In February of 1912, Natalia Gontcharova took part in the Jack of Diamonds public debate held at the Moscow Polytechnical Museum. As her speech was ultimately cut off by the ensuing furor, she wrote this letter to the Russian press (via the Russkoe Slovo/Russian Word) as a means of completing her public statement...
Natalia Sergeevna Gontcharova (1881-1962), the greatest modern artist you’ve never heard of, led an amazing life that spanned continents, decades and artistic movements...
I aspire toward nationality and the East, not to narrow the problems of art but, on the contrary, to make it all-embracing and universal. If I extol the art of my country, then it is because I think that it fully deserves this and should occupy a more honorable place than it has done hitherto...
Natalia Gontcharova's life in a year-by-year timeline dating from 1881 to 1962 and across locations stretching from the Russian countryside near Moscow to the heart of Paris.