For the groundbreaking film director Sergei Eisenstein (Riga, 1898 – Moscow, 1948), drawing was fundamental to his cinematic and theoretical practice—if one could even distinguish between them. From a young age, drawing was a recurring activity for Eisenstein. As a curious child, he was fascinated by the graphic work of artists such as Honoré Daumier and Jacques Callot. As his teenage friends would recall, Eisenstein had a true passion for drawing and spent countless hours humorously exercising his imagination. Some of his drawings were published by newspapers in St. Petersburg, and he created caricatures, sketches, and set designs for theater productions. However, he drew most prolifically during his stay in Mexico (1931-1932) for a film project he ultimately had to abandon. The so-called ‘sex drawings’—coined by historian Joan Neuberger—that were long kept hidden, are abundant during this period as a result of an emancipation from censorship during an enormously inspiring moment in his career. We see a range of sexual interactions, fantasies, and obscenities in explicitly queer combinations. They testify to Eisenstein’s philosophical inquiries, queer sexual expression and repression, and a great sense of humor. Back in the Soviet Union in 1932, he would continue to draw until his death in 1948, but under very different circumstances.
The drawings in this exhibition testify to the complex, multifaceted, and fascinating artistry of Sergei Eisenstein. This exhibition presents a remarkable and significant artistic production and simultaneously seeks to emphasize the queer potentials of his work, addressing queerness as an integral part of his life and work, and claiming him as a queer pioneer in art history.
