Hello to all Russian Avant-garde Gallery visitors and subscribers.

A New Service Is Launched

As you see, I have launched the new Newsletter, as a new service to you. From now on you will receive notice of important additions and changes to my website, of polls held or services added, and everything that is interesting and important thereof.

The Newsletter will be issued in the middle and the end of each month, summarizing the past 2 weeks of activity.

The First Phase of the Site Development Is Completed!

Finally, I am happy to report that the update of all existing pages is finished, and even a few of weeks ahead of schedule.

Improved Look

I have done some work on the website logo and further improved the total look all over the existing pages to include a secondary logo banner at the Title of pages, a slightly richer color scheme and more noticeable links within the page content. I also added the little browser icon for a more professional look.

Some good news for those who use the Mozilla Firefox browser, which are about 20%. I have solved all the programming issues causing some of the elements look wrong or not appear at all. If you see any that I missed, however, please let me know in detail what you found and I will fix it. Same goes to all the other visitors, including those using browsers other than MS Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.

Improved Structure

The structural change has been implemented on all the website, and I ask all to please remember to REFRESH the pages, to get rid of the cached ones. Otherwise you will get a CONFUSED double-structured website.

In other words, for those who may not know what I mean: your computer stores the old version of the page you have looked at, and the next time it loads that old version. If a page has changed, it will not know it. By asking it to REFRESH the page you make the new page load. This must only be done once. Alternately, you may DELETE all the cached (stored) pages from your computer (for instructions see your web browser), forcing it to load the page from the Internet.

To further improve site structure I have divided the pages into categories: General; Groups and Movements; Stand-Alone Artists; and Avant-garde Community. The last category is still fully in the planned stage, to be developed further on. I hope these changes will facilitate the browsing for all, especially for those who have not found the initial structure totally clear.

I have re-introduced e-mail support from the Guestbook & Contact page. However, I have placed an additional visual confirmation on the form, to protect me from vicious abuse by unprincipled SPAMmers. In addition, the service I chose for the confirmation uses this process as a further service to humanity and literacy: by typing the 2 words you see you will actually be helping in computerizing world literature, which is a worthy cause.

What Next?

Now that I have finished updating, I shall devote some time to 2 tasks simultaneously:

(1) I must make a detailed catalogue of my mother's library, which I have brought home and not yet touched at all.

This task is absolutely vital to allow continuing development of this site. My mother left some notes regarding artists, but I must know where to find the artists' works, and there is a substantial amount of books containing that information, several thousand of them. My mother has acquired them over the course of a lifetime, handpicked them, knew what each contained very well, but (quite naturally) did not think to document it anywhere.

The bibliography section will subsequently undergo a great change, reflecting the relevant context of books stated, not only their publishing details. This will make the bibliography a useful tool for the whole Avant-garde Community, as it will become clear which book is connected to which artist.

(2) I will update and expand my mother's pages,where her works are presented, and which I have hitherto not touched wanting to keep my visitors' inconvenience down to minimum required.

As this site was her dream and the project of her life, it is only fitting that the visitors get to know her as the talented artist and the extraordinary person she was. Some of the information already exists, began during the "dormant" period of this website. I would need to further process and present it. As it is now, there are 3 pages "under re-construction", and this will not do.

So, as you see, I have my work cut out for me, and that makes me very happy. I just love it when a plan comes together...

A Birthday Celebration

Not many of you know this, but today is a special date. My mother, Tatiana Kofyan, would have been 68 years old had she lived to see this day.

Whether or not she does bear witness to my progress I cannot know, although I'd rather think she does. I do know, however, she would have been proud and happy to see her dream unfold on these pages. When I work on them it is another strong connection I have to her life, to her world.

I am very thankful to be able to celebrate this "birthday" of the Russian Avant-Garde Gallery on her birthday and share it with you.

Vera Kofyan