“Tate Modern presents the UK’s first ever retrospective of the Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova. This exhibition is a sweeping survey of a pioneering and radical figure, celebrated during her lifetime as a leading modernist artist. Throughout her varied career she challenged the limits of artistic, social and gender conventions, from parading through the streets of Moscow displaying futurist body art and scandalising newspapers of the day, to creating internationally acclaimed designs for fashion and the theatre.

Goncharova’s artistic output traces, influences and transcends the art movements of the 20th century. Born in 1881, she was inspired by the traditional customs and cultures of her native Central Russia – inspirations that pervade her life’s work. By the age of 32, she had already established herself as a leader of the Moscow avant-garde and was the subject of the first monographic exhibition ever staged by a Russian modernist artist. Arriving in Paris in 1914 at the invitation of Sergei Diaghilev, Goncharova was feted for her vibrant costume and set designs for the Ballets Russes.

The exhibition gathers together over 170 international loans which rarely travel, including from Russia’s State Tretyakov Gallery which houses the largest collection of Goncharova works in the world. At the heart of the show is a room evoking Goncharova’s remarkable 1913 retrospective that was held at the Mikhailova Art Salon in Moscow, which originally featured some 800 works.” — Tate Modern

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962)
. Cyclist, 1913. 
Oil paint on canvas, 
780 x 1050mm. 
State Russian Museum
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Peasant Woman from Tula Province, 1910. Oil paint on canvas, 1035 x 730 mm. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Bequeathed by A.K. Larionova-Tomilina 1989

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Peasant woman. Costume design for Le Coq d’Or, 1937. Watercolour, bronze paint and graphite on paper, 455 x 300 mm. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Presented by E. Kurnan 1983
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962. ). 
Self-Portrait with Yellow Lilies, 1907-1908. 
Oil paint on canvas
, 775 x 582 mm
. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Purchased 1927
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Linen, 1913
. Oil paint on canvas
, 956 x 838 mm. 
Tate. Presented by Eugène Mollo and the artist 1953
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Peasants Picking Apples, 1911. Oil paint on canvas, 1045 x 980 mm. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Received from the Museum of Artistic Culture 1929 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Harvest: The Phoenix, 1911. Oil paint on canvas, 920 x 975 mm. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Bequeathed by A.K. Larionova-Tomilina, Paris 1989 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Orange Seller, 1916. Oil paint on canvas, 1310 x 970 mm. Museum Ludwig 
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova (1881- 1962). Theatre costume for Sadko in Sadko, 1916. 1850 x 850 x 650 mm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Given by the British Theatre Museum Association © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019

Natalia Goncharova is curated by Natalia Sidlina, Curator of International Art, and Matthew Gale, Head of Displays, with Katy Wan, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern. Exhibition is organised by Tate Modern in collaboration with Palazzo Strozzi, Florence where it will open on 28 September 2019 and the Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki where it will open on 21 February 2020.

Images courtesy Tate Modern.