Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964) was a central figure during the decade preceding World War I in the emergence of modern art in Russia. Through his efforts organizing shows as well as his paintings and those of others, Russia not only entered the mainstream of contemporary developments but moved to the forefront.

Russia produced an extraordinary number of artists of genius at the turn of the century, among whom would be counted Goncharova, Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Malevich, and Larionov. The rapid social and technological development at that time occurred in conjunction with an equally rapid cultural upheaval. Russia had been a country of two cultures--one, that of the masses, rooted in the folk and religious traditions of the past, and the other, that of the aristocracy, based on--if not miming--the conservative taste of Western Europe. Larionov and many of his contemporaries rejected the past and celebrated everything associated with modernity...