Kuindzhi Society

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KUINDZHI SOCIETY (Kuindzhi Society of Artists), art association. Founded in 1909 on the initiative of and with financial support from A. I. Kuindzhi, its honorary chairman, in order to provide financial support to artists. It was situated at 17 Gogolya Street (today, Malaya Morskaya Street), and enjoyed Emperor Nicholas II's patronage. Mainly comprised of Kuindzhi's students, followers, and friends. It was joined at various points by Albert N. Benois, K. F. Bogaevsky, N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky, I. I. Brodsky, K. K. Vroblevsky, A. F. Gaush, K. Y. Kryzhitsky, A. B. Lakhovsky, V. E. Makovsky, N. K. Roerich, A. A. Rylov, A. S. Khrenov, E. M. Cheptsov, and A. V. Shchusev. The society purchased paintings by modern Russian artists to donate them to museums, arranged annual prize competitions for artists, gave grants to artists in need, and held literary and artistic soirees and concert parties on Fridays, as well as charity lotteries and auctions. The Society had a library and an art collection that included about 400 Kuindzhi's works. It used its funds to erect a monument to Kuindzhi at Smolenskoe Cemetery in 1914. The Society's stock and property were nationalised after October 1917. It held large exhibitions at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in 1917 and 1918, and arranged annual exhibitions at the Academy of Arts between 1926 and 1930. Strongly attacked by Proletkult (Proletarian Culture) in the late 1920s, the society joined the Workshop of Artists in 1930.

Reference: Чахров Я. Общество имени А. И. Куинджи // Художник: Сб. по вопр. изобр. искусства, 1917 X 1927. Л., 1928. С. 54-55; Северюхин Д. Я., Лейкинд О. Л. Золотой век художественных объединений в России и СССР (1820-1932): Справ. СПб., 1992. С. 164-168.

O. L. Leikind, D.Y. Severyukhin. Benois Albert Nikolaevich
Bogaevsky Konstantin Fedorovich
Bogdanov-Belsky Nikolay Petrovich
Brodsky Isaak Izrailevich
Cheptsov Efim Mikhailovich
Gaush Alexander Fedorovich
Khrenov Alexander Sergeevich
Kryzhitsky Konstantin Yakovlevich
Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich
Lakhovsky Arnold Borisovich
Makovsky Vladimir Egorovich
Nicholas II, Emperor
Roerich Nikolay Konstantinovich
Rylov Arkady Alexandrovich
Shchusev Alexey Viktorovich
Vroblevsky Konstantin Kharitonovich (Iosif -Valentin Kaetanovich)
Malaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 17
Чахров Я. Общество имени А. И. Куинджи // Художник: Сб. по вопр. изобр. искусства, 1917 X 1927. Л., 1928
Северюхин Д. Я., Лейкинд О. Л. Золотой век художественных объединений в России и СССР (1820-1932): Справ. СПб., 1992 Society for the Encouragement of the Arts
Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts