Charting Nicholas Remisoff’s artistic legacy during his California period, this essay explores his contributions to the cultural landscape of the state and emphasizes his work on live stage productions in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the early 1930s and 1940s. Delineating the critical reception of Remisoff’s work in opera, ballet and theatre in these cities, this essay also highlights the artist’s interactions and key collaborations with other Russian and European émigré artists and reflects on the nature of Remisoff’s particular affinity with Southern California.

Abstract This article considers the growth and development of Yiddish satire journals as a publishing phenomenon in the wake of the 1905 revolution, particularly in consideration of the unusual nature of the legal, political, and social positions of Jews in the Empire. Also considered is the proliferation of cartoons and their visual critiques of Jewish life.

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Abstract Best known for transforming the look of Moscow in the 1990s, sculptor and artist Zurab Tsereteli has also donated gift monuments abroad to coincide with diplomatic initiatives of the Soviet Union and Russia. This article examines Tsereteli’s gift monuments to the United States, spanning from the era of détente in the late-1970s to the brief window of anti-terrorist solidarity after 11 September 2001. The monuments are located mostly in or near New York City, although the unfortunate Columbus monument still awaits a permanent home (contrary to rumor, however, it did not return to Moscow as Peter the Great). While the motives and intentions informing the gifts provide the initial footing for the reception of the works, they fade to obscurity as the monuments accrue a legacy within the host community over time.

Abstract The Ballets Russes never performed in Russia, and in the last twelve years of its twenty-one year existence (1909-1929) many Western European artists and composers worked for the company. Yet its essential identity remained as Russian as that of its founder, the quintessential “cosmopolitan” Sergei Diaghilev. An examination of its repertory makes that clear.

Abstract “The Ballets Russes and the Parisian Avant-Garde” deals with the complex relationship between Diaghalev and the members of the Parisian avant-garde he commissioned to design sets and costumes for his productions after World War I. Despite their previous aesthetic radicalism, such artists as Gris and Derain were obliged to rein in their vanguard originality and produce work of surprising conservatism, at the urging of the impresario. Matisse attempted greater originality, but in an unsuccessful ballet. The only really avant-garde production sponsored by Diaghalev after the war was Parade, in which such luminaries as Picasso, Satie and Cocteau played a leading role. Yet ultimately, it was not Diaghalev but Rolf de Mare’s Ballet Suedois that created the most experimental productions involving dance: Relache and Entr’acte. Yet, in experimenting with new forms, de Mare, in effect, abandoned ballet for different forms of expression relying on cinematic techniques rather than classical dance.

Abstract No one should make judgments about ballets that no longer exist. Choreographer Bronislava Nijinska's surviving masterpieces offer sufficient proof of a a brilliant and varied imagination, inspired by her classical training; by the example of her brother, Vaslav Nijinsky; and by contemporary developments in the visual arts.