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Little biographical information has been translated into English, about the early life of Valentina (also seen as Walentina) Kulagina. Kulagina was born in Russia in 1902. In 1920, she was persuaded by the famous Soviet Constructivist artist Gustav Klustis to join the Soviet State Free Art Studios also known as VKhUTEMAS. The two were married the following year and in 1924, Klustis became a professor at the school, whose other notable artists-in-residence included Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Sergei Senkin Rodchenko. In 1928, Kulagina joined the art collective “October,” which also included her husband, who headed the photomontage section, as well as artists Boris Ignatovich, and Lissitzky. Here, she was called on to design parts of the Soviet Pavilion of the Pressa Exhibition in Cologne, Germany, an exhibition of the modern press, advertising and publishing. Pressa was held between May and October of 1928. Following her graduation from VKhUTEMAS, she went to work for the Soviet State Publishing House of Fine Art or IZOGIZ and the All-Union Society of Cultural Relations with Abroad- VOKS. Here she received many commissions for posters, exhibition and book designs both internationally and within the Soviet Union. The combined collective works of the two artists represent solid examples of the Post-abstract Soviet Avant-garde style, although there is little evidence of an actual single collaborative work by the two. In 1938, Kulagina saw her husband arrested. A devoted member of the Communist party and veteran of the October 1917 Revolution, Klustis was arrested and killed in Stalin’s purges. His death was reported as a heart attack, in 1944 at Butovo prison near Moscow. Kulagina continued to work for the Soviet State at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition-VSKhV. Kulagina died in Moscow in 1987. Contact
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