Georgy Kursanov (1914–1977) was a Soviet philosopher, a doctor of philosophical sciences, a professor at the Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the author of a number of books (Space and Time. The Form of Existence of Matter (1940), The Infinity and Eternity of the Universe (1961), Leninism and the Crisis of Bourgeois Philosophical Thought (1971), and others).

He also made drawings. The main part of the philosopher’s archive, which was acquired by Garage in 2023, is made up of sketches and images of academic subjects (vanitas, antique statues, drapes) and busts of Vladimir Lenin.

The documents in Georgy Kursanov’s archive include letters to the Minister of Education of the USSR with an application to lecture at the Sorbonne (Paris), newspaper cuttings where he is mentioned, hand‑written notations of chess matches, and reproductions of paintings by various artists.

The materials in the archive were discovered by artist Hanna Zubkova in 2015. They were found in an apartment in Moscow that had previously belonged to Georgy Kursanov’s family. This discovery prompted the artistic research project False Sun, as part of which Zubkova initiated the donation of the archive to Garage Archive Collection.

Photo credit: Zarina Kodzaeva.

Георгий Курсанов. Натюрморт с черепом