Georgy Dionisovich Kostaki ( Greek Γεργιος Κωστάκης , nickname Greek ; July 5, 1913 , Moscow , Russian Empire - March 9, 1990 , Greece ) - Soviet collector of Greek origin and citizenship; the largest collector of Russian avant-garde .
Georgy Dionisovich Kostaki | |
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Γεώργιος Κωστάκης | |
Birth name | |
Date of Birth | July 5, 1913 |
Place of Birth | Moscow , Russian Empire |
Date of death | March 9, 1990 (76 years) |
Place of death | Greece |
Citizenship | Greece |
Occupation | collector |
Spouse | Zinaida Semenovna Kostaki |
Children | Aliki G. Kostaki, Natalia G. Kostaki, Alexander G. Kostakis, Inna Georgievna Kostaki |
Content
Biography
Born in 1913 in Moscow in the family of a Greek merchant. Had Greek citizenship. Working in the 1930s as a driver at the Greek embassy, he drove diplomatic workers to antique shops and gradually became involved in collecting [1] .
I collected old Dutch, porcelain, Russian silver, carpets and fabrics. But all the time I was thinking that if I continued in the same spirit, I would not bring anything new to art. Everything that I collected was already in the Louvre , and in the Hermitage , and, perhaps, in every large museum in any country, and even in private collections. Continuing in the same vein, I could get rich, but ... no more. And I wanted to do something extraordinary.
Somehow I accidentally got into one Moscow apartment ... There I first saw two or three avant-garde canvases, one of them was Olga Rozanova [2] ... The works made a strong impression on me. <...> And so I bought pictures of avant-gardists, brought them home and hung them next to the Dutch. And there was a feeling that I was living in a room with curtained windows, and now they are thrown open and the sun burst into them. From now on, I decided to part with everything that I managed to collect and acquire only avant-garde. It happened in 1946 [1] .
Since 1940, he has been a driver at the English Embassy. Then he moved to the Embassy of Canada, where for 37 years, from 1942 to 1979 he worked as a supply manager. He headed a local Soviet servant of the embassy: drivers, gardeners, cooks and maids, reporting daily to the most junior embassy official.
Gathered a large collection of paintings.
In 1973 he traveled the world with a series of lectures on Russian art, including on October 9, 1973, he gave a lecture at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. [3]
In 1977, he left the USSR with his family to Greece [4] . At the same time, the smaller part of the collection he took with him, he was forced to donate a large part to the Tretyakov Gallery.
In 1988 he was treated in Stockholm, because he did not trust Greek hospitals, as well as the Soviet ones. He died in 1990. After his death, the Greek state bought part of the Kostaki collection and placed it in the State Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki, founded in 1997 [5] .
Family
- Wife - Zinaida Semenovna Kostaki.
My father did not sing, but he played the guitar and often accompanied his mother. She really was very beautiful, she was even once invited to act in films. Dad fell in love with her at first sight and almost a month later, he offered to marry him. When they got married, they were nineteen years old; at the age of twenty, mother had already given birth to her first child. There were four children in the family, three daughters and a son. Of course, mom, remembering sometimes that dad didn't let her finish medical school and planted thoroughly for the rest of her life at home, worried about that. But she had another path, another mission — she was the wife of a collector and supported her husband. She unquestioningly did what he asked for. It got to the point that when he needed to pay for some painting, but there was no money, he said: “Zina, take off your fur coat”. How many times it was that he brought her a fur coat from abroad and after some time took this fur coat, “confiscated” for new artistic acquisitions, including pictures of young authors, who were later called non-conformists [1] .
- Children:
- Kostaki (Dymova), Inna Georgievna
- Kostaki, Aliki Georgievna (born 1939 ) - Greek gallery owner, art historian. Member of the Board of Directors of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki [6] .
- Kostaki, Natalia Georgievna - Greek and Russian artist.
- Kostakis, Alexander Georgievich
- Grandchildren:
- Stramentova-Kostaki, Katerina (daughter of Aliki Kostaki) - Greek designer, antiquary [6] .
- Denis Alexandrovich Kostakis (son of Alexander)
- Elena Ilinichna Dymova (Inna's daughter)
- Georgy Valerievich Nechaev (son of Natalia)
- Dariya Vladimirovna Zazhirey (daughter of Natalia)
- Dmitry Vladimirovich Zazhirey (son of Natalia)
- Zinaida Vladimirovna Zazhirey (daughter of Natalia)
Russian Avant-garde Collection
The beginning of the collection was laid in 1946 with the purchase of the painting “The Green Strip” by Olga Rozanova ( 1917 ).
On the backside of Clement Redko 's painting “The Uprising” ( 1925 ), bought from the artist's widow, Tatyana Fedorovna Redko, Kostaki wrote shortly before the painting was submitted to the Tretyakov Gallery : “The painting of the century, the greatest work of revolutionary Russia. George Kostaki. Moscow, April 14, 77 ” [7] .
Collection of Russian Icons
A great contribution to the current exhibition was made by antiquarian artist Shitikov Evgeny Petrovich , who for many years replenished the collection of George Dionisovich. It should be noted that the replenishment of the collection was not on a paid basis - the purpose of the antique dealers was the preservation of Russian tempera painting - thanks to this, many priceless icons were kept in perfect condition and presented at many exhibitions in the world.
Nonconformist Collection
To tell the truth, to lead three lines - the avant-garde, the icon and the young artists - was financially difficult. <...> In the 50s there was a relatively small group - 10-12 people - very talented people: Rabin , Krasnopevtsev , Plavinsky , Weisberg and many others. Over the years, every year I bought one, two things from each of these artists. Many gave me their work. So the collection was compiled [1] .
Bibliography
George Kostaki's publications
- Starr SF , Costakis G. , Rakitin V. , Bowlt JE Russian avant-garde art. The George Costakis collection. New York. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1981
- Kostaki George . My avant-garde. Collector's memories. - M .: Modus Graffiti, 1993.
About George Kostaki
- Bogdanovsky Alexey . George Kostaki: a collector of a priceless story, considered garbage: Interview with Aliki Kostaki // RIA Novosti . - June 8, 2009 .
- Bogdanovsky Alexey . The museum in Thessaloniki opened the exhibition of the memory of collector Georgy Kostaki // RIA Novosti . - March 10, 2010 .
- Vedenov Nick . The exhibition "The Old Russian collection of George Kostaki" (inaccessible link) // Bulletin. - № 6. - February 5-11.
- Galkovsky Dmitry . Mr. Greek // Duck truth. - December 23, 2005 .
- Greece in the forefront of Russian art of the XX century (inaccessible link) // Greece-Russia. - October 10, 2008 .
- Tar Ekaterina , Bode Michael . Kostaki Collection in the Tretyakov Gallery // Kommersant . - No. 34 (1216). - March 20, 1997 .
- "The Old Russian collection of George Kostaki" in the Museum. Andrei Rublev // Museum.ru.
- Evseev Lily . Kostaki - the collector of old Russian art // Russian art. - 2004 . - № 1.
- Zverev and Kostaki // Radio Culture . - December 15, 2005 .
- Zverev Yuri . George Kostaki - keeper of the Russian avant-garde . (The cycle of stories "Memorable meetings") // "Pictures of life." Works of Yuri Zverev.
- Kostaki Aliki . “The permission to leave us was signed by Andropov and Suslov” : Interview with Yuri Kovalenko // Izvestia .
- Kostaki Natalia , Zazhirey Vladimir . George Kostaki // Russian art. - 2008 .
- Lekarev Stanislav . The fate of the collector Kostaki // Arguments of the week . - July 15, 2008 .
- Lerner Leonid . Natalia Kostaki - George's daughter // Chaika . - № 7 (23). - April 5, 2002 .
- Mostoslavsky Alexander , Rychkov Alexander , Bogdanovsky Alexey . George Kostaki Collection: Interview with Aliki Kostaki // REN TV . - May 31, 2010 .
- Nazarevskaya Nadezhda . George Kostaki - collector of Russian avant-garde (inaccessible link) // Portal Culture.
- Savitskaya Anna . The last exhibition of Dina Verni. Georgy Kostaki’s fragmented collection is shown in the Parisian women’s foundation with Russian roots // OpenSpace.ru. - January 23, 2009 .
- Sarabyanov Andrey . Russian avant-garde George Kostaki // AgniArt.ru.
- Tolstoy Ivan . Berlin exhibition from the collection of George Kostaki // Radio Liberty . - November 3, 2004 .
- Shatskikh Alexander . Kostaki: a ray of light in the dark kingdom // Russian avant-garde from the collection of G. D. Kostaki. Painting. Graphics. Exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, spring 1997. - M., 1997. - p. 75-77.
- Roberts Peter . George Costakis: A Russian Life in Art. 1994.
- Roberts Peter . Raising eyebrows: an undiplomatic memoir. 1999
Iconography (painting)
- 1956 - Anatoly Zverev [8] .
- 1970 - 1971 - Otari Kandaurov . Oil on canvas, 80x82 [9] .
- 1976 - Anatoly Zverev [10] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Kostaki Natalia , Zazhirey Vladimir . George Kostaki Archival copy of February 11, 2010 on the Wayback Machine // Russian Art. - 2008 .
- ↑ Painting by Olga Rozanova "Green bar" (1917).
- ↑ Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives.
- ↑ Avant-Garde. Masterpieces of the Costakis Collection / Editor Miltiades Papanikolaou. - Thessaloniki, 2001. - ISBN 960-86806-1-1 .
- ↑ The State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.
- ↑ 1 2 Aliki Georgievna Kostaki on the website of the Union of Russian émigrés in Greece (Not available link) . The appeal date is March 12, 2011. Archived November 17, 2014.
- ↑ Irina Lebedeva . The artist Kliment Redko and the painting “The Uprising” are one of the most mysterious works dedicated to the October Revolution . The transfer of radio "Echo of Moscow" "Collection of the Tretyakov Gallery." February 3, 2008 .
- ↑ Zverev Anatoly Timofeevich (Inaccessible link) . The appeal date is March 13, 2011. Archived March 5, 2016.
- ↑ Kandaurov Otari . Portrait of George Kostaki Archival copy of July 23, 2011 on the Wayback Machine . H., m. 80x82.
- ↑ Zverev and Kostaki // Radio Culture . - December 15, 2005 .
Links
- Collection Kostaki in the Tretyakov Gallery
- Irina Pronin . George Kostaki. Collector "century persecuted . " The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine, # 1 2015 (46)