Alexandra Exter. Monographie (bilingual French-English text)

A beautifully-produced bilingual (French and English) monograph on Exter, with several hundred color plates. Unfortunately, the scholarship is not on a par with the production values: several dozen fakes are reproduced as authentic works here, and one can only guess at the possible motivations (I suppose it is to "authenticate" the fakes, all of which, interestingly enough, are in a "Collection privee" in Paris). Filatoff, furthermore, seems to know next to nothing about art. Finally, the English text has been prepared by someone with limited abilities as a translator. Still, this is the first major monograph (besides one in Russian) dedicated to one of the most important and intriguing Russian avant-garde painters. Furthermore, there is an extensive section on Exter's role as a book artist, especially her unparalleled illuminated manuscripts. This aspect of her work had been almost entirely ignored by other scholars. Large 4to. Publisher's cloth. FINE AND BRIGHT, in a fine dj. Until some capable scholar comes up with something better, this will be the best introduction to Exter's work.