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Catherine Mannick – (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Correspondence 1979 – 1990

Letter B (January 1980) – To Be at Peace with Yourself

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Letter B to Catherine Mannick, 18 January 1980, inside. Left: page 3. Right: Page 1. Height: 18 cm. Width: 2x12 cm Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University  Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0005	(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Letter B to Catherine Mannick, 18 January 1980, outside. Left: page 2. Right: top page with monotype Быть в покое с собой / To be at Peace with Yourself. Second title: Игра в кольцо / The Ring Game Monotype on paper, approx. 9x9 cm on 18 x 12 cm, 1980 E-E archival number: E-E-180114 Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0005

In Letter B, dated 18 January 1980, (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov addresses his friend in English, “Dear Catherine”. Accordingly, he also signs with the English version of his name, Eugene, instead of his usual signature, the more familiar Женя, Zhenya, a short form for Евгений, Yevgueni or Evgenij, as he himself transliterates his name.

Following some humorous introductory sentences, the artist informs her that he is now able to dedicate more time to art:

I quit my job, and now have free time, which I spend only on art. I am drawing with a new technique – and a lot. When I’m doing my best, it turns out well. (p. 2)

In fact, just before the end of 1979, Kozlov had quit his job at the Peterhof Palace Museum, where he had been working for five months as a graphic designer more>> – he would take up his next job only four months later – and in 1980, he started experimenting with a monotype technique allowing him to produce small black and white works on paper, mostly depicting surrealistic scenes with acrobats, musicians, dancing couples, animals, angels, and more.  

Inspite of its simplicity, Kozlov’s monotype technique produces intriguing postive-negative effects. Inking a glass plate and placing two pieces of paper on it, Kozlov first created a pencil drawing on a transparent paper he used as top layer (see E-E-180004). Accordingly, the lower piece of paper, pressed to the glass plate, absorbed the pencil strokes mirror-reversed (see E-E-180005). Because of the paint – most probably some oil-based paint – the print displays these strokes with a soft velvet texture. Once it was removed from the inking, the paint still remaining on the glass plate could be transferred to another sheet of paper, thus creating a second, negative print of the drawing (see E-E-180006)..

Because of their narrative content and style, these works may be considered illustrations in the larger sense of the word. Although only two of them refer to specific texts – one to Alexander Blok‘s poem “Пляски смерти” (“Danse Macabre”) and another one to Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “Мастер и Маргарита” (The Master and Margarita) – they all appear to be related to some fantastic tales, thus sharing some features with symbolism.

Several compositions include city landscapes or landmarks, such as Saint Isaac's Cathedral, the impressive neoclassical building located in the heart of Saint Petersburg.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Быть в покое с собой / To be at Peace with Yourself. Second title: Игра в кольцо / The Ring Game Monotype on paper, approx. 9x9 cm (with frame), 1980. Singed Bek-80 E-E archival number: E-E-180114 Illustration for top page of Kozlov‘s letter to Catherine Mannick dated 18 January 1980 (Letter B). Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University  Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0005

It can be seen in a monotype of approximately 9 x 9 cm which Kozlov used for the front page for his letter. From the slightly inclined building, a large curved structure emerges towards the foreground, with a snake’s head holding a ring at its other end. The ring, for its part, reflects the striped spiral ornament of the curved structure. The head of a woman, resting on this structure – the snake’s “tail” – is looking up towards the ring.

The artist comments on his drawing by relating it to a sentence from Catherine Mannick’s previous letter, Letter 5, where she writes “I hope that things are going well for you, that you are enjoying life, and that you are at peace with yourself…”.

To which Kozlov answers, on page 4 of his letter “I liked your words about peace and I made a little drawing for you. I think it's about what you call ‘being at peace with yourself’. There is also a second title: ‘The Ring Game’. If you want, I'll teach you that."

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov An untitled pencil drawing for a monotype in Kozlov's archive displays the same "ring-game" motif. 27.6 x 42.8, 1980, dated and signed "B" mirror-inverted. E-E archival number: E-E-180028

While the second title is directly related to the monotype‘s subject matter – and is perhaps also an allusion to Hermann Hesse’s novel “The Glass Bead Game”, which had been published in the USSR – the first title stands in obvious contrast to the artist’s state of mind at the time he created the composition. It was anything but peaceful. On page 3, Kozlov mentions his depression and talks of problems with his eyesight.

But depression still overtakes me, rarely and for a short time, but strongly. It jumps out of the darkness like a wild animal, grabs and strangles, that's when I suffer and struggle with myself.

Of course, I would like to avoid this, but it seems impossible for me, too much effort is spent on my favourite activity. The eyes hurt, the right one is constantly red, watery, and the swelling slightly interferes and bothers. The doctor said it was from overexertion. But what can I do, I cannot and do not want to reduce my pace because of this. Sometime later in my old age, I will rest.

Both subjects, the depression, “rarely and for a short time, but strongly”, as well as the problem with his eyesight are recurrent topics in Kozlov’s early diaries (1979-1983) more>>. Since his childhood, the artist suffered from amblyopia, with poor vision affecting his left eye. Constant drawing might have enhanced the strain on his right, “working” eye. However, while it is plausible that his eyes suffered from too much drawing, it is nevertheless strange that “too much drawing” caused his depression, since he usually felt depressed when he was unable to dedicate sufficient time to art. Being one of the many “unofficial” Soviet artists who weren’t allowed to devote themselves fully to art, Kozlov experienced depression, as a rule, when he was working at one of the odd jobs he had to take on.[1] By contrast, he was now enjoying unlimited time for art. Most likely, the depression mentioned in his letter was caused by the general situation he found himself in, without any prospects for the future.

Thus, in two consecutive diary entries written just a few weeks after the letter, we read:

A heavily dispiriting day. Two days with no work have left me in a state of unease. For the second time in the past month, I have severe eyestrain in my right eye, swollen eyelids, and redness in my eyes. (Diary I, page 1-14, 8 February 1980)

Severely lacking confidence in myself, my actions, my decisions, and my thoughts. A complete lack of any certainty about the future. Irritable: responding “sharply” when spoken to. Sometimes restless. Anxiety about the future has completely stifled my ability to think about work. I don’t have so much as a single clear theme for a painting. A vacuum and emptiness; lethargy. (Diary I, page 1-14, 17 February 1980 more>>)

Yet it is strange to read in Kozlov’s diary that he didn’t have “so much as a single clear theme for a painting”, when, in fact, Diary I contains countless ideas for paintings and drawings, either as short descriptions or simply listed as titles. Apparently, a state of depression, as severe as it might have been at a particular moment, never completely dominated the artist’s creative mind. Engaging in drawing or painting usually let him find some peace of mind, as the next diary entry, following only two days later, suggests:

Daytime. Feeling good. During the night, I worked on “The Pyramid”; the first part has worked out well. I am certain that my peace of mind is dependent on how satisfied I am with my creative activity. (Diary I, page 1-15, 19 February 1980 more>>)

The last paragraph of the Letter B, which ends with a positive note, shows that the stream of ideas indeed never ceased:

While I was writing the letter, I came up with a new idea for a drawing and had to distract myself for an hour. “An elderly man is rocking a child's wooden horse in the air. The woman stretches out her hand to St. Isaac's Cathedral. And from behind the figure of a woman, a large horse's head stretches to the child's horse.” (p. 4)

With the help of the drawing, Kozlov created a beautifully coloured monotype copy in a 19.5 x 22.5 cm format which he sent his friend. On the reverse is a fragment of a line displaying its title and the dedication “Закат солнца на Исаак [Sunset over Isaac]...is for you”. Thus, its presumed title is “Sunset over Isaac's Cathedral”.

Like in “The Ring Game” from the top page of his letter, St. Isaac’s Cathedral is set in the background against an inclined horizon. All other elements also follow diagonal or curved lines, and their multiple intersections make this composition very dynamic.

Because of its size, it is, however, unlikely that Kozlov sent it in the same letter. In her answer to his letter from April 1980 (Letter 6), Catherine Mannick actually refers to a single drawing, writing: “I was very happy to receive a letter and drawing from you.“ She later framed the black and white monotype and hung it on the wall of her apartment.

Hannelore Fobo, 8 March 2023