Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019

This is archived material. It is for reference purposes only.

The UK’s first ever retrospective of Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) is taking place at Tate Modern and includes over 160 works which have rarely been on loan before. The exhibition reveals a trailblazer who was already recognised before she died as a preeminent modernist, who turned her hand to anything from painting to illustration, printing, fabric and costume design.

In 1913, Goncharova had her first major exhibition in Moscow in which she displayed over 350 paintings including taboos like the female nude. Goncharova’s religious paintings were seen as so scandalous that they were removed by the authorities and censored by the Church. She wasn’t afraid to explore what were considered to be obscene subjects or to mix artistic styles, traditions and media.

Her popularity boomed shortly after the 1913 exhibition and she moved to Paris to design costumes and backdrops for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Goncharova got her inspiration for this from the traditional customs and cultures of her native Central Russia. The Tate exhibition dedicates a room to her collaborations with the Ballets Russes.

Goncharova took part in avant-garde cinema, book and textile designs and designed for fashion houses in Paris and Moscow. During her diverse career, she challenged the limits of art, social boundaries and gender.

Highlights include the giant seven-part The Harvest 1911, which has reunited works from four different collections evoking Goncharova’s remarkable 1913 retrospective at the Mikhailova Art Salon in Moscow; early paintings such as Peasants Gathering Apples 1911,  and her scandalous paintings of nudes which resulted in her being tried for obscenity at a time when nude painting was reserved for men. There is also a room devoted to her religious painting which includes The Evangelists 1911, which the disapproving authorities in St Petersburg removed from display in 1914. It was also censored by the Church and the state who refused to recognise that a woman had the right to create altar-piece like works.

Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019
Natalia Goncharova, Exhibition, Tate Modern, London: 5 June - 8 September 2019

Opening Hours

Monday:
10:00 - 18:00
Tuesday:
10:00 - 18:00
Wednesday:
10:00 - 18:00
Thursday:
10:00 - 18:00
Friday:
10:00 - 22:00
Saturday:
10:00 - 22:00
Sunday:
10:00 - 18:00