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Donation of Moscow Sketches and Publication of a Russian Research Website

Kremlin, date of production unknown

Twenty-five pieces, including sketches drawn by Toshi Maruki (Toshiko Akamatsu) during her stay in Moscow between 1937-38 and in 1941 as a tutor for children of diplomats, have been donated to the Maruki Gallery by a private individual in Niigata Prefecture.

At a dacha, outskirts of Moscow, 1937

The Kremlin Palace, the streets of Moscow, the forests in the countryside, the puppet theater, and the stage of the Art Theatre are vividly depicted through the eyes of Toshi, portraying the landscape and culture of Moscow at that time.

This is supposed to be Gorky’s house, 1938
Puppet Theater, Puss in Boots, 1941
Art Theater, The Lower Depths, 1941

A research site by a Russian art historian Виктор Белозёров [Viktor Belozerov], who researched information on Iri and Toshi in the Soviet Union, has been released.
Russian https://syg.ma/@gendaieye/gssSDmLj_dQ6uw
English https://syg.ma/@gendaieye/893JqnBmHYJT0g

Toshi visited various parts of the Soviet Union as a member of a Japanese women’s delegation in 1953, one of the first to do so after the World War II. In 1956, she and Iri were invited to Moscow to organize an exhibition of the Hiroshima Panels.

This study focuses primarily on coverage of Iri and Toshi in the Soviet media, detailing trends in the exhibition of the Hiroshima Panels, works by Iri and Toshi existing in Russia, and representations of Iri and Toshi’s images by Russian artists.

We expect to see more and more international research on the Marukis and the Hiroshima Panels in coming years.

The Maruki Gallery will continue to make every effort to organize the information and make it available to the public.

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