Eisenstein on Paper: Graphic Works by the Master of Film

Naum Kleiman 

Hardcover | 25.91 x 3.56 x 30.73 cm | 320 pp

Thames & Hudson | 2017 | 9780500093931

This landmark publication presents, for the first time ever, 500 of the very best and previously unpublished graphic works by cinema’s master of film. Created in collaboration with RGALI – the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts – this book traces Eisenstein’s extraordinary life and career through the distinctive yet evolving styles of his drawings, from early childhood sketches to set and costume designs, and from surreal pshychoanalytic drawings to late abstract works.

Foremost Eisenstein scholar Naum Kleiman brings fresh and incredible insights into the motivation and purpose of the drawings, and reflects upon excerpts from Eisenstein’s own discursive texts, some published here for the first time. Comparative frames from Eisenstein’s movies – scanned from the original film – together with a biographical introduction and a foreword by Martin Scorsese completes the revelatory and arresting picture.

Table of Contents
Introduction to Eisenstein’s Graphic Works: The Rules of the Game • 1. The King of the Universe (1912–17) • 2. The Heartbreak House (1917–23) • 3. On the Walls of the World (1924–31) • 4. The Ideas for Music (1931–47) • 5. Ivan’s Repentance (1935–46) • Postscript