Short biography

My name is Vera Kofyan, nee Pritzker, and I am the eldest daughter of the artist Tatiana Kofyan, the creator of this website and Evgeni Davidovich Pritzker, a screenwriter, still living in St.Petersburg.

I was born in Leningrad in 1967, and lived there until the age of 11, at which time my family moved  to Israel. In the course of our repatriation I was given my mother's maiden name, as she had already been divorced from my father for several years. We came to Israel together with my second father, anesthesiologist, Dr.Michael Rosenzweig, (I never called him "step" father, as he never acted like one; in fact, it was he who  raised and supported me most of my life).

In Israel I have finished school, then Army service in the Air forces, and then, quite naturally, received a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, Haifa. I began my studies for a Master's degree, but left, realizing that designing and building missiles was not my preferred career choice. Instead I studied Quality Assurance Engineering and, for the next 15 years, worked in different plants and factories as QA Engineer or advisor. While studying, I also began teaching - at first everything from Senior Secretaries to Technical English, and then QA Engineering, which I have taught continuously since 1996.

The website designing was, as far as I was concerned, my mother's idea, done at first just to help her realize her own dream. I learned to use Frontpage, and that was my contribution to her all-consuming passion with the Russian Avant-garde. I was very happy that she had something to do she truly was excited about, and I went along mostly to humour her, thinking this whole website thing a dubious crazy venture at best and a waste of time at worst.

In 2000 my son Oded was born, and I became a single mother, which complicated matters a bit, as I had little time to spare for my mom's projects. But she was working so hard on this, I just had to help in any way I could. We were a bit astonished at the huge inflow of visitors and the warm enthusiastic response to the site.

Then, in November 2003, Tatiana died of lymphoma, as many of you know. I was not up to the task of continuing to develop this project, but I vowed to not allow it to die, and just kept it up in the air, kept the hosting plan and the domain, and answered the mail which continued to arrive. I hoped the day would come when I would find some way, perhaps a grant, to allow me to develop this site and make my mother's vision come true.

In 2008 I was approached by David, a wonderfully generous person who discovered our nearby location and was interested in sponsoring the continuation of this project, and Dana, an independent art entrepreneur. They have made the dream possible. I handed in my resignation at the plant and embarked on a new (part-time) career as the developer of a website on Russian Avant-garde art.

In addition, I still teach QA Engineering as a freelancer in college, and give seminars at plants and organizations; I am also a marketer in the wellness niche; and I teach at my son's amazing alternative school, also new in the making. We live in Kfar Weradim, in Western Galilee, Israel, a picturesque village, beautiful and quiet, on a mountain, near the town of Ma'alot, about 10 km from the Lebanese border (as the crow flies).

Acknowledgments

Tatiana's acknowledgments:

I would like to thank our very good friend Natalya Neiman for all her help with the translation of the longer texts on the various movements, which she did unselfishly, though it held little interest for her. She also never forgets to look for books on the subject, wherever she chances to be in a bookstore.

My heartfelt thanks to all the friends- old and new - whom I have bored for hours on end with the tales of my progress with this site. Thanks to those who have searched their hidden treasures or junk storages and found various books, albums and postcards with surprising rare works of half-forgotten artists for me to present here.

Among these I would like to especially thank is my very good friend Lev Krichevsky, who is continuously unearthing rare and precious books and bringing them for me to use on this site.

Thanks go to Anna Levinson, a friend timely acquired, when I was just beginning this site, and a fellow site-owner, for her lessons, advice and her assistance in the first stages of building this site.

Special thanks to Olga Mataeva, for her assistance from the very beginning, when even the very idea of Internet for me was vague at best.

And, finally, to my family. Thanks to my husband, Dr. Michael Rosenzweig, for putting up with the interminable hours I spent at the computer (which this particular user doesn't find overly friendly). To my brother, Alexandr Kofyan (in Moscow), for searching for those rare (and heavy) books at a smallest hint from me and sending them to me despite all the difficulties. To my daughter, Vera, for all the work she constantly puts in designing, proofing, publishing and maintaining this site. She had to learn how to be a webmaster on-the-go, a new direction for her. So many nights she has spent on my site, after putting her energetic baby (now toddler) to sleep. And, last, but by no means least, to my son, Jonathan for the great sacrifice he made of his room and computer, which we usurped days and nights for several months (so he had to sleep in another room).

Tatiana Kofyan

Some more acknowledgments from Vera Kofyan:

I would like to add a few acknowledgments that are all mine, and refer to the period after my mother's demise. All these people have been

Thanks to David and to Dana for finding me and not giving up on me, for your support, together and individually, and for making my mother's dream come true.

To Vova, for helping and supporting me in the impossible choices of platforms and hostings, and pushing me beyond my limits to learn Joomla, to understand data-oriented concept, and to redesign and reprogram my website on a database platform; and for allowing me to drill you relentlessly in order to understand how to expand the website to include visitors who are not already Russian Avant-garde enthusiasts or specialists.

To Pushkar, for your integrity and making this whole reprogramming even though the project you have taken on was a whole lot smaller; for your ability to really listen, understand and do what the customer wants, and not what you feel is more comfortable; for your confidence in my word, doing most of it on credit; for restoring my faith in programmers. I could not have done it without you. And I will make it up to you, as promised.

Thanks to my brother Jonathan, for the occasional ideas for improvement.

Thanks to all the friends of my mother, who have offered to help with this site. I will certainly need your help at some point.

To Josephina, who has been answering mail from our visitors with their questions for a while.

To Leonid Yuniverg and to Itella Mastelbaum, who held an evening in my mother's memory in the Russian Library in Jerusalem, and advertised our site to their club members.

To Victor Licht for his very kind article in the Israeli newspaper "Vesti", where he reviewed our website (very favorably, too) to all Russian readers.

And most of all - to you, the visitors, for your support and enthusiasm, your questions and your interest. For your contribution. And above all - for the continuous visits to our site. It would have meant a great deal to my mother. This is the work of her life, the realization of her dream, and your vote of confidence is reassuring me in my decision to maintain and continue her work.

Vera Kofyan

Terms & Conditions

Company Charges

Please notice, that the website Russian Avant-garde Gallery is the property of Vera Kofyan's company Maof Dvora. This will also be the name on your Invoice, shall you place an order on this website.

Refunds and Cancellations

A Gold member who wishes to terminate his membership before end of term and would request a refund will be paid the relative amount for the remaining period, according to his/her membership package.

However, as the Gold Membership fee is truly of symbolic amount, and is intended in order to allow better and faster development of this website, Russian Avant-garde Gallery would urge the member to consider that remaining amount for unused period a donation for the site and not reclaim it. I leave it to the member's sole discretion.

Completeness and accuracy of information

This site is continually under development and I am not an art expert. Therefore, I can make no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, which may change without my knowing or contain an error.

I can however assure you that I shall endeavor to check the information I place on this site with reliable sources.

I also will be glad to receive any corrections from my visitors in the event of them finding a mistake or outdated information on these pages.

As to information on third party pages - the Russian Avant-garde Gallery bears no responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of information presented there, and will not be held answerable for any claims on such information. Any claims and complaints must be taken up with the third party in question.

Copyright policy

All texts, layouts, design and original material on this site are the property of Vera Kofyan. If you wish to reprint, copy, reference or use this material in any other way, please contact me stating your wishes and objectives, in order to obtain written permission.

Copyright for all the works of Russian Avant-garde artists presented herein are the property of the artists' heirs and/or museums/parties holding the works, had they obtained these rights. The images here are presented for informative use only, and Russian Avant-garde Gallery does not sell them nor the rights to them. For all questions regarding those rights please contact their owners.

Avant-garde community services

This site is also intended as a tool for professional use for all the people who live and breathe Russian Avant-garde from day to day: collectors, galleries, art critics and scholars, art students, authenticators etc.

For them and for all who are interested a Newsletter has been established, published at the end of each month. All site developments, additions, changes and plans of the latest period are included in each edition, and an archive is available.

A Gallery Forum is operational on the website.

In addition, other community activities may be added at a later time.

Russian Avant-garde Gallery is not responsible for the content posted in its Forum and/or other services by visitors, although every effort is made to screen the posts and prevent abusers from posting offensive and/or commercial content.

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This agreement may be modified at any time and without notice, and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting on the site or via email, for subscribers.

Please review the agreement periodically to be aware of such modifications and your continued access or use of the site and/or the services shall be deemed your conclusive acceptance of the modified agreement.

Vera Kofyan

Mission Statement & Privacy Policy

General

The Russian Avant-garde website is the property of Vera Kofyan and the company Maof Dvora, which operates from Israel.

Please read this agreement carefully. By accessing or using the site and/or services provided, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth below. I have made every effort to only include essential points.

Mission Statement

This site was created by Tatiana and Vera Kofyan as an informative site, intending to bring to the public at large the beauty and intensity of the hitherto little-known Russian Avant-garde phenomenon. Tatiana's vision was to acquaint the world with this unique art in all its complexity, innovation and limitless courage in the face of persecution. A talented artist herself, the Russian Avant-garde was her passion, and she felt keenly the need to tell the world the truth about it. You may learn more about this extraordinary woman at her page About the Site Creator, in her own words and mine.

Upon my mother's death, for a period of almost 5 years the site was kept at the still very raw and initial stage at which she ceased developing it, in November 2003, when she succumbed to lymphoma relapse. Then I, Vera Kofyan, her eldest daughter, was fortunate enough to be able to actively continue her dream and life project, through my company Maof Devora. Through my own learning and understanding of the Russian Avant-garde phenomenon, I have come to understand the need to bring to the public the human story of these painters, to return to them the voices stolen from them or strangled and cut off so brutally by ignorant and limited power-wielders. I am committed to sound these voices again, in a language accessible and understandable to all, not only to the select few who happen to specialize in art. I feel this is a most important and fascinating lesson in our history from a historical, art-history, political, social etc. points of view. 

In keeping with my mother's wishes and the express wishes of the visitors collected via a poll, this site remains informative in nature. No commercial banners will crowd the pages, and no advertisement for anything unconnected directly to the Russian Avant-garde will be placed on the website. Where advertising will be acceptable is only on pages expressly intended for promotion of related services or events of direct benefit to the visitors, namely information on Russian Avant-garde in form of books and films, as well as exhibitions and shows on the art and its artists.

The access to most of the information on these pages is given freely to all who is interested in art in general and in Russian Avant-garde in particular, upon completing registration for the service. Registration is free and easy, and below you will find our strict privacy policy.

Access to the most detailed and interesting information requires upgrading to the Gold Membership, which is in fact a contribution of symbolic proportion, intended in order to allow better and faster development of the Russian Avant-garde Gallery.

Privacy policy

Russian Avant-garde Gallery respects your privacy in its use of your personally identifiable information collected when you subscribe to our service or participate in an online activity such as a contest or a survey.

Russian Avant-garde Gallery is committed to protect your privacy and will not knowingly disclose nor sell your personally identifiable information to any third party.

Russian Avant-garde Gallery has zero SPAM tolerance and never sends unsolicited mail. Russian Avant-garde Gallery sends out a regular monthly Newsletter, and an occasional announcement on special occasions, when events occur which concern our subscribers. We value your time as well as your privacy and do not intend to abuse your trust. If you do not wish to receive further correspondence you may always unsubscribe by means of link provided.

Russian Avant-garde Gallery uses certain widely accepted technologies, such as "cookies," to personalize and improve your online experience or to track your access to, and use of the services on this site, as well as your responses to online surveys, or monitor site activity. You always have the option of setting your browser to warn you when a cookie is being accessed on your computer, to delete cookies that are currently on your computer or to decline cookies altogether. However, to take full advantage of subscription services and features, your browser must accept cookies. The settings on your computer that allow you to accept or refuse cookies vary depending on the Web browser you are running. Please check the help tab of your browser for specifics on your software.

Russian Avant-garde Gallery does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children. If you are the parent or guardian of a child whose personally identifiable information you believe was disclosed to me, please contact me that I may delete such information from the system.

Accounts, passwords and security

To receive access to most of the information and/or participate in the Forum you are required to subscribe to Russian Avant-garde Gallery mailing list and Forum, by completing the registration as prompted by the registration form. I trust that subscribers provide only information which is true, accurate, current and complete. Subscribers who do otherwise will be taken off the mailing list and denied access.

Only one account is allowed per e-mail address. SPAM is not allowed in any form, and users who would SPAM the forum will be banned without warning.

Subscribers may terminate their subscription at any moment by following the provided "unsubscribe" link. It would be helpful to know the reason for subscription termination, in order to improve the service given.

The hosting company undertakes reasonable security measures to protect the data that resides on our servers. However, no security system is impenetrable, therefore Russian Avant-garde Gallery cannot warrant or guaranty the security of its host's servers, nor can it guaranty that information supplied by subscribers or other users will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet.

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This agreement may be modified at any time and without notice, and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting on the site or via email, for subscribers.

Please review the agreement periodically to be aware of such modifications and your continued access or use of the site and/or the services shall be deemed your conclusive acceptance of the modified agreement.

Vera Kofyan