Vesennyaya vystavka v zalakh Imperatorskoi akademii khudozhestv. 1916 god. (Spring exhibition in the halls of the Imperial Academy of Arts 1916) [Catalogue]

Near Fine condition; cover shows slight soiling and rubbing, soft creases across corners and along edges of the front cover, bookstore markings on the back cover; internally edges of the pages show occasional yellowing. 
 
The tradition of holding annual spring exhibitions at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg dates from 1897 when the first show took place. These exhibitions introduced new works by artists, especially young painters including those who did not belong to the academic school. They were of unquestionable artistic merits and had never been exhibited to the public before. The initiator of such annual exhibitions was Arkhip Kuindzhy. In 1918 the tradition was inerrupted. The exhibitions jury was chosen by the exhibitors themselves from among the participants. Kuindzhi was their permanent honorary Chairman, and his students A. A. Rylov, K. F. Bogaevsky, V. I. Zarubin, V. E. Purvitis and others actively participated in the jury, prepared the exposition and, as Rylov noted: "... without hesitation had fought against triviality, routine and vulgarity in art, trying not to allow them on the exhibition."
 
The 1916 spring exhibition showcased 553 paintings and sculptural works by such prominent artists as Vasily Svarog, Grigory Myasoyedov, Piotr Buchkin, Isaak Brodsky, Anatoly Kaigorodov, Richard Bergholz, Stepan and Ivan Kolesnikoff, Mikhail Avilov, Ivan Kulikov and many others.  
 
This richly illustrated catalogue accompanying the exhibition is decorated with artistic cover designed in art deco style by painter Ivan Myasoedov and includes 50 tiped in illustration plates protected with glued-in intervaling calque. Illustrations are followed with list of exhibits.