State Museum of V.V. Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in 1915

Library Museum

In 1935, Lilya Brik sent Joseph Stalin a letter complaining about the inaction of officials of the State Publishing House in relation to the poet’s literary legacy ^[4] :

Dear comrade Stalin, after the death of the poet Mayakovsky, all the matters connected with the publication of his poems and the perpetuation of his memory were concentrated in me. <...> After the death of Mayakovsky, in a government decree, it was proposed to organize Mayakovsky’s office at the Comacademy , where all materials and manuscripts should have been concentrated. There is still no such office. <...> Three years ago, the district council of the Proletarsky district suggested that I restore Mayakovsky’s last apartment and organize the Mayakovsky District Library with her. After some time I was informed that the Moscow Soviet refused money, and that the money required was very small. The house is small, wooden, of four apartments ( Taganka , Gendrikov per. 15). One apartment - Mayakovsky. The rest was supposed to accommodate a library. The district council undertook to resettle a few residents. The apartment is very characteristic of Mayakovsky’s life - simple, modest, clean. Every day, the house may be demolished. Instead of regretting it after 50 years and collecting pieces of everyday life and the working environment of the great poet of the revolution, is it not better to restore all this while we are alive.

In response to the appeal of Brik in 1936, a resolution was published on the creation of the Vladimir Mayakovsky Library and Museum in the house in Hendrikov Lane. In this building, the poet lived with Lily and Osip Brik from 1926 to 1930. In addition , the Moscow authorities renamed Gendrikov Lane into Mayakovsky Lane. In the same year, a one-story reading room and an auxiliary one-story extension were added to the house. A redevelopment was also carried out and Mayakovsky’s apartment was restored. Lily and Osip Brika did their best to help create the museum: the couple brought memorial shoes, clothes, linen and household items belonging to the poet ^[4] .

By 1937, a library was equipped in the house with two reading rooms and four rooms for individual work. The opening of the library-museum took place in 1938 as a scientific institution of the People's Commissariat of Education . The exposition consisted of a poet’s memorial room and a dining room, while the remaining premises housed temporary exhibitions, lecture and reading funds, a library, a music library, and a bibliographic room. From Lily Brik, the Mayakovsky archive was received in the museum funds, which included more than 600 creative and personal documents, 115 letters, 5000 notes, lifetime editions of works and other documents ^[4] .

During the museum’s activities, scientists Nadezhda Reformatskaya , Varvara Arutcheva, Faina Pitskel, Vladimir Zemskovy, EA Direnstein, Rudolf Duganov , Vladimir Radzishevsky, L. Oginskaya prepared a number of monumental publications, for example, the 13-volume collected works of Mayakovsky, volume Literary inheritance ” ^[6] .

From 1938 to 1939, in the closed building of the museum, the defeats of the log house were eliminated. With the beginning of World War II, the exhibits of the memorial cabinet room in Lubyansky passage were taken out to the premises of the library-museum. The Mayakovsky Museum was the only one operating throughout the entire time of the defense of Moscow. Sixteen employees working at that time received visitors, organized lectures and exhibitions, repaired and washed upper uniforms for the fighter battalion . All of them were awarded the medal " For the Defense of Moscow " ^[7] .

In 1955, a bronze sculpture of Vladimir Mayakovsky was created in front of the house, designed by sculptors Guram Kordzakhiya and architect D.N. Mordebadze ^[4] . In the 1950s and 1960s, director Agniya Yezerskaya , deputy director for science Nadezhda Reformatskaya, head of the scientific library Efim Dinerstein and collector Nikolai Khardzhiev organized a series of temporary scientific exhibitions dedicated to the artists of the Russian avant-garde - Mayakovsky's contemporaries. So, in 1957, an exhibition of 120 paintings by Vasily Chekrygin took place ^[4] .

Museum on Lubyanka

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a dispute began between relatives and relatives of Mayakovsky over the fate of the museum in memory of the poet. The poet’s sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya and statesman Vladimir Vorontsov supported the creation of the museum in the memorial room on Lubyanka, while Lilya Brik and poet Konstantin Simonov fought to preserve the memorial museum in a building in Mayakovsky Lane ^[4] .

In 1967, the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee issued a decree “On the V.V. Mayakovsky Museum,” which approved the transfer of the museum exposition from Mayakovsky Lane to the building in Lubyansky Proezd, where Mayakovsky had a cabinet room in which he later committed suicide. Mayakovsky rented a room of 11 m² in 1919 after a quarrel with Lily Brik. Linguist Roman Jacobson , who lived on the fourth of the same building, helped him find a room for rent. The apartment building itself was built at the end of the 19th century according to the project of architect Mikhail Bugrovsky for businessman Nikolai Stakheev . Jacobson’s recommendation helped Mayakovsky get a room from the owner of the apartment, Y. Balshin ^{[4] [8]} .

The transfer of the museum from Gendrikov Lane to Lubyansky passage was initiated by the poet's sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya, when Lilya Brik was distracted by the court of Louis Aragon , the husband of her sister Elsa Triole ^[9] . Lyudmila Mayakovskaya argued the need to close the museum in Gendrikov Lane in a letter to Leonid Brezhnev :

After the decision to open the museum in 1967 issued for the post of director, a struggle broke out between Lily Brik, her husband Vasily Katanyan and Vladimir Vorontsov, a relative and assistant to the influential party leader Mikhail Suslov . A decade earlier, Vorontsov became one of the most ardent critics of the 65th volume of the New About Mayakovsky series of Literary Inheritance and sought to exclude references to Lily Brik in the poet's biography. Suslov instructed Vorontsov to consider the director of the museum a party functionary Gennady Gusev, who was recommended by the editor-in-chief of the magazine “ Young Guard ” Anatoly Nikonov , deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine “ Ogonyok ” Ivan Stadnyuk and writer Ivan Shevtsov ^[11] . Thirty years later, Gusev recalled this:

In the spring of 1968, Vorontsov, together with the journalist Alexander Koloskov, published an article entitled “Poet's Love” ^[12] in The Spark, in which he contrasted Lilya Brik with Tatyana Yakovlev, another lover of the poet. In the later edition of Mayakovsky’s annex to The Spark, Vorontsov removed all the dedications of the poet Lilya Brik. After this, the indignant Konstantin Simonov began to seek an appointment with Leonid Brezhnev , and Suslov was forced to dismiss Vorontsov from the post of his assistant ^[11] .

Moscow authorities settled a communal apartment to accommodate all the exhibits. The official opening of the State Museum of Vladimir Mayakovsky took place in 1974, the art director Svetlana Strizhnev was appointed the first director ^[4] . The poet’s memorial items were returned to the new museum. Lyudmila Mayakovskaya donated her brother’s belongings to the new museum: books, documents, furniture. Mayakovskaya was also involved in curatorial work on the creation of the first museum exposition ^{[4] [8]} .

The museum was mainly engaged in exhibitions and organization of events. So, in 1971, the exposition "Mayakovsky - the poet of October and socialist construction" was opened there. In the 1980s, the museum began to organize poetry evenings dedicated to writers and filmmakers. The events were attended by Andrey Voznesensky , Bella Akhmadulina , Evgeny Yevtushenko , Sergey Yutkevich , David Samoilov , Yuri Levitansky , Sergey Vikulov , Yunna Moritz , Irakli Abashidze , Imant Ziedonis , Ivan Drach , Anatoly Zhigulin , Oleg Chukhontsev ^[4] . In addition, many Soviet writers took part in organizing the museum exposition. Nikolai Aseev , Boris Pasternak , Semyon Kirsanov , Alexander Mezhirov , Mikhail Dudin , David Samoilov , Sergey Narovchatov , Bulat Okudzhava , Bella Akhmadulina , Evgeny Evtushenko , Andrey Voznesensky , Robert Rozhdestvensky , Irakli Abashidze , Rasul Gamzatov , Imant Ziedrachonis made a great contribution , Naum Korzhavin , Andrey Dementiev , Yunna Moritz and many others. Foreign cultural workers also came to the museum: Jorge Amadou , Alfredo Varela , Maria Mayerova , Katarina Susanna Prichard , Diego Rivera , Paul Eluard , Georges Sadoule , Louis Aragon , Elsa Triole , Nazim Hikmet , Guo Mojo ^[11] .

In 1987, the museum was opened after a year of reconstruction, during which the rooms, in addition to the memorial room, were designed according to the design of the artists Taras Polyakov, Evgeny Amaspyur, Ivan Lubennikov , Igor Obrosov . The space was created without blueprints, all installations were carried out by the improvisation of artists ^{[2] [4] [8] [14]} . As a result of the work, the public space of the museum was redesigned in a constructivist style. The installations told not only about the life of the poet, but also about the fate of the Russian avant-garde. In the museum one could hear the poet’s voice, see Mayakovsky’s personal letters, books, photographs, as well as lifetime editions ^[15] .

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the museum in 2012, together with the PROUN Gallery, an exhibition was organized in the Winery dedicated to the Soviet propaganda works of Alexander Rodchenko , Gustav Klusits , Ivan Senkin and Lazar Lisitsky ^[17] . Mayakovsky’s works were also exhibited at the union’s advertisement: “For a member of the Nepach Union, nothing / the union will protect and cope with Nepach,” the collage “Lenin is Marxism in Action” and others ^[18] .

In 2012, 52 museum exhibits became known. The fact of theft was revealed during an inspection of the Ministry of Culture . Among the missing exhibits were Mayakovsky’s glasses, a candlestick and several posters ^[19] , of which only two things were found - both from foreign resellers ^[2] .

In 2013, Moscow authorities decided to close the museum for overhaul. It was planned that the museum would complete the repair by the 125th anniversary of Mayakovsky’s birthday in 2018, but later there was information about the postponement of the opening date to the 2019th ^{[20] [21]} . The decision of the officials caused a public outcry, many museum workers opposed the closure of the museum, arguing their position with the possible destruction of the unique exhibition in 1987 ^{[22] [23]} .

Disagreeing with the decision of officials, Svetlana Strizhenova left the post of director, Nadezhda Morozova was appointed in her place ^{[2] [25] [26]} . Six months later, the post of leader was taken by Alexey Lobov, because there were conflicts between Morozova, who had no museum experience and employees ^[2] .

Apartment on Bolshaya Presnya

В 2017 году для посещения открыли филиал музея в квартире на Красной Пресне , где поэт проживал с матерью Александрой и сёстрами Людмилой и Ольгой с 1913 по 1915 год ^[27] . Семья Маяковских, приехавшая с Кавказа в 1906 году, сменила несколько съёмных квартир. Апартаменты на Красной Пресне — единственная сохранившаяся до сегодняшнего времени квартира. Владимир Маяковский занимал самую маленькую её комнату, две другие — мать и сёстры. А последнюю четвёртую комнату семья сдавала небогатым студентам или кавказским знакомым. В 1915 году Маяковский переехал в Санкт-Петербург , а семья арендовала квартиру поменьше ^[28] .

В 1957 году на фасаде дома на Красной Пресне была установлена мемориальная доска поэту. В 1964-м по инициативе Людмилы Маяковской в квартире открыли постоянную экспозицию «Владимир Маяковский на Красной Пресне», действующую на общественных началах. Спустя три года при выставке образовался клуб-музей, получивший официальный статус в 1978-м. В этом же году сотрудники Государственного музея Владимира Маяковского создали в квартире новую экспозицию на основе документальных источников и фотоматериалов. В музее были представлены фрагменты личной переписки поэта, прижизненные издания книг, автографы, записки, полученные во время выступлений ^[28] .

В 1982 году квартира на Красной Пресне вошла в состав Государственного музея Владимира Маяковского. В помещениях проводились тематические выставки: «Москва Маяковского» (1983), «Л. В. Маяковская» (1984), «Маяковский и Хлебников» (1986—1989). В 1990-е в квартире расположили библиотечный фонд, а начиная с 2013-го начались работы по созданию в квартире нового выставочного пространства. Экспозиция посвящена личной жизни поэта, его американской возлюбленной Элли Джонс и их дочке Патриции Томпсон (Елене Маяковской) ^[28] .

Квартира в Студенецком переулке

По состоянию на 2018 год музей планирует открытие мемориальной квартиры поэта в Студенецком переулке . Эту квартиру Людмила Маяковская получила от Трёхгорной мануфактуры в 1920-е годы и жила там с матерью и сестрой. В помещениях планируется воссоздать прижизненную обстановку ^[29] .

По состоянию на 2018-й в музейных фондах находится более 50 000 единиц хранения ^{[30] [31]} .

• Рукописно-документальный фонд — 12 000 предметов, из которых большинство — личные документы Маяковского ^[30] .
• The Fine Materials Fund - more than 12,000 works of art created in the 1910-1920s, which include the works of Mayakovsky, David Burliuk , Natalia Goncharova , Elena Guro , Alexander Deineka , N.F. Denisovsky, Gustav Klutsis, Mikhail Larionov , Kazimir Malevich , Peter Miturich , Olga Rozanova , S. Ya. Senkin, V. M. Khodasevich ^[30] .
• The memorial fund - 22,000 storage units, most of which was bequeathed to the museum by Lyudmila Mayakovskaya, includes the poet’s personal belongings, family relics, documents, letters, manuscripts of family members ^[30] .
• The photo-negative fund contains original photographs and negatives with images of the poet, members of his family, as well as photographs of poets and writers of the 1910-1920s. The department stores unique photographs of such masters as Alexander Rodchenko, Alexei Temerin , A. P. Shterenberg, Boris Ignatovich , Laszlo Mohoy-Nagy ^[30] .
• The rare book fund was formed in the late 1930s from the collection of the Vladimir Mayakovsky Library and Museum. The foundation is based on lifetime editions of the poet’s works, rare collections of poetry, including lithographed editions of the futurists, poetry books and almanacs of the 1910-1930s, the LEF and New LEF magazines, and autographed books by Mayakovsky to his friends and relatives ^[30] .
• A significant part of the museum’s collection consists of materials from personal collections of Mayakovsky’s contemporaries, representatives of the Russian avant-garde: Sergei Bobrov , David Burliuk, Vasily Kamensky , Alexei Krucheny , Lyudmila Mayakovskaya, Vsevolod Meyerhold , Peter Neznamov , Vladimir Khlebnikov , Igor Terentyev , V. F. Shekhtel and others ^[ F. Shekhtel and ^30] .

Leaders

• 1937-1960 - Agnia Semenovna Yezerskaya
• 1960-1971 -?
• 1971-1981 - Vladimir Makarov
• 1981-2012 - Svetlana Efimovna Strizhneva
• 2013—2014 - Nadezhda Morozova
• Since 2014 - Alexey Lobov

Outstanding employees

• Gennady Aigi (1934-2006) - Chuvash and Russian poet and translator, in 1961-1971 he was the head of the fine arts sector.
• Varvara Arutcheva - Soviet philologist, textologist, specialist in manuscripts Mayakovsky ^[32] .
• Savely Greenberg (1914-2003) - Russian and Israeli poet, in the 1930s he was a member of the Mayakovsky Brigade, and in 1960 he worked in a museum in Hendrikovsky Lane.
• Dmitry Danilov (1969) - Russian writer, immediately after the reconstruction of the Mayakovsky Museum - in 1989-1990 - he worked as a watchman in the museum.
• Loshak, Marina Devovna (1955) - Soviet and Russian curator , gallery owner , art historian , museum worker , worked at the Mayakovsky Museum for about a year after moving to Moscow from Odessa in 1986; in 2012, organized the exhibition of the Soviet poster of the 1920s “Give!” ^{[33] [34] [35] [36]} .
• Shilov, Lev Alekseevich (1932-2004) - Soviet and Russian art historian, writer, archivist, worked at the Mayakovsky Library and Museum from the mid-1950s to 1964 (according to other sources - 1965).

• Vorontsov V. , Koloskov A. Love of the poet // Spark . - 1968. - No. 16 .
• Makarov V. Museum of V. Mayakovsky opened // Spark. - 1974. - Vol. 7 . - No. 2432 . - S. 26 .
• Polyakov T.P. Twenty years of work and six lessons of the Mayakovsky Museum // Museum. - 2009. - Issue. 12 . - S. 16-21 .
• Strizhneva S.E., Polyakov T.P., Aksyonkin A.P. Guide to the State Museum of V.V. Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky was and remains .... - Moscow: Radis RRL, 2007 .-- 64 p.
• Strizhnev S.E. Mayakovsky V.V. museum. Russian Museum Encyclopedia. - Moscow: Progress, RIPOL classic, 2005 .-- S. 350.
• Shilov L.A. Voices reverberating: Notes of a sixties sound archivist. - Damask steel. - Moscow, 2004 .-- 368 p. - ISBN 5-93347-142-9 .

• Official site
• Mayakovsky Museum on the site "Museums of Russia".
• Mayakovsky Museum in the encyclopedia "Around the World"
• Mayakovsky Museum on the site of the magazine "Poster"
• Mayakovsky Museum on the site " A new map of Russian literature "
• A report by the blogger marisha amber in LiveJournal from an excursion from the Mayakovsky Museum (guide Marina Krasnova): part 1 , part 2