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Gustavs Klucis. Complete catalogue of works in the LNMA collection

"Gustavs Klucis. Complete catalogue of works in the Latvian National Museum of Art" in two volumes is published by the Latvian National Museum of Art in collaboration with the Publishers Neputns.  However, the richly illustrated edition in Latvian and English is not just a catalogue of a collection – it is a comprehensive study of original materials which will open new prospects for researchers of the creative work of Gustavs Klucis.

The creative life of the artist of Latvian origin, Gustavs Klucis, took place in 1920s and 30s Moscow, where he became one of the most brilliant representatives and driving forces of the Russian Avantgarde. After his tragic death during the Stalin terror his name, though, was literally erased from the history of art, and it took several decades before works by Klucis were accepted again in exhibition halls.

The first volume comprises essays and sources dedicated to the study of the creative work of Gustavs Klucis – documentary texts and the album, as well as the artist’s biography (chronology) and selected bibliography. The publication includes the essay by the art history professor from the University of Kent, Christina Lodder, „Gustavs Klucis and Constructivism” and the essay by professor in the field of photomontage and poster from Harvard University, Maria Gough, „From Machine to Easel”. It is also the first publication of 15 texts by the artist and his contemporaries in one book. Texts are in Latvian, English and Russian, and the book is supplemented with foreword and comments by art historian Iveta Derkusova.

The second volume contains information (full catalogue information, data about reproduction and exhibiting, etc.) about 547 artworks supplemented with the compiler’s comments about their creation and other info. Fully published for the first time is the unique „Sketch Album” (1927–1934). In the preface to the volume the author Iveta Derkusova gives a comprehensive description of the history of the collection.

Each volume is supplemented with index of persons.