Society of Easel Painters

Society of Easel Painters 

an organization founded in Moscow in 1925 by a group of last-year students at Vkhute-mas (State Higher Arts and Technical Studios). It was headed by D. P. Shterenberg. The group’s charter was adopted in 1929.

The Society of Easel Painters included P. V. Vil’iams, B. I. Volkov, A. D. Goncharov, A. A. Deineka, A. A. Labas, S. A. Luchishkin, Iu. A. Merkulov, Iu. I. Pimenov, and A. G. Tyshler. The society’s views were counter to those of the supporters of production art. Its members advocated easel painting and sought to portray in their work typical scenes from Soviet life. Their paintings, devoted mainly to the themes of industrialization and contemporary urban life, are marked by simplification and, frequently, primitivism of form, by dynamic composition, and by precision of line.

The leading members of the Society of Easel Painters played a major role in the development of Soviet easel painting, monumental painting, book design, poster art, and stage design. The society organized four exhibitions (1925, 1926, 1927, 1928). It existed until 1931.

REFERENCES

“Obshchestvo khudozhnikov-stankovistov (OST).” Bor’ba za realizm v izobrazitel’nom iskusstve 20-kh godov. Materialy, dokumenty, vospominaniia. Moscow, 1962. Pages 208–22.
Luchishkin, S. “Obshchestvo stankovistov.” Tvorchestvo, 1966, no. 1.