Jack of Diamonds, also called Knave Of Diamonds, was a group of avant-garde artists originating from an exhibition held in Moscow from 1910. The group remained active until December 1917.
Inception
The Knave of Diamonds was an exhibition that opened in Moscow in December 1910, featuring Frenchcubist paintings by Henri Le Fauconnier, André Lhote, Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. Curated by Alexandre Mercereau, the exhibition included works of four Russian artists expelled from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture due to their "leftist tendencies". A stated objective of the exhibition was "to offer young Russian artists who find it extremely difficult to get accepted for exhibitions under the existing indolence and cliquishness of our artistic spheres, the chance to get onto the main road." Subsequently, the title was adopted by a newly formed artistic society in Moscow. Soon thereafter, this group became the largest and one of the most significant exhibition societies of the early Russian avant-garde. The name itself was coined by Mikhail Larionov for the exhibition of 1910 because he liked the sound of it. A contemporary account included, "Organizers regard the title Knave of Diamonds as a symbol of young enthusiasm and passion, 'for the knave implies youth and the suit of diamonds represents seething blood.'" Painters whose works were displayed in the first Jack of Diamonds exhibition, in addition to the French Cubists, were Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova, Kazimir Malevich. In 1912, the more radical members of the group, including Larionov, split to form the Donkey's Tail.
Membership Growth
The group included Robert Falk, Aristarkh Lentulov, Ilya Mashkov, Alexander V. Kuprin, Adolf Milman, Alexander Osmerkin, Wladimir Burliuk, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Lyubov Popova, and Moisey Feigin. Their works demonstrate the artists’ interest in the developing of the new styles that emerged around their first exhibition as a result of their integrating folk art of the provinces in the artworks. Other new styles and genres, such as performance and body-art, emerged from this unlikely blending of fine European art, Russian folk art, and urban folk of the masses in Russia. The artistic significance of the individual members of The Knave of Diamonds aside, their activities conditioned a qualitative shift in Russian art of the 1910s. Among the most important changes was the democratization of the art society in Russia.
Exhibitions
Knave of Diamonds, Moscow, 10 December 1910 – 16 January 1911, Levinson house, Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street, Moscow
