Art
The art reference collection covers fine and applied art from
Russia and the former Soviet Union. It is of interest to art historians,
theatre designers and publishers.
The range is wide - from general histories of Russian and Soviet
art to specific aspects of painting, sculpture, print-making and
the graphic arts, theatre design, icons, folk art, textiles and
ceramics. The Russian period is well represented with a substantial
section on icons, the 19th-century schools and monographs on individual
Russian artists. The Soviet period covers the avant-garde, socialist
realism and individual Soviet artists. In particular, there is
a strong section on the constructivists, some rare books by and
about designers, and excellent coverage of the Cold War years.
Titles are in Russian and English, predominantly from Soviet
publishers. The collection is supplemented by back issues of a
number of Soviet art and cultural magazines.
Architecture
The architecture reference collection covers all aspects of architecture,
building and town planning in Russia from medieval times to the
20th century. It is an invaluable resource on the Russian and
Soviet period for architecture historians and researchers.
The collection holds over 500 reference titles, many illustrated
with extensive plans and architectural details, as well as photographs
and illustrations. The Russian period includes monographs on Russian
and Western architects to the Tsarist court, such as Bazhenov,
Cameron and Rastrelli. The Soviet period includes monographs on
figures such as the avant-garde designers Leonidov and Melnikov;
Alexei Shchusev, designer of the Lenin Mausoleum; and the 20th-century
theatre designers and architects Leonid, Victor and Alexander
Vesnin. There are also titles on the Soviet avant-garde period
donated by the late Dr Catherine Cooke.
The majority of titles in the main architecture collection are
Soviet publications in Russian or English. It is supplemented
by back issues of a number of Soviet architecture magazines. The
Huntly Carter Collection within
the photo library also provides an important visual resource on
avant-garde architecture in the 1920s-30s.
Two special archives enhance the collection - the Arthur Ling
Bequest and the SCR Architecture and Planning Group Archive.
Arthur Ling Bequest
The Arthur Ling Bequest was received by the Society in 1996.
Professor Arthur Ling (1913-95) was a notable progressive architect
and town planner with a firm belief in the importance of architecture
and city planning for community structure. He was City Architect
and Planning Officer for Coventry from 1955-64, Head of Nottingham
University's Department of Architecture and Civic Planning from
1964-69, served as Vice President of the RIBA from 1963-64 and
as President of the Town Planning Institute from 1968-69, and
worked in his own practice Arthur Ling and Associates, among other
posts.
Having become interested in the Soviet planning system in the
1930s, he visited the USSR in 1939, staying on to study Soviet
town planning - just as the UK declared war on Germany. His research
produced several articles for the Anglo-Soviet Journal
(he joined the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR -
SCR in 1940 or 1941), as well as a pamphlet Planning and Building
in the USSR in the early 1940s, and he maintained a strong
interest in Soviet and socialist architecture and planning throughout
his career. In April 1945 he founded the SCR's influential Architecture
and Planning Group (see below) and remained its Chair until it
ceased to exist in 1956 during the Cold War. From 1986-92 he also
chaired the revival of this SCR group, when Ling saw an opportunity
to renew exchanges between Soviet and British architects and planners
under perestroika.
The Arthur Ling collection covers architecture and town planning
in both the Soviet Union and post-war Eastern Europe. It includes
books, photographs and slides taken on his travels in the region.
See article 'Arthur Ling: Architect and Town Planner' by Helen
Turner on pages 12-15 of the centenary issue of the SCRSS
Digest, SD-32, Autumn 2024.
SCR Architecture and Planning Group Archive
The Society holds the archive of the influential SCR Architecture
and Planning Group (1945-56), founded by Arthur Ling and whose
members included such alumni as Sir Patrick Abercrombie, Wells
Coates, Erno Goldfinger, Berthold Lubetkin and Sir Charles Reilly.
The group was revived in early 1986 during the Gorbachev period
as 'SCR Architects and Planners', under Arthur Ling's chairmanship,
and continued until 1995.
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