Mihail Bode. Diaries of Mihail Boda

The main event of the past week was the opening day of the David Burliuk exhibition at the Moscow Art Center . The status of the event was ensured by the visit of the Minister of Culture, the theatricality was ensured by the director of the center, Marina Loshak, who decided to remind those present about the futuristic escapades: each visitor was given a colorful “slap in the face”, that is, they simply painted a kiss on their face in watercolors. It turned out culturally-historical, silly and fun (which is understandable - April 1 was approaching). For a few seconds, Mr. Shvydkoy himself posed in a black top hat in order to demonstrate to everyone that he understood and shared the joke, and then remained uncovered so that everyone would recognize him as the Minister of Culture.

Critics and museum workers discussed with sluggish enthusiasm the sore problem - fake "burliuks" or genuine ones. We agreed on a patriotic verdict: those in our private collections are real, those in American ones are “American.” However, to understand this, there was no need to sniff the paint layer and pick the smudged brushstroke with your gaze. It was necessary to at least remember that modern spelling was introduced by the Soviet government in 1918. And then it would immediately become clear that David Davidovich could not have written “Landscape from Four Points of View” in 1910: the sophisticated word juggler “let it slip” by writing the word “Dnieper” in the picture without “yati” and “b”. Americans, of course, are not required to know this, but we... There are enough absurdities of this kind. So, for example, in Russia Burliuk signed himself - "Burliuk", in Japan, where he fled from his "brothers, workers and peasants, liberators of the Humanity of tomorrow", simply and modestly, in Russian.

American Burliuk (in 1922 he moved from Japan to the States) is a total Burliuk, Vse-Burliuk. In the States, David Davidovich re-wrote his early, impressionistic, seasoned, futuristic, and even some wonderful Dadaist self, meticulously signing his opuses for 10-14 years. Mystification? Yes, the same as that of the later Malevich and Larionov , who wished to leave to their descendants their “correct” retrospectives from “ism” to “ism”, and therefore wrote a lot of early creations after the fact. The fact that Burliuk wrote the original in America amuses us with a “hustopsian” mixture of rough, grotesque naivety and affectionate floweriness, pleasing to the eye of an overseas collector. Describing this new manner, the critic-apologist Hollerbach once tried to wriggle out: “In some of Burliuk’s works there is, if you like, cynicism. But cynicism is, as it were, the naivety of wisdom... naivety is the cynicism of innocence.” Completely confused by Hollerbach, I went to look at “Cossack Playing the Banjo.” The cutest thing - a drunken man with forelocks is playing music, a red horse is lying at his feet (or something...), a Tatar tent is in the distance. Beauty!

A beautiful life was given at the DPI Museum during the “Decor Week”. The museum is unrecognizable - it's all expensively hung with tapestries and expensively furnished with antiques, there are no museum workers to be found - all waiters from Potel&Chabot. It looks like a catwalk show of haute couture itself - you can watch it, but you can’t wear it. And in this case: it’s impossible to live like that. That is, to see sophisticated interior beauty every day. However, the master of interior design, the Frenchwoman Brigitte Sabie, who was invited to this fashion show by Mezzanine magazine, apparently thinks that it’s not worth copying Gali delights like a monkey, but borrowing the “pattern” pourquoi pas. Madame Saby offers not an authentic "Louis XVI", but an easy re-design, do-it-yourself type. For example, a modern glass tabletop can be placed on stone acroterias, volutes and consoles. which are poorly lying or standing in the nearest ancient castle or palace. The result will be bold and original: you can observe the graceful architectural forms, and at the same time what your dining companions are doing under the table. This experience confuses only one thing. Knowing the impetuosity of our compatriots and their desire to be fashionable at all costs, I began to worry about the fate of the half-restored Tsaritsyno. To prevent the Russians from messing up the design stuff and reinventing the wheel, Madame Saby put together a typical “Russian salon” - red (apparently, the Frenchwoman knows that “red” is also beautiful) to deep “Bordeaux”, with Chinese trinkets on the shelf (of course, for Russians) Asia is close). Of course, you won’t find a pouf from the Directory era here or at the Antique Salon. Well, never mind, we haven’t forgotten how to use a folding bed yet.

Our Andrey Dmitriev’s “Camping Tent” project reminded us of this. Indeed, the tent is truly modestly furnished - a mahogany table from the century before last, a camp cot from the same times, etc., etc. For a retired general, and for a non-retired practicing one too. For the set, I would advise you to take the “Room-Bathroom”, invented by Anna Muravina. Of course, you can’t take exquisite leather trim and paper lamps with you, but you can’t do without a solid copper bathtub with a firebox in the field. Wood for heating can be wasted everywhere.

With amazing and touching care for married couples on the eve of divorce proceedings, Veronica Bloomgren's "Room for a break from each other" was thought out. There are only two of each - sofas, vases, paintings, televisions (although it is difficult to divide the fireplace). All conditions have been created to comfortably hate your half. A child running into the room purred: “What if they turn on the TV at full volume?” There was nothing to say here. And what to take from the baby - he still needs to grow into beauty. However, for divorce too.