Moscow Montmartre. Life Around the Artists' Town on Upper Maslovka. Creative Workdays of the Creators of Proletarian Art

The Upper Maslovka area in Moscow is nicknamed Moscow Montmartre for a reason: here lived the Soviet creative intelligentsia for several decades. The memoirs of T. V. Khvostenko immerse us in the everyday life of the creators of the 20th century. On the pages of the book, you will meet iconic names: Igor Grabar, Pavel Sokolov-Scalya, Sergey Gerasimov, Georgy Neroda, Vladimir Tatlin, and Alexander Rodchenko. Conversations with painters, sculptors, architects, their reflections and feelings will reveal to us an era hidden in the fog of decades. In the memories of Tatiana Khvostenko, corridors and little streets, warm evenings, and the passage of time are wrapped in rich colors that will transport you to a special, creativity-filled reality. The book will shed light on the cultural context of that time and lead through the labyrinth of art history. You will see how epoch-making milestones cling to minor details, how history shapes creative destinies, and how creativity changes the predetermined. Tatiana Khvostenko (1928 – 2005) was an artist, restorer, and member of the Union of Artists of Russia. Each word of her memoirs paves the way to the fates of the masters and to understanding their creative heritage.

The book uses archival materials from the memories of Nina Niss-Goldman and Evgeny Katzman.