Russian-speaking émigrés artists in Istanbul (Beyoğlu)
Ekaterina Aygün’s new article on Russian-speaking émigré artists in Istanbul (Beyoğlu) in the 1920s was published in June in Toplumsal Tarih magazine!
She attempted to investigate the topic with the help of sources that haven’t been previously touched upon, and which could shed more light on the issue, primarily periodicals in Russian language published in Istanbul in the 1920s and archival material from Stearns Family Papers (The College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA). Her article answers the following questions:
How did “Russian” artists make a living from their art in exile?
Did they work together or every artist for himself?
How were they occupied after the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923?
Who supported them, and finally, why did they decide to work in Beyoğlu and not in some other district of the city?
The full text is accessible here. Enjoy the reading!