Uzbekistan: Avant-Garde Orientalists | Assouline

Art Collector, Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky dedicated his life to saving one of the world’s most important works of Russian avant-garde art, which would have been otherwise destined to disappear forever. His efforts allowed artists, obscured by Stalin’s regime, to be rediscovered. Today, the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky in Nukus, and located in the middle of a vast desert on the northwest end of Uzbekistan-once called “the Louvre of the Steppes-now holds one of the largest collections of this art, second only to the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. This volume shows a particularly unique part of the museum’s collection, known as Avant-Garde Orientalist art: works made between 1910 – 1930 from artists who have traveled or moved to Uzbekistan, discovering the region’s culture, vibrant colors, unique light, landscapes and architecture. Rather than simply being seen as instruments of state propaganda, they maintained their integrity as real artists through their captivating work. For over 40 years, Yaffa Assouline has captured the luxury and publishing industry as a journalist, consultant and creative art director. She specializes in innovative and made-to-measure publishing. She is the author of the book Uzbekistan: Road to Samarkand (Assouline, 2020), a photographic journey through the cultural and natural riches of Uzbekistan. After graduating school, while working in theater and film, photographer Harald Gottschalk met the renowned Robert Doisneau; Gottschalk became Doisneau’s assistant and began fulfilling his childhood dream to become a photographer. Gottschalk has worked with other famous artists, such as photographer Keiichi Tahara and painter Robert Combas, and has had more than 60 solo and collective exhibitions in France and abroad. Parallel to his personal work, Gottschalk collaborates on many prestigious projects and publications with international brands.