1929 - 1932
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The Thirteen movement, another of the numerous art groups organized all along the second decade of the 20th century, existing simultaneously or replacing one another. Its first exhibition was held in in 1929, and the goup was named after the number of artists participating in it. It wasn't one of the largest, most widely known groups, either by number of its members or exhibition activity, such as AKhRR, or OST. Even compared to the smaller societies such as Makovetz, or 4 Arts Society, this group's place was rather unassuming. As its name suggests, the group was not large, and the timeframe for its activity was not long.
All in all, twenty one artists participated in the three exhibitions of the Thirteen movement (D.Burliuk, A.Drevin, N.Kuzmin, T.Mavrina, V.Milashevsky, N.Udaltzova and others), and contrary to other movements no manifests or loud declarations were issued by the artists at its appearance. It has also been organized relatively late in the history of Russian Avant-garde art.
The Thirteen movement appeared primarily as a group of graphic artists, who have placed before them specific artistic style principles in the drawing area. Looking at the rise of the graphic art of the time, a group of artists specializing in the specifics of drawing is a remarkable phenomenon, deserving a special place among other contemporary movements.
Opening of the first exhibition of the "Thirteen" group. 1929.
The nucleus of the group responsible for the forming of the group and its aims were N.Kuzmin and V.Milashevsky, and then D.Daran, who also too part in organizing the exhibitions. The group organizers had first worked together in the newspaper "Gudok". A line of young artists, graduates from VKhUTEMAS, who have been studying with R.Falk and S.Shevchenko were invited to join: the sisters Nadezhda and Nina Kashin, T.Mavrina, M.Nedbailo, L.Zevin.
The first exhibition, held as was stated above, in 1929, has found favor in wide circles and the media. The newspaper "Gudok" has written: "These artists are working in an area of fine arts which has lately exhibited a sort of sluggishness, weariness, and even some cliche patterns. The work of all thirteen artists is valuable precisely by the fact that each strives to overcome these pattern in his own way, to find new ways or drawing, this without any advertizing or fashinable pose. The exhibition definitely presents a high standard of soviet drawing, surprising even for some of the experts".
However, the exhibition has also caused a great deal of arguments and clashes, including within the Thirteen movement, and several artists left the group during preparation of the second exhibition, which was cancelled, as a result of the breakup. Among the artists who left were the Kashin sisters, Nedbailo and Rastorguyev. The third exhibition was held in 1931, with several new names participating, such as Z.Liberman and R.Semashkevich. This last exhibition has also included works from some well-established artists: D.Burliuk, A.Drevin, A.Sofronova and N.Udaltzova.
Catalogue cover for the third exhibition
of the "Thirteen" group. 1931.
The group's direction and aim was first clearly formulated in the essay written by Kuzmin for the second exhibition and called "A conversation at an exhibition". It was a report of a argument held between Roginskaya on the one side and Kuzmin and Romov on the other, and discussed questions of highest importance to the artists. What may be considered a good drawing? Are a correct drawing and a good drawing one and the same?And where does the boundary pass between the strict expressiveness of a line and the obvious ineptitude or diletantism? "In their works, like in letters to a close friend, the artists place the highest importance on honesty and abhore uniform of any sort: academic, cubist or any other". The artists stresses tha importance of free drawing, based on unconstrained observation of nature.
The third exhibition of the movement has brought very different response from the first, despite the appearance and obvious approval of A.Lunacharsky, the NARKOM of Education. The media reports have still noted the "high artistic quality" of the works, the "technical ability", the "fine canvases". But the reports, as a whole, were far from positive.
In the exposition hall at third exhibition of the "Thirteen" group. 1931.
"The exhibition may only be seen as a show of bourgeois artists consciously targeting the bourgeois audience", wrote R.Cherniak from "Komsomolskaya Pravda". This sort of criticism has receved the cassification of vulgar-sociological, and its injustice is keenly felt to this day. This type of criticism has had a heavy impact on the artists, both on their creative development and on their future lives. Soon after that the movement has ceased to exist.