Centaur: The Life and Art of Ernst Neizvestny by Albert s> Leong (review)
2003; Maney Publishing; Volume: 81; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/see.2003.0066
ISSN2222-4327
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Musicological Studies
ResumoREVIEWS 735 works and historical events; abandoned projects and obscure and doubtful works;DSCH the composer's monogram, compositions based on DSCH by other hands and tributes; and finally, an (incomplete) index of Russian titles. The book concludes with indexes of names and compositions. The former is extremely extensive over IOOpages long which gives some indication of the scope of this impressivework. The incompleteness of the Russian titles is a pity, but, in a sense, not vital, since singers, for example, can find the Russian titles of individual items in Shostakovich's song cycles via Grove's Dictionagy or, indeed, the composer's collected works. The incomplete listing of recordings, on the other hand, is inevitable. It is, in fact, bound to be out of date before the book appears,but is valuable for the detail it offers.It mustbe hoped that the authorwill be able to supplyperiodical supplementarybooklets of revisionsand additionsfor many years to come. Derek Hulme's labour of love has turned into an essential reference work for scholars,publishers,performersand, of course, the ever growing number of concert goers whose love of Shostakovich's music goes beyond the superficial.Despite itsveryhigh price, thiscompendium deservesto be bought by libraries,both general and specialist. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Leong, Albert. Centaur. TheLifeandArtofErnst J\/eizvestny. Rowman &Littlefield Publishers,Lanham, MD, and Oxford, 2002. xxi + 35I pp. Chronology. Illustrations.Notes. Bibliography.Index. ?30.95. ALBERT LEONG's biographyof the Soviet Union's most famousdissidentartist Ernst Neizvestnii is the product of ten years of research and constitutes the archetypallabour of love. His detailed, and highly documented account of the numerous twists and turns in Neizvestnii's long, complex and highly diverse artisticcareer to date offerssome fascinatinginsightsinto the problems faced by the monumental sculptor in the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond. It also highlights the political intrigues, cultural prejudices and bureaucraticobstacles that such an artistinevitably faces regardlessof which side of the Iron Curtainhe or she inhabits. Born in Sverdlovskin I 925, Neizvestnii was alreadya talented artistduring his childhood. Still in his teens at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Neizvestnii volunteered for service and in I945 was near fatally wounded when hit by an exploding bullet. After the war the sculptor returned to his studies and, in the earlyyears of the Khrushchevian 'thaw', startedto build a reputation. It was Neizvestnii's encounter with Nikita Khrushchev at the infamous Manezh exhibition of December i962, resulting in the Soviet premier'sscatologicalattackon so-called 'modern'artiststhathas drawnmost attention to the sculptor. More interestingly, however, Leong also charts Neizvestnii's career after this infamous incident, drawing attention to the monumental commissions that the sculptorstill managed to gain even in the wake of this event. Moreover, he suggests the paucity of commissions that 736 SEER, 8i, 4, 2003 Neizvestnii wasableto gainintheWestafterhisexilefromtheSovietUnion in I976. Indeed,it was only afterhis returnto Russiain the dyingdaysof Gorbachev'sperestroika that Neizvestniiwas to returnonce more to the productionof monumentalsculpture.Finally,Leong offersa fascinating accountof Neizvestnii'sI99OS GulagTriangleproject,in whichmonuments to victimsof Stalin'sgulagsystemwereplannedforSverdlovsk, Vorkuta and Magadan. Theauthorendsonanup-beatnotewithNeizvestnii, theinveterate lostsoul evenhissurname, asLeongfrequently reminds us,istranslated as the 'unknown one' findingsolaceandfamilialcomfortin hislatteryears. Astheauthorconcludes,'theodysseyoftheRussiancentaurandhisquestfor theartoffreedomhavebeencompleted' (p. 286). ForLeong,the referenceto Neizvestniias a metaphorical centaur,halfman ,half-beast, underpinsa dualitythathe seesas simultaneously shaping Neizvestnii's personality andwork.The author,forexample,makesmuchof the sculptor'smixedfamilyroots 'In Neizvestnii'sveins also flow both RussianandTatarblood,andhe attributes hispowerfulconstitution to this geneticmix'(p. I5) andhisbirthin Sverdlovsk 'Abastionof diversity and freedom[. . .] wherethe culturesof Eastand Westmet' (p. I5). This dualityis then implied, throughoutthe text, as an explanationfor the complexitiesand contradictions that shapeNeizvestnii'scareer.The other implication hereis thatthe simultaneous deployment of abstractformswith highlyfigurativeelements,so typicalof many of Neizvestnii'sworks,are somehowthe productof thisculturalschizophrenia. At timesthisresultsin too much emphasisbeingplacedupon the individualartisticpersonaand perhapsnot enoughon the widersocio-historical and culturalfactorsthat contributed totheformation ofa style.Neizvestnii,afterall,wasoneofmany Sovietartists whoseworkstrovetochallenge theauthority ofSocialist Realism in the post-Stalinepoch. Similarlythe effectof Westernsupportfor Soviet dissidentartistsaspartof the ColdWarbattleforculturalsupremacy surely playeda biggerrolethanthisaccountcredits.In theend, however,thisis a biographical accountandassuchconforms tothefamiliar, thoughfrequently challenged,notionof individualgeniusovercomingalmostinsurmountable obstacles, including disdainfromaphilistine establishment, togainthecritical plauditsthatwere alwaysits due. The book is well illustrated, thoughthe captionsfail to offer importantinformationsuch as size, materialand whereabouts. However,Leongdoes includea usefuland extensivebibliography ,a listof...
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