Design for final backcloth 1926

Editor: This is Natalia Goncharova’s "Design for final backcloth" from 1926. It looks like a fantastical cityscape made with mixed media, maybe tempera, on textile? The domes and towers give it a whimsical, almost dreamlike quality. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, look at the clear symbolism within it: the proliferation of domed structures isn’t merely architectural. They're echoes of Russian Orthodox cathedrals. Goncharova uses that cultural memory of pre-revolutionary Russia, and perhaps imbues them with yearning amid the shifts of the avant-garde. Editor: So, it’s more than just a city. It’s a cultural statement? Curator: Precisely. Notice the colours: the dominance of red against the stark white and blue. Red, deeply rooted in Russian identity, it often appears in revolutionary symbolism, folk art, religious iconography, signaling vitality, power, even sacrifice. But here, what does it evoke combined with the architectural motifs? Editor: I see what you mean; the combination could be about resilience or maybe remembering what was lost… or maybe a vision of a transformed future that acknowledges its past. Curator: It hints at a complicated tension, a yearning for an idealized past but still imbued with the bold experimentation of the Russian avant-garde. Editor: The layering of historical and future is something that really sticks with me. It also suggests multiple things at the same time, making it richer. Curator: Indeed, a rich tapestry of visual and symbolic associations for us to unpack and consider.