Gorod: Stikhi (The City: Verses)

Natalia Goncharova permanently settled in Paris in 1917 along with her companion, the Russian avant-garde painter Mikhail Larionov. Her evocative illustrations for “The City” reflect her artistic evolution from Neo-Primitivism and Futurism to a theatrical lyricism, derived from her work as a stage designer for the renowned Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev. Aleksandr Rubakin’s romanticized poems about Paris chronicle the city as it evolves into a modern urban center. Together, the poems and illustrations present a vision of a dynamic, vital metropolis—exciting, full of movement, and encompassing the human and emotional elements of modern city life.