5 foreign movies in which you can find Russian avant-garde (PHOTOS)
You are happy to meet them, as if you saw old friends. Just not in a familiar place – in a museum or gallery, but in a movie.
1. ‘Back to the Future’ (1985)
Marty McFly, the main character of the movie, wears a badge with a ‘proun’ logo, one of the most famous trends of Russian avant-garde. He would have obtained this souvenir from the Soviet art and design ‘Art in Revolution’ exhibition, which was held in 1971 at London’s ‘Hayward’ gallery. The movie’s costume designers decided this would visually help emphasize Marty's rebellious character.
2. ‘Friends’ (1994-2004)
In one of the episodes, you can see that Matthew Perry’s character Chandler has an abstract painting hanging in his office. Not just any abstract painting, but a reproduction of one of Vasily Kandinsky’s works – ‘On White II’, which was created in 1923.
3. ‘Meet Joe Black’ (1998)
The tycoon in this movie is preparing for his 65th birthday. Or rather, his eldest daughter is preparing the party, while he is deep in thought, because Death has suddenly appeared to him in human form. Martin Brest’s movie stars Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt, as well as several masterpieces of art, including ‘Composition IV’ by Vasily Kandinsky, which he painted in 1911.
4. ‘Notting Hill’ (1999)
A fictitious Hollywood star named Anna meets the owner of a bookshop in London’s Notting Hill district. And, soon, an affair begins between them. One day, Anna notices that Will has a copy of Marc Chagall's painting ‘The Bride’ hanging at home. The actress admits: "This is how love should be – floating across a dark blue sky…" Due to the increased attention of the paparazzi, they break up, but, after a while, Anna brings Will a gift – an original Chagall.
‘The Bride’ is one of the artist's most famous paintings. All his life, he painted Bella, his muse and lover. He continued to dedicate paintings to her even after she had passed away. Richard Curtis, the movie's screenwriter and a big fan of Chagall, decided to add it to the synopsis.
Today, this canvas is in a private collection in Japan. In order to use its copy in the movie, the producers had to agree to the owner's terms and destroy it immediately after filming to avoid fraud.
5. ‘Never Look Away’ (2018)
In this movie, a gallery employee gives a tour of the famous ‘Degenerate Art’ exhibition that took place in Nazi Munich in 1937. Stopping at a display case with a work by Kandinsky, he turns to a boy who came with his mother: “You can do that, too. And when you draw, ask your parents if they will give you at least a coin for your creation.”
‘Never Look Away’ features four paintings by the Russian avant-garde artist.
