael tapestries. The committee approved the display in its entirety and some of its members, formerly anxious about the tapestry background, which had, up to now, ‘killed' all exhibitions hosted in this space, acknowledged that it was the first time that the tapestries didn't overshadow the exhibition items, but were themselves overshadowed by the icons' chromaticity”.[29]

Exhibition of Icons. Munich. May 8-23, 1929
Left to right: “Apostoles’ Creed” from the church of St. Grigory of Neocaesarea in Moscow, “Faithful Saint Prince Georgy” (the upper plate of the reliquary from the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, in the process of art conservation), “Nativity of Christ” (18th century), “Christ the Almighty Enthroned with Selected Saints” from Donskoy Monastery in Moscow (18th century), “Nativity of the Mother of God” (17th century). “Holy Trinity” by Pyotr Goldobin (1751)
Photo. © Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. First publication

Kept busy by negotiations for the exhibition's second run in Cologne, Grabar watched the Munich public's reactions less closely and no longer conducted the tours or read lectures. The account he presented to Narkompros was fairly unspecific: “The exhibition enjoyed great success. Despite the high price for an entry ticket, which was set at the committee's behest - for the first time during the show's tour of Germany, the tickets were not free - the exhibition had a steady stream of visitors and copies of the catalogue were bought up quickly.”[30]

After Munich, with new people in charge of the tour, the icons were again brought to Cologne, then sent to Vienna (September-October 1929), London (Novem- ber-December 1929) and on a tour across the USA (1930-1932). The artwork returned to Russia only in 1933. The exhibition drew crowds everywhere it went, but in Germany, it was met with particular appreciation. The reasons for this included, on the one hand, Germany's traditional interest in Russia and the diplomatic and academic contacts that had, by then, been re-established and, on the other hand, the organisers' focus on the accompanying educational programme.

News of the restoration workshops' accomplishments also reached many ears in the German expert community. This is evidenced in the numerous letters that Grabar received after leaving Germany. The international success, however, did not strengthen the workshops' position in the Soviet Union. The country was experiencing a crackdown on religion and demolition of its churches, as well as arrests of its clerics and people who were in one way or another related to the clergy. The purges affected the restoration workshops as well: in 1930, Grabar had to resign from the office of director and many employees were soon arrested.

The main outcome of the exhibition was arguably the impetus it gave to the study of Russian icons in Germany, which is evidenced in numerous publications in newspapers and academic journals[31]. The writers addressing the subject included not only recognised experts in Old Russian art (Martin Winkler, Hans Jonas, Philipp Schweinfurth), but also researchers from fields not directly related to it: for instance, the historian of medieval art Adolph Goldschmidt, the scholar of architecture and applied art Edwin Redslob, the art scholar Max Osborn and the expert on early Christian Coptic art Dora Zuntz.

Some German scholars (such as Adolph Goldschmidt) focused on the ties between Old Russian icons and Byzantine and European medieval art, highlighting their common Greco-Roman roots and the conservatism of Russian icon painting, which preserved its strict traditions inherited from Byzantium. By virtue of these common roots, Russian icons could provide clues to understanding Western medieval art, especially at its early stages. Max Osborn looked for parallels with Italian art and other scholars, such as Dora Zuntz, were more interested in the original aspects of the Old Russian art of icon painting, its development and the differences between the schools. Everybody pointed to the great artistic and aesthetic value of Old Russian icons.

The 1929 exhibition in Germany strengthened the interest in Russian art and became a unique cultural and academic event of its kind, one of the last before the 1930s, which proved catastrophic for both countries, and the Second World War.

1. Central State Art Renovation Workshops, 1924-1934: 1918*1924 - All-Russian Commission for the Preservation and Exposure of Old Russian Art; from 1944, Central Art Renovation Workshop; from 1974, All-Russian Art Research and Restoration Center (named after Academician I.E. Grabar).
2. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16776. Sheet 9.
3. Ibid.
4. Grabar, I.E. “Letters. 1917-1941”. Moscow. 1977. P. 158. (Hereinafter referred to as Grabar.)
5. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 3314. Sheet 1. Translated from the German by A.M. Lish- nevskaya.
6. Grabar, p.182.
7. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Items 16759-16767. There was a plan to bring the exhibition to Frankfurt am Maine again, in 1929, but it fell through.
8. For more details about the society, see: Yevsina, N.A.; Kazhdan, T.P. 'I.E. Grabar and German Cultural Figures (Late 19th and First Half of the 20th centuries)'. “Interconnections of Russian and Soviet Art and German Culture”. Moscow. 1980. Pp. 283-285.
9. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 177.
10. See: Osokina, Ye.A. “Heavenly Blueness of Angels' Vestments: The Fate of Works of Old Russian Art, 1920s-1930s". Moscow. 2018. Pp. 199-204. (Hereinafter referred to as Osokina); Vzdornov, G.I. “Art Renovation and Science: Essays on the History of Discovery and Study of Old Russian Art". Moscow. 2006. P. 108. (Hereinafter referred to as Vzdornov.)
11. Osokina, pp. 208-209.
12. For more information, see: Ibid., pp. 247-293.
13. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16769. Sheet 1.
14. Ibid., sheet 2 (reverse).
15. “Denkmaler altrussischer Malerei. Russische Ikonen vom 12-18. Jahrhundert”. Ausstellung. Berlin. 1929. The catalogue was compiled by Yu.A. Olsufiev and Ye.I. Silin and edited by A.I. Anisimova; foreword by Otto Hoetzsch.
16. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16771. Sheet 2.
17. Grabar, p. 188.
18. Ibid., p. 193.
19. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16771. Sheet 6.
20. The copy of Rublev's “Holy Trinity” for the display was executed by the restorer Grigory Chirikov.
21. Grabar, p. 197.
22. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16771. Sheet 10.
23. Grabar, p. 197.
24. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16771. Sheet 11.
25. Ibid.
26. See: Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 3424; Item 16776. Sheet 10.
27. Manuscript Department of the Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 106. Item 16771. Sheet 18 (reverse).
28. Ibid., sheet 15.
29. Ibid., sheet 18 (both sides).
30. Ibid., sheet 18 (reverse).
31. See: Vzdornov, pp. 112, 135.