Assembled during the last twenty years, the Jose Maria Castane collection of paintings, drawings, and prints constitutes a panorama of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Russian art, one of the most exciting moments of modern cultural history. Unlike other representations in the West, however, the Castane collection does not focus exclusively on the avant-garde, Socialist Realism or the dissident movement, but, instead, offers a broader and sometimes alternative enquiry into the history of the Russian visual arts, acquainting us with often unfamiliar works by luminaries such as Leon Bakst, Aleksandr Deineka, and Liubov Popova as well as with less celebrated names such as Aleksandr Chirkov, Nikolai Lapshin, and Aleksandr Venedernikov. With full curatorial descriptions, biographies, critical essays, and artists statements (for the most part, published for the first time in English), Of Peace and War pays homage to the initiative and foresight of a private collector and to the purposefulness and enthusiasm which molded the selection.
