Lev Nusberg to Harald Szeemann, 1970–76: Notes on Convergent Ambitions and Shared Practices

Abstract

The article analyzes the correspondence held in the Getty Research Institute between Swiss curator Harald Szeemann (1933–2005) and Russian artist Lev Nusberg (b. 1937), the founder and main promoter of the kinetic Movement group (Dvizhenie). Because Nusberg resided in Moscow until his emigration to the West in 1976, the two at the time had no opportunity to meet personally. Despite the distance and the geopolitical and language barriers, Nusberg and Szeemann were able to establish a remote dialogue sharing common interests, such as the legacy of the Russian and early Soviet avant-garde, as well as common ambitions for a comprehensive approach to the artistic practice, including the documentation and collection of their past and ongoing projects, which now constitute the core of their archives.