"World of Art. To the 115th anniversary of the unification”. Painting, Kazan, Sandetsky Manor

Lobasheva Irina Faekovna - Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor of the branch of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov in Kazan

“Our circle had no direction,
… instead of direction, we had taste”
A. N. Benois

"WORLD OF ART" (1898 - 1924) - an association of Russian artists, created in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century, which declared itself a literary and art magazine of the same name (1899 -1904) and exhibitions (the last one took place in Paris in 1927). The Society of Artists "World of Art" arose and existed in St. Petersburg from 1898 to 1904, and was revived again in 1910.

Its founders are the artist, theorist and art historian, museum specialist A.N. In addition to the main core, which included L. S. Bakst, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lansere, A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, K. A. Somov, the World of Art included many St. Petersburg and Moscow painters and graphic artists (I. Ya. Bilibin, K. F. Bogaevsky, Ap. M. and V. M. Vasnetsovs, A. Ya. Golovin, I. E. Grabar, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev, N. K. Roerich, V. A. Serov and others). M. A. Vrubel, I. I. Levitan, M. V. Nesterov, as well as some foreign artists participated in the exhibitions of the society.

B. Kustodiev. "World of Art"

Sketch of an unrealized painting. Depicted (from left to right): I.E. Grabar, N.K. Roerich, E.E. Lansere, I.Ya. Bilibin, A.N. Benois, G.I. Narbut, N.D. Milioti, K.A. Somov, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, B.M. Kustodiev.
Year of creation -1916, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

In "World of Art" different years included many artists of various beliefs and views, different creative methods and styles (by 1917, the composition of the society consisted of the maximum number of artists - more than 50 full members). All of them were united by the protest against the official academic art, which leveled the creative individuality, and the rejection of naturalism in art in the person of the late "Wanderers". In the history of Russian art, such a phenomenon as the "World of Art" became a turn towards the ideals of freedom of creativity, towards the establishment of aesthetic criteria and priorities for the artistic individuality of the creator's personality. Bearers of a high intellectual culture, the artists of the "World of Art" in their work turned both to the past (idealizing it and ironically over it), and to a wide range of areas of contemporary art (interior, theater, printmaking, books, etc.).

One of the main achievements of the association was the famous St. Petersburg graphic school of that time, which arose as a result of the creation of a special aesthetic environment by the World of Art, where the highest admiration for graphics as an art form was cultivated. This priority of graphics in many respects influenced the development of painting by typical representatives of this association, it acquired graphic features, became emphatically linear.

"WORLD OF ART"... Reflections on the famous largest association that arose in St. Petersburg at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, like a fancy stained-glass window, give rise to a voluminous, multidimensional and at the same time extremely aristocratic, ephemeral image of an amazing, deeply symbolic artistic world, which was created by the masters of this union.

Alexandre Benois - "King's Walk" 1906

It is intricately, ornamentally in the spirit of Art Nouveau, various creative ideas of a large group of artists are intertwined. Their embodiment surprises with its diversity: the magazines "World of Art", filled with refined aesthetics of modernity, which have become the most valuable rarity among specialists and collectors, paintings, where stylization and retrospective go hand in hand, theatrical scenery of the famous Russian seasons with innovative plastic and color solutions, original ballet and opera costumes.

The turning point of the era at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries, the time of major socio-political upheavals, was reflected in all spheres of Russian life, including the Russian culture of that time, which revealed itself in all its diversity and individuality. During these years, Russian artists are especially active in traveling abroad, getting acquainted with the latest trends in Western art, carefully studying everything new that is declared in such styles as German Art Nouveau, French Impressionism, Post-Impressionism. In the work of the most famous masters of that time: Serov, Vrubel, Bakst, it is impossible to single out any one “pure” line of the direction taken once and for all, intertwining intricately and closely, they demonstrate an intense search for a new creative method that meets the aspirations of the times. As the well-known art critic G. Yu. Sternin wrote, “the larger the artist was, the more difficult it was to determine his belonging to one or another style.”

One of the largest societies of this period was the group of artists "World of Art" (1898–1924), who opposed themselves to academism and itinerantism, promoting the aesthetic ideas of the synthesis of arts underlying the Art Nouveau style, and a special kind of retrospectivism based on a careful study of antiquity, in features of the heritage of the "golden" XVIII century. They drew inspiration from the history of Russia in the time of Peter the Great or France of the era of Louis XIV (A. N. Benois, E. E. Lansere, K. A. Somov), or they touched on even earlier Eastern, ancient or domestic pre-Christian cultures (L. S. Bakst, V. A. Serov, N. K. Roerich). At the same time, without touching on large historical topics, the masters focused their attention on the private aspects of the life of imperial persons, episodes of the court life of the 18th century or the life of pagan Russia, giving a peculiar artistic interpretation of these events, their own stylization from the angle of their contemporary vision, endowing the created images with a certain symbolic theatrical solution, play of associations.

On the example of the pictorial collection of domestic art of the Pushkin Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, demonstrated for the first time within the framework of the 115th anniversary of the "World of Art" so completely and deployed from the angle of the evolution of this society, all the complexity and versatility of its development becomes apparent. The peculiarity of the museum collection is that most of the masters and their paintings included in this exhibition are better known in the history of Russian art in connection with other artistic movements and associations. Meanwhile, many of them, not being typical representatives of the World of Art, participated in its activities to varying degrees, and therefore it is very interesting to trace the development of certain stylistic trends in the work of various masters, to discover their explicit and hidden relationships. About 50 works are presented in the pictorial exposition of the exhibition, which reveals the diversity and relationships of the leading trends of that time in the history of this association. Many of them are either shown for the first time, or have not participated in museum exhibitions for a long time, so for museum visitors, acquaintance with them will be a kind of discovery of new creative facets of a particular painter.

The main group of artists of the "World of Art" formed around the magazine of the same name in 1898-1903, when, in parallel with the release of this publication, which covered various aspects of art, literature, philosophy of that time and was distinguished by exquisite graphic design, S. P. Diaghilev and A. N. Benois organized large art exhibitions. The collection of the Pushkin Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan includes the leaders of the association - the ideologist and theorist of the group A. N. Benois, its members K. A. Somov, A. Ya. Their works, regardless of genre, are marked by a penchant for theatricalization, filled with the aesthetics of the Art Nouveau style, which arose on the platform of European neo-romanticism and, as mentioned above, gave rise to various types of stylization in Russian painting.

A. Ya. Golovin "The Woman in White" (the second name is "Marquise")

Made in the technique of pastels “Oranienbaum” (1901) by A. N. Benois, “Woman in White” (the second name is “Marquise”) by A. Ya. harmony the world of past centuries, the world of the XVIII century. Of course, such an appeal to the past demonstrated a kind of denial, rejection of the real surrounding world and became the main motive for the works of the association of that time. In many ways, the creation of such abstract, symbolic, refined images was facilitated by the technique of performance. Pastel, which was very fond of the world of art, its special borderline between painting and graphics gave the desired effect, when a painting acquired both a clear graphic quality and a fluid, fluid softness of presentation characteristic of modernity. Close to this style are the oil paintings “Bosquet” (1901) by K. A. Somov, used by the artist when working on his famous painting “The Mocked Kiss” (1908), stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery, as well as the landscape of P. I. Lvov “Gray Day” .

P. I. Lvov “Landscape. Gray day"

The search for harmony, an ideal world was at the heart of the creations of V. E. Borisov-Musatov. And although in most of the artist's works, behind all the understatement, the language of allegories and comparisons, the same time of the 18th - early 19th centuries is read, he himself did not tie his works to a specific time, he said that "this is just a beautiful era." Almost always the artist's beautiful world is a fading, "sunset", disappearing world. We find a direct embodiment of this in V. E. Borisov-Musatov’s painting “Harmony” (1897), a sketch version of the painting of the same name from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. The artist was not formally a member of the association - the World of Arts themselves at first "did not see" him, later recognizing the originality of the master's creative aesthetics. However, he was always close to their aspirations.

V. E. Borisov-Musatov "Harmony" (1897)

F. E. Rushchits "Stream"

Landscape "Oranienbaum" (1901) by A. N. Benois, very typical for the master's work, which, despite the easel solution, may well be considered as a sketch of a theatrical scenery, participated in the exhibition "World of Art" in 1902. At the same exhibition, the landscape "Stream" by the Baltic and Polish artist F. E. Ruschits, who gravitated towards modernist trends, was a member of the society of Polish artists of modernist orientation "Shtuka" ("Art") was presented. This finds expression in the landscape under consideration, written, of course, in a realistic vein, but presented with the deepest nostalgic emotional sound, so characteristic of the World of Art, giving rise to a sad melody of the irrevocably leaving past. A similar combination of realistic traditions and modern techniques can be found in the large pictorial vertical portrait of A. E. Wiesel-Strauss (early 1900s) by the artist E. O. Wiesel.

One of the main figures of the artistic life of Russia at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries was the personality of V. A. Serov, an unsurpassed master of Russian portraiture, who actively participated in the activities of the "World of Art" at the stage of the formation of society. AT early period of his work, a work was written on a theme from ancient mythology “Iphigenia in Taurida”, created in the early 1890s, long before the artist’s famous trip to Greece with his friend L. S. Bakst. It, like the examples just considered, can fully illustrate the problem of the “style situation” raised above, since it also combines various style phenomena.

V.A. Serov "Iphigenia in Tauris" 1893

It is known that many masters of the "Union of Russian Artists" (1903-1923), one of the largest, along with the "World of Art", art associations at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, which arose with the lively participation of the latter, were also included in the circle of the World of Art. Naturally, they did not escape the influence of the creative principles of their older counterpart in St. Petersburg, especially at the beginning of the Union's activities, when the artists of both groups were exhibited at general exhibitions of this newly formed association. The process of such mutual influence can be clearly traced in the analysis of the paintings of such major representatives of the "Union" as K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev, S. Yu. Zhukovsky, I. I. Brodsky, S. V. Malyutin, I. E. Grabar, who were in the "World of Art" or participated in its exhibitions. In turn, the leaders of the World of Art, despite all the disagreements with the artists of the Union, absorbed the new artistic ideas they brought.

"K.A. Korovin "Roses" (1916)

K. A. Korovin, a wonderful colorist, a brilliant master of easel and theatrical and decorative painting, is presented in the exposition with a still life “Roses” (1916), painted temperamentally and juicy, with a wide pasty brushstroke. One of the main members of the "Union of Russian Artists", he was the central figure of Russian impressionism. It is impossible not to note the emphasized theatricality in the staging of the museum still life, close to the style of still life paintings by A. Ya. miriskusniki.

Another significant artist of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, Osip Braz, also a member of the World of Art and the Union of Russian Artists, is represented by the magnificent canvas Lady in Yellow. The use of an unusual angle and the splendor of color gradation yellow color especially attractive in the portrait. The feeling of pouring warmth, soft sunlight around the figure and in a mirror reflection, enhanced by the contrast of color combinations, betray the artist’s clear predilection for warm colors and tones.

Another original female portrait at the exhibition is a peculiar example of the early painting of B. M. Kustodiev, who joined the World of Art association at the second stage of its existence. Portrait of a lady in blue. P. M. Sudkovskaya” (1906) is unusual in the artist’s creative practice: in this work, the master created, first of all, an excellent “portrait of a dress”, setting the main goal of plasticity and coloring of the picturesque solution of the outfit. This large full-length portrait was undoubtedly painted by Kustodiev under the impression of the famous work of K. A. Somov “Lady in Blue” - a portrait of a contemporary of the master artist E. M. Martynova, in which Somov managed to especially subtly express nostalgic admiration for the past, this image acquired truly symbolic.

B.M. Kustodiev "Lilac" (1906)

There are several more paintings by Kustodiev in the collection of the Pushkin Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, and all of them are stylistically different. The theme of the theater was one of the leading ones in the work of the World of Arts. The small canvas “In the Theater” (1907 (?)) by Kustodiev attracts with its unusual angle - a look from the depths of the box of the theater behind the audience standing in strict tailcoats and top hats. The master uses an original way of backlighting, which, on the one hand, gives the silhouette of the building, the line of the light contour, and on the other hand, fills the canvas with special emotions, familiar to many theater lovers, the excitement of a viewer late for a performance, in a hurry to join the everlasting bright theatrical celebration. A sketch for the painting of the same name "Lilac" (1906) - another quite often demanded plot (remember the famous "Lilac" by Vrubel) - also demonstrates stylistic interpenetration in the synthesis of semantic elegiac sounding with free pictorial presentation.

Zalevsky (?) "Portrait of an unknown"

A series of magnificent female images at the exhibition surprises with its magnificence and diversity. Softness, warmth, a special intimate feeling are shrouded in a portrait of his daughter, painted in pastel by S. V. Malyutin. The finest stylistic combinations, the aesthetic taste of the artist are well read in it. Another female portrait by the Polish artist Zalewski was also made in the pastel technique. The image of a lady of high society was created by the master with a special tactful accent, allowing you to see in it a certain perfect symbol, the female ideal of the era. Silver Age. Ephemerality, refined intellectuality, noble aristocracy - these are the qualities that together gave a penetrating image full of deep spirituality.

S. V. Malyutin - "Portrait of a daughter" 1912

The common ideological feature of the "Union of Russian Artists" was the assertion of Russian national identity in the landscape, historical picture, graphic art. Working in the open air, from nature, the painters of this direction created emotionally rich works that were based on the techniques of impressionism. Landscape and interior were the predominant genres of the masters of this association, especially Moscow painters, and acted as a creative laboratory where they searched for the most advanced pictorial approaches, scooped up new solutions.

One of the typical representatives of the "Union" was an artist of Polish origin S. Yu. Zhukovsky. The appeal to the era of past centuries, present in the painting "The Interior of the Library of the Landowner's House" (1916 (?)), brings the artist closer to the World of Art, in his work one can generally note the predominance of retrospective themes - types of old estates, terraces, interiors, in which there is invariably light nostalgic note. The same motif is also present in "Winter Landscape" (1901(?)) by S. Yu. Zhukovsky, written in a sketchy manner. The transitional state of the fading winter evening is conveyed with brilliant plasticity, the mass of well-thought-out tonal gradations demonstrates how sensitively and carefully the artist seeks to convey the subtle beauty of such a simple and unpretentious landscape.

S. Yu. Zhukovsky. "The interior of the library of the landowner's house" (1916)

Love for such a "gray" Russian landscape was characteristic of artists of different "beliefs" in art, and each of them embodied it in his own way. Two spring landscapes by the artist S. F. Kolesnikov, who also participated in the World of Art exhibitions, are imbued with the same special subtle understanding of the state of nature. Such mood landscapes can be called harbingers of symbolism; in them, the authors focused precisely on the internal state of nature. Just as Attentive attitude to the natural state we find in the “Winter Landscape” by A.F. Gausha, which attracts with the absolute softness of the presentation, that special winter state when “everything around is covered with snow”, and is a vivid example of the master’s passion for impressionistic solutions.

I. E. Grabar "Morning tea" (1917)

I. E. Grabar is presented at the exhibition with two paintings from the museum collection “Morning Tea” (1917) and “Sunset” (1907), clearly demonstrating his predilections in painting in the field of impressionism and pointillism, which were directly opposite to the stylistic essence of Art Nouveau. Meanwhile, being artistically alien to this style, Grabar's educational initiatives invariably intersected with those of the World of Art. That is why, along with Roerich, Kustodiev, Bilibin, Dobuzhinsky, he was one of the most active participants in the "World of Art" in the second period, from 1910.

Pointillist artists (or, as they were also called, neo-impressionists), who brought the expressiveness of the pictorial stroke to the point purity of paint, certainly came as close as possible to the symbolic expressiveness of their images. Such are the fabulous winter landscapes of N. V. Meshcherin in the museum collection, of which his “Frosty Night” (1908) is especially consonant with the aesthetics of modernity. This nocturnal winter fantasy, where each stroke is thought out, verified, like pieces of colored mosaic smalt, is created by all shades of blue and blue, resulting in a fragile crystal ringing image of a frosty winter fairy tale.

SYMBOLISM was extremely close to the philosophy of modernity, therefore, considering the works of the World of Art, we invariably analyze the manifestations of symbolic elements in them. In turn, reminiscences of the art of antiquity, the East, the Renaissance, gothic culture, the heritage of the art of Ancient Russia and the art of the 18th century, which had an original embodiment in the activities of the World of Art, appeared in a peculiar way in this new artistic direction beginning of the 20th century.

N. K. Roerich and K. F. Bogaevsky, students of A. I. Kuindzhi, following the principles of their innovative teacher in the field of pictorial effects in the landscape genre, expressed symbolic ideas in their own way in the themes and plots they found, their original interpretation was deep character, contained ancient prototypes in its philosophical basis. These artists had points of contact with the "World of Art" and left a deep imprint on the activities of the association. For example, the role of Roerich in the revival of society at the second stage of its existence is widely known, when he headed the newly formed "World of Art", becoming its chairman, and played a significant organizational role in its further development. In general, at this stage of the society's activity it is difficult to single out any leading stylistic direction, modern has lost the role of a unifying style system, there were few true heirs of this system. The composition of the "World of Art" of the early 1910s included masters of various trends, primarily of a symbolic nature, due to which the society's exhibitions acquired the variegation and heterogeneity characteristic of that time.

N.K. Roerich "Mekheski - the moon people" (1915)

History and mythology different peoples The lands were the main inspiring beginning of N. K. Roerich's creativity. Original in conception and execution, the paintings “The Varangian Sea” (1909) and “Mekheski - the Lunar People” (1915) are dedicated to the life of ancient civilizations. In compositions built on bold contrasting combinations of generalized large spots of color, where images of people are outlined laconically, but expressively, the artist brings his idea of ​​the relationship between the earthly and the cosmic to a powerful three-dimensional symbol. Museum canvases “Desert country. Theodosius (1903) and Mount St. George (1911) by the artist K.F. Bogaevsky, who was a member of the well-known Cimmerian school of painting, are also examples of symbolism. They are devoted to the theme that has become a favorite for the artist throughout his work. They show the native places of the master, painted as images of the old land, where the fantastic ideas of the painter are intertwined with the ancient pre-cultural history of the Crimea, giving rise to original images of the fabulous land of Feodosia.

K.F. Bogaevsky "Desert country. Feodosia" 1903

Examples of works of the symbolist direction are works from the museum collection of members artistic group"Blue Rose" (1907), which included N. P. Krymov, P. V. Kuznetsov, P. S. Utkin, N. N. Sapunov, M. S. Saryan, S. Yu. Sudeikin, N. D. Milioti presented in this exhibition. In the paintings of the artists of this group, conventionality, allegorism, decorativeness, and flatness were harmoniously combined. The desire for stylization, symbolism, sometimes for the primitivization of the image in the spirit of popular print, children's creativity - feature group creativity. The general trend in the development of the artists of the group was the transition from impressionism to post-impressionism. V. I. Denisov adjoined them, the artist V. A. Galvich was very close to their creative aspirations, whose works are also shown at the exhibition.

It is significant that all of them - both World of Arts and Symbolists - were fascinated by the theater: the theater is present in easel works, the theater becomes a place of embodiment of professional ambitions. Many easel compositions of the Goluborozovites in the museum collection can be read as backdrops or sketches of theatrical scenes, images of the performance (works by N. P. Krymov, P. S. Utkin, N. N. Sapunov, S. Yu. Sudeikin, N. D. Milioti ). At the late stage of the existence of the association "World of Art", in 1917 and later, almost all of these masters were part of it or took part in exhibitions along with avant-garde artists.

Initially, V. E. Borisov-Musatov and M. A. Vrubel participated in the activities of the Blue Bears, whose art, both before and after, stood apart from this group, but developed on the same aesthetic platform of symbolism. Their art became the starting point for the Russian Symbolists in creating their own vision of the artistic process, and therefore it can be regarded as a kind of bridge between the traditional aesthetic attitudes of the World of Art modernity and the symbolism that was developed among the Blue Bearers.

M.A. Vrubel "Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles" (1896)

The monumental painting by M. A. Vrubel "The Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles" (1896) is the pride of the museum collection of Russian art. This large four-meter decorative panel is a sketch version of the famous panel of the same name for the Gothic office of the mansion of the merchants Vikula Alekseevich and Alexei Vikulovich Morozov in Vvedensky Lane in Moscow, built in 1878-1879 according to the project of the outstanding architects D.N. Chichagov and F.O. Shekhtel. The artist worked with large isolated spots of color, having a kind of linear edging akin to the stained glass technique. This found manner of writing, a special ornamental principle set the rhythm of the movement of spots and lines on the surface of the canvas, naturally linking Vrubel's images with Art Nouveau and, at the same time, giving them a special conditional and symbolic sound. Thus, Vrubel and the world of art were united by an understanding of the essence of artistic aesthetics, it is no coincidence that the master found himself among the consistent members of society, participating in the first exhibitions of the society.

V.G. Purvit "Old Tower" (until 1920)

In line with symbolism, the evolution of the work of artists of the World of Art, very different in their creative expression, proceeded. This can be clearly seen in the works of the future cubist and suprematist N. I. Altman presented at this exhibition, the representative and organizer of the exhibitions of the World of Art K. V. Kondaurov, the artist of the school of K. S. Petrov-Vodkin M. M. Nakhman. Next to these works, the exposition also demonstrates graphic works by famous World of Arts artists B.I. » (grey cardboard, tempera)).
Meanwhile, The World of Art's long and complex history has been filled with events and turning points. In particular, through the prism of the last decade in the evolution of the World of Art, one can partly consider the artistic names of the museum collection, well known in the formation of other trends in Russian art, often not at all coinciding, and sometimes directly opposite, to the creative dominant of the association. An interesting example of this is the participation in the expositions of the association of some avant-garde artists even before the formation of their innovative creative aspirations. For example, the well-known primitivist, the author of the theory of Rayonism, M.F. Larionov, at the exhibition of the World of Art in 1906, presented the landscape Garden in Spring, clearly demonstrating the artist’s appeal to impressionism at an early stage of his work. Later, in the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary years, these masters, mostly representatives of the "Jack of Diamonds", performed at the exhibitions of the World of Arts with their characteristic avant-garde examples of creativity.

I.I. Mashkov "Flowers in a Vase", late 1900s

Only in one of these works, in the early still life of I. I. Mashkov “Flowers in a Vase” of the late 1900s, we are surprised to note the rare combination of sophisticated arabesque stylizations of modernity with innovative form-building searches.

Most of the works presented at the exhibition were transferred to the Kazan City Museum in the 1920s - 1930s from the State Museum Fund and the capital's art museums (the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum), when sections of domestic pre-revolutionary art and local art were intensively formed in the museum. the edges. One of the largest receipts for all the years of the museum's existence occurred in 1920, when the Kazan City Museum turned twenty-five years old, and in honor of this anniversary date, the State Museum Fund sent to Kazan one hundred and thirty-two paintings by artists of different trends and styles at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries . The museum collection was enriched with works by the World of Art, the Union of Russian Artists, the Blue Rose, and others.

MODERN (fr. moderne, from Latin modernus - new, modern) - style in European and American art late XIX- the beginning of the twentieth century. (other names are Art Nouveau (Art Nouveau in France and England), Jugendstil (Jugendstil in Germany), Liberty (Liberty in Italy)).

A. N. Benois - "Oranienbaum" 1901

The ideological and philosophical ground on which the "new art" of modernity grew was neo-romanticism, which at a new stage revived the romantic ideas of conflict between the individual and society. The original aesthetics of Art Nouveau was based on the idea of ​​a synthesis of the arts, which was based on architecture, uniting all types of art - from painting and theater to clothing models. One of the key principles of modern aesthetics has become the principle of assimilation man-made form natural and vice versa. This was reflected in the architectural form, in the details of buildings, in the ornament, which received extraordinary development in modernity in all types of art and had the most diverse artistic expression. The prototype of forms and ornaments in the Art Nouveau system was both natural forms and features of the styles of the past, which underwent a radical rethinking due to stylization (based on special reference materials).

A. N. Benois - Screensaver of the magazine "World of Art"

COURSE WORK

in the discipline "Culturology"

on the topic: "Association" World of Art ""

Introduction

1. The history of the journal and the role of Diaghilev in its creation

2. Principles of publishing the journal and its concept

3. The role and significance of the journal in the cultural life of Russia

Conclusion

In the cultural life of Russia, the turn of the two centuries of the 19th and 20th centuries was marked by the founding of the journal "World of Art". The first to gain self-confidence in order to break out of the framework of private art to the general public were not critics and poets, but artists, musicians and people in love with opera, theater and ballet. It was they who first founded the association, and then the first Russian modernist magazine. They set themselves the task of "grooming Russian painting, cleaning it up and, most importantly, bringing it to the West, glorifying it in the West."

The purpose of the course work is to study in detail the activities of the modernist magazine "World of Art". To achieve the goal, the following tasks were set: to consider in detail the creation of the association of artists "World of Art" and the magazine "World of Art"; study the concept of the journal and the principles of its publication; to analyze the role and significance of the magazine "World of Art" in the cultural life of Russia.

At the end of the 19th century, artistic life in Russia was very lively. The society showed an increased interest in numerous art exhibitions and auctions, in articles and periodicals devoted to fine arts. Not only Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also many provincial newspapers and magazines had corresponding permanent headings. Various kinds of artistic associations arose, setting themselves various tasks, but mainly of an educational nature, which was influenced by the traditions of the Wanderers. One of these associations was the "World of Art" (1898–1904), which at different times included almost all leading Russian artists: L. Bakst, A. Benois, M. Vrubel, A. Golovin, M. Dobuzhinsky , K. Korovin, E. Lansere, I. Levitan, M. Nesterov, V. Serov, K. Somov and others. All of them, very different, were united by a protest against the official art promoted by the Academy and the naturalism of the Wanderers.

The emergence of the association "World of Art" was preceded by a small home "circle of self-education" in the apartment of A. Benois, where his friends from the private gymnasium of K. May gathered: D. Filosofov, V. Nouvel, and then L. Bakst, S. Diaghilev, E. Lansere, A. Nurok, K. Somov. The slogan of the circle was "art for art's sake" in the sense that artistic creativity in itself carries the highest value and does not need ideological prescriptions from outside. At the same time, this association did not represent any artistic movement, direction, or school. It was made up of bright individuals, each went his own way.

The art of the "World of Art" arose "on the edge of thin feathers of graphic artists and poets." The atmosphere of new romanticism, which penetrated into Russia from Europe, resulted in the vagaries of the vignettes of the then fashionable magazines of the Moscow symbolists "Scales", "Golden Fleece". The design of the patterned fences of St. Petersburg was connected with the aspirations of the artists of the Abramtsevo circle I. Bilibin, M. Vrubel, V. Vasnetsov, S. Malyutin to create a “Russian national style”.

From the point of view of the artistic method, if we talk about the most important thing in the work of "typical" World of Art artists, they are more synthetics than analysts, graphic artists than painters. In the graphics of Miriskusniks, the drawing often follows a pre-composed pattern, and the color spot is outlined in order to emphasize its “synthetic”, decorative character to the maximum. Hence rationality, irony, play, decorativism. Drawing, painting and even sculpture obeyed the decorative-graphic principle. This also explains the attraction to synthesis. various kinds and genres of art: the combination in one composition of a landscape, still life, portrait or "historical study"; the inclusion of painting, sculpture, relief in architecture, the desire to use new materials, the "exit" to book graphics and musical theater. However, the desire for "artistic synthesis", generally characteristic of the modern period, which, it would seem, should have led to the creation of a "grand style", in the most paradoxical way became the reason for the limited creativity of the World of Art. These artists “reduced the concept of the pictorial by interpreting it as a decorative sensation of reality ... here was a contradiction that led to a deep crisis, the rapid disintegration of such a bright and energetic direction ... From the intense activity of a brilliant era, a lot of beautiful works remained ... But completely there were no works of entirely significant ... "

On the biographies of Benois, as one of the organizers and inspirers of the association, and later the magazine "World of Art" we will dwell in more detail.

A painter and easel graphic artist, illustrator and book designer, master of theatrical scenery, director, author of ballet librettos, Benois was at the same time an outstanding historian of Russian and Western European art, a theorist and sharp publicist, an insightful critic, a major museum figure, an incomparable connoisseur of theater, music and choreography. . The main feature of his character should be called an all-consuming love for art; versatility of knowledge served only as an expression of this love. In all his activities, in science, art criticism, in every movement of his thought, Benois always remained an artist. Contemporaries saw in him the living embodiment of the spirit of artistry.

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois- the son of Nikolai Leontievich Benois, academician and architect, and musician Kamilla Albertovna (nee Kavos) - was born on May 3, 1870. By birth and upbringing, Benois belonged to the St. Petersburg artistic intelligentsia. For generations, art was a hereditary profession in his family. Benois' maternal great-grandfather K. A. Cavos was a composer and conductor, his grandfather was an architect who built a lot in St. Petersburg and Moscow; the artist's father was also a major architect, the elder brother was famous as a watercolor painter. The consciousness of the young Benois developed in an atmosphere of artistic impressions and artistic interests.

The artistic tastes and views of the young Benois were formed in opposition to his family, which adhered to conservative "academic" views. The decision to become an artist matured very early in him; but after a short stay at the Academy of Arts, which brought only disappointment, Benois preferred to get a law degree at St. Petersburg University, and go through professional art training on his own, according to his own program.

Daily hard work, constant training in drawing from nature, the exercise of fantasy in working on compositions, combined with an in-depth study of art history, gave the artist a confident skill that is not inferior to the skill of his peers who studied at the Academy. With the same perseverance, Benois prepared for the work of an art historian, studying the Hermitage, studying special literature, traveling through historical cities and museums in Germany, Italy and France.

Self-study in painting (mainly watercolor) was not in vain, and in 1893 Benois first appeared as a landscape painter at the exhibition of the Russian "Society of Watercolors".

A year later, he made his debut as an art historian, publishing on German an essay on Russian art in Muther's book The History of Painting in the 19th Century, published in Munich. (Russian translations of Benois' essay were published in the same year in the magazines Artist and Russian Art Archive.) He was immediately talked about as a talented art critic who turned the established ideas about the development of Russian art upside down.

Immediately declaring himself both a practitioner and a theoretician of art at the same time, Benois maintained this dual unity in subsequent years, his talent and energy were enough for everything.

In 1895–1899 Alexander Benois was the curator of the collection of modern European and Russian paintings and drawings of Princess M. K. Tenisheva; in 1896 he organized a small Russian department for the Secession exhibition in Munich; in the same year he made his first trip to Paris; painted views of Versailles, initiating his series on Versailles themes, so beloved to him throughout his life.

The series of watercolors “The Last Walks of Louis XIV” (1897–1898, the Russian Museum and other collections), created on the basis of impressions from trips to France, was his first serious work in painting, in which he showed himself to be an original artist. This series for a long time approved for him the glory of "the singer of Versailles and Louis".

Motivating the emergence of The World of Art, Benois wrote: “We were guided not so much by considerations of an “ideological” order, as by considerations of practical necessity. A number of young artists had nowhere to go. They were either not accepted at all for large exhibitions - academic, traveling and watercolor, or they were accepted only with the rejection of everything in which the artists themselves saw the most clear expression of their quests ... And that's why Vrubel ended up next to Bakst, and Somov next with Malyavin. The "unrecognized" were joined by those of the "recognized" who felt uncomfortable in the approved groups. Mainly Levitan, Korovin and, to our greatest joy, Serov came up to us. Again, ideologically and in their entire culture, they belonged to a different circle, they were the last offspring of realism, not without a “wandering coloring”. But they were connected with us by their hatred for everything stale, established, dead.”

Throughout his long journey as an artist, critic and art historian, Benois remained true to the high understanding of the classical tradition and aesthetic criteria in art, defended the inherent value of artistic creativity and fine culture based on strong traditions. It is also important that all of Benois' multifaceted activities were, in fact, devoted to one goal: the glorification of Russian art.

A. Benois was the soul of the editorial board of the Mir iskusstva magazine, and S. Diaghilev was its organizer.

S.P. Diaghilev was born on March 19, 1872 in Perm in the Novgorod province into a well-born noble family. His father was a major general in the tsarist army, he was fond of singing. As a child, at the insistence of his adoptive mother (his own mother died in childbirth), Diaghilev learned to play the piano.

In 1890 the Diaghilevs moved to St. Petersburg. Sergei entered St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Law. During his studies, he became friends with A. Benois and L. Bakst. Simultaneously with his studies at the university, he was a volunteer in the singing class of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and took composition lessons.

In 1896 Diaghilev graduated from the university with a law degree.

After the crushing failure of his first production, Diaghilev abandoned his career as a composer, but decided to devote himself to art in a different capacity. In early 1898, he organized an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in St. Petersburg. It was attended by Bakst, Benois, A. Vasnetsov, K. Korovin, Nesterov, Lansere, Levitan, Malyutin, E. Polenova, Ryabushkin, Serov, Somov and others.

In the same 1898, Diaghilev managed to convince famous figures and art lovers S.I. Mamontov and M.K. Tenishev to finance a monthly art magazine. Soon a double issue of the magazine "World of Art" was published in St. Petersburg, and Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev became its editor.

The first issue of the magazine was opened by a large article signed by Diaghilev "Difficult questions". In essence, the article was a speech in defense of the further development of the Russian realistic school. Some of its provisions are relevant to this day, such as the need for an artist to connect with his contemporary generation.

The ability of the "World of Art" to look not only forward, but also backward, beyond the recent past, up to distant antiquity, was the result of not only the class and worldview differences of its participants, but also the differences in their individual tastes and interests. In the inner core of the magazine and the movement "World of Art" there was a split into "conservatives" (i.e. those who were mainly interested in the art of the past) and "radicals". Benois, Lansere, Merezhkovsky, sometimes Serov belonged to the “conservatives”, and Nurok, Nouvel, Bakst, Z. Gippius and the same Serov belonged to the “radicals”. A balancing role was played by Diaghilev and Philosophers (editor of the later created literary department). Very often, disagreements were brought to the pages of the magazine. In general, this highly eclectic publication gave each author complete freedom in expressing his views.

This freedom from the very beginning produced a decisive revolution in both literary and artistic tastes. "The World of Art" not only opened the reader's eyes to the classical beauty of St. Petersburg and the surrounding palaces, to the romantic elegance characteristic of the eras of the reign of Paul and Alexander I, and to the little appreciated beauty of medieval architecture and Russian icon painting before him, but also made one think about modern meaning ancient civilizations and beliefs, and the need to seriously re-evaluate their own literary heritage.

Unlike previous editions, which mainly published only reports on artistic life, the journal began to systematically publish monographic articles about Russian and European masters. Many foreign painters and graphic artists became familiar to the Russian public only after the publication of the World of Art. Moreover, the authors were well-known European writers and artists: J. Huysmans, I. Israels, M. Lieberman, M. Maeterlinck, D. Ruskin, I. Meyer-Grefe, R. Muter, F. Lenbach.

The main success accompanied the magazine in publications about Russian art. Entire periods of art were rediscovered, and not just the names and works of individual masters: the works of artists, sculptors and architects of the 18th - the first half of the 19th centuries, as well as decorative and applied arts, which were considered at that time the "lower" kind of art, unworthy of serious attention. Historical and artistic essays and articles were distinguished by high content and brilliant form, they often used archival and little-known materials. These publications, as it is now recognized, made a significant contribution to Russian art history.

The magazine paid much attention to contemporary Russian art, devoting entire issues to a number of artists - V. Vasnetsov, Repin, Serov, Levitan, Somov, E. Polenova, Malyutin, Nesterov and others. Some artists themselves acted as authors of articles and essays - Bilibin, Yaremich, Nesterov.

"World of Art" also showed interest in music and theatrical affairs, especially the artistic design of performances.

Among the magazine production of that time, the World of Art stood out for its appearance. It was a large format edition on excellent paper. The texts were printed in the Elizabethan script, which the members of the editorial staff found at the Academy of Sciences. The editors paid special attention to the artistic design. The cover, front pages, frames, headpieces, endings of each issue were performed by artists from the World of Art Bakst, K. Korovin, Somov, Lansere, Dobuzhinsky and others. The magazine, as a rule, contained many excellent illustrations - photographs and art reproductions made in different techniques. Often they were ordered and prepared abroad. The appearance of the magazine "World of Art" became a significant stage in the history of domestic graphics and printing.

During the publication of the journal, its tasks changed, becoming more and more broad. Articles began to appear in it about the great representatives of world culture - Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Wagner - who then controlled the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. In 1900, a literary department was created in the journal, with which D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, V. Bryusov, and others collaborated.

Sergei Diaghilev played a big role not only in the founding of the World of Art magazine, but also in all its subsequent activities. Diaghilev appeared in the magazine as one of its authors.

In the critical era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the question of art criticism and the norms by which it should be guided became very acute. Diaghilev could not ignore this burning problem. He believed that art criticism does not fulfill its high purpose. The helplessness and lack of qualifications of critics and reviewers were especially evident when it came to new trends in art.

Not without reason, Diaghilev stated: “... with all the desire to delve into the needs of modern art, very few people could still understand them at least a little, and even the most benevolent critics constantly attribute to the “innovators” a lot of things that are alien to them and sometimes go directly against their views.

To overcome the chaos and utter arbitrariness that then reigned in the judgments of the press, Diaghilev called for correlating the works of contemporary artists with the eternally beautiful achievements of the Renaissance. “We must rise to the heights of Florence, in order to then judge all the current art,” he said. Diaghilev emphasized great importance art criticism, arguing that it is by its nature "independent artistic creativity."

His article “Regarding the book of A.N. Benois "History of Russian painting in the 19th century, part II". Diaghilev rightly accused Benois of "distorting the historical perspective", which was expressed in "severe sentences" against "our greatest artistic authorities" and in the immoderate praise of young artists, even such highly gifted ones as Serov, Levitan and K. Korovin. Condemning the author for the subjectivity and conventionality of assessments. Diaghilev raised the question of the value of the art of previous generations, of an attentive and unbiased attitude to cultural heritage. It follows from this that Diaghilev did not go, as was sometimes thought, on Benoit's taste. Concern for the priceless heritage of the old masters permeates his article "On Russian Museums".

These articles by Diaghilev were not accidental. They were the fruit of much thought, since he himself intended to create a multi-volume work, The History of Russian Painting in the 18th Century. Diaghilev early, like Benois and Grabar, began to study archival materials. However, apart from the book about D. G. Levitsky, published in 1902 - it has not lost its significance to this day - and an article about the portrait painter Shibanov, Diaghilev was no longer engaged in research in the field of art.

Diaghilev, as an art critic, paid the main attention, however, not to the past, but to contemporary art. He said: “I am more interested in what my granddaughter will tell me than what my grandfather will say, although he is immeasurably wiser.” This focus on the future is very characteristic of Diaghilev, it permeates his essays and articles about contemporary masters and events in artistic life. What in art corresponds to the dictates of the time, what is perishable, and what will pass to posterity or even to eternity? This question has always bothered him.

Diaghilev considered talent a national treasure. He was endowed with a rare ability to recognize him at the very beginning. One of the first he noted and supported Bakst, Alexandra Benois, Malyutin, Malyavin, Ostroumov, Yuon, Yakunchikov and others. His pen belongs to the excellent and deeply meaningful characteristics of many artists living then. He considered it his moral duty to honor the memory of people who enriched Russian art. The obituaries dedicated to them by I. Levitan and M. V. Yakunchikova were written by him with great love and understanding of the historical place of these artists.

Diaghilev was the first critic to pay attention to book illustration. In 1899, in the article "Illustrations to Pushkin", he expressed a number of judgments about the nature and features of this difficult art, which retain their significance to this day.

On the pages of the World of Art magazine, Diaghilev, as an author, touched on a wide range of issues: the goals and objectives of art and criticism, classics and modern Art, illustration and book graphics, museum work, the artistic culture of other countries and, finally, what we now understand by the words "international cultural cooperation".

Diaghilev was the first to formulate and raise some of these themes in the history of Russian art, and the position he took deserves attention, especially his views on the problem of cultural exchange between countries.

Diaghilev's articles put forward a whole program of concrete actions with the aim of radically changing the situation in the art of that time. With exceptional energy and perseverance, he sought to put it into practice. The word "must", so often found in Diaghilev's speeches, reminded of the duty of people of art to themselves and society. Sometimes these “shoulds” in Diaghilev’s understanding take on the character of the historical destiny of the young artistic generation at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Diaghilev's performances in the "World of Art" aroused keen interest, both among like-minded people and opponents. The artist M. F. Larionov claimed, for example, that Diaghilev in thirty lines of a note was able to say "more and more interestingly than others on many pages."

The authority of Diaghilev among contemporaries who loved art and wrote about it was very high. Noteworthy is the note of the famous art critic S. S. Goloushev to I. S. Ostroukhov dated February 16, 1905, which said: “Tell Diaghilev that he would greatly lend me if he allowed me to go to him and go with him to Tauride to see Somov. I want to hear his explanation of Somov.

One should also give credit to Diaghilev the editor. He was able to attract talented young artists and critics of his time to work in the magazine. He opened the art history talent of A. N. Benois to the general reader and in the spring of 1899 invited I. E. Grabar, then a novice critic, to collaborate. Without the daily and comprehensive assistance of artists, it would have been impossible to publish the magazine for more than five years. They not only worked on its design, but were also concerned about the content of notes and articles. In 1902, Serov, for example, asked to post a message about the work of the Council of the Tretyakov Gallery. Under pressure from Diaghilev, some of the artists took up the pen for the first time, others sought funds for the publication of the magazine among their clientele, and some themselves provided him material support. The artists considered the magazine to be their brainchild, and it was not without reason that M. V. Nesterov, in response to V. P. Burenin’s abuse of Diaghilev, declared in 1898: “For Diaghilev, those names of honest and gifted people who consciously trusted him, recognizing him as a person capable and of good taste."

A.P. Chekhov gave a high assessment of this activity of Diaghilev. "The World of Art, in particular," he wrote to Diaghilev in 1903, "should be edited by you alone."

However, Diaghilev was engaged not only in the magazine. At the same time, he devoted a lot of time and effort to organizing art exhibitions. Arranging exhibitions, Diaghilev did not limit himself to worries about the composition of the participants and the choice of exhibits. He first began to consider the exhibition as " piece of art”, in which “all parts must be united by some inner meaning”, as “a kind of poem, clear, characteristic and, most importantly, integral”. Diaghilev brilliantly demonstrated the previously completely unknown art of exposition at exhibitions associated with his name.

The art exhibitions organized by the World of Art were a resounding success. In 1899, the First International Exhibition of the magazine "World of Art" took place. It featured over 350 works. Forty-two European artists participated in the exhibition, including P. de Chavannes. D. Whistler, E. Degas, C. Monet, O. Renoir. The exhibition allowed Russian artists and viewers to get acquainted with various areas of Western art.

From 1900 to 1903, three exhibitions of the "World of Art" were held. Organizing these exhibitions, Diaghilev focused on young Russian artists. They were Petersburgers - Bakst, Benois. Somov, Lansere and Muscovites - Vrubel, Serov, K. Korovin, Levitan, Malyutin, Ryabushkin and others. It was Muscovites that Diaghilev placed his greatest hopes on. He wrote: "... all of our present art and everything from which we can expect the future is in Moscow." Therefore, he tried in every possible way to attract Moscow artists to the exhibitions of the World of Art, which he did not always succeed in.

Exhibitions of the World of Art thoroughly introduced Russian society to the works of famous Russian masters and emerging artists who have not yet achieved recognition, such as Bilibin, Ostroumova, Dobuzhinsky, Lansere, Kustodiev, Yuon, Sapunov, Larionov, P. Kuznetsov, Saryan.

In 1903, the World of Arts merged with the Moscow group "36 Artists", forming the "Union of Russian Artists".

Diaghilev, two years after the publication of the journal was discontinued, on the eve of his departure for Paris, organized another, farewell exhibition, The World of Art, held in St. World of Art" has created a very favorable climate. The works of all the pillars of the group were exhibited along with selected works by M. Vrubel, V. Borisov-Musatov, P. Kuznetsov, N. Sapunov, N. Milioti. The new names were Feofilaktov and M. Larionov.

Then the World of Arts showed their works at the exhibition of Russian art in the Paris Autumn Salon, later exhibited in Berlin and Venice. Since that time, Diaghilev began independent activities to promote Russian art in the West. In 1906 on the "Russian art exhibition» In Paris, Diaghilev showed collections of icons and paintings of the 18th-early 19th centuries. and works by artists of the "World of Art"; in 1907 in Paris he organized five "Historical Russian Concerts" representing Russian music from M.I. Glinka to A.N. Scriabin; in 1908, on the stage of the Grand Opera in Paris, he staged the opera by M.P. Mussorgsky "Boris Godunov" with the participation of F.I. Chaliapin. The pinnacle of this activity was the so-called "Russian Seasons", held annually in Paris in 1909-1914. Opera and ballet performances to classical and modern music in innovative productions by young directors-choreographers, performed by a whole galaxy of stars, designed by Bakst, Benois, Bilibin, Golovin, Korovin, Roerich, constituted an era in the history of not only Russian, but also world culture.

Since 1910, a new, second stage in the history of the association "World of Art" begins. A.N. Benois and seventeen artists with him left the "Union of Russian Artists" and created an independent society under the already known name. Its members were L.S. Bakst, I.Ya. Bilibin, O.E. Braz, I. E. Grabar, G.I. Narbut, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, B.M. Kustodiev, E.E. Lansere, A..L. Ober, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, N.K. Roerich, V.A. Serov, K.A. Somov, N.A. Tarkhov, Ya.F. Zionglinsky, S.P. Yaremich. The new association was active in exhibition activities in St. Petersburg-Petrograd and other cities of Russia. The main criterion for selecting works for exhibitions was proclaimed "skill and creative originality." Such tolerance attracted many talented artists to the exhibitions and to the ranks of the association. The association grew rapidly. It was joined by B.I. Anisfeld, K.F. Bogaevsky, N.S. Goncharova, V.D. Zamirailo, P.P. Konchalovsky, A.T. Matveev, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, M.S. Saryan, Z.E. Serebryakova, S.Yu. Sudeikin, P.S. Utkin, I.A. Fomin, V.A. Shuko, A.B. Shchusev, A.E. Yakovlev and others. The names of I.I. Brodsky, D.D. Burliuk, B.D. Grigorieva, M.F. Larionova, A.V. Lentulova, I.I. Mashkova, V.E. Tatlin, R.R. Falka, M.Z. Chagall and others.

It is clear that the dissimilar, sometimes directly opposite, creative attitudes of the participants did not contribute to the artistic unity of both the exhibitions and the association itself. Over time, this led to a serious split in the association. The last exhibition of the "World of Art" was held in 1927 in Paris.

The association "World of Art" was not an accidental phenomenon in Russian art, but historically conditioned. Such, for example, was the opinion of I.E. Grabar: "If there were no Diaghilev, the art of this order would inevitably appear."

Regarding the issue of succession artistic culture, Diaghilev said in 1906: “All the present and future of the Russian plastic art will somehow feed on the same precepts that the World of Art has taken from a careful study of the great Russian masters since the time of Peter.

A.N. Benois wrote that everything done by the World of Art "did not mean at all" that they "broke with all the past." On the contrary, Benois argued, the very core of the "World of Art" "was behind the renewal of many, both technical and ideological traditions of Russian and international art." And further: “... we considered ourselves to a large extent representatives of the same searches and the same creative methods that we valued in the portrait painters of the 18th century, and in Kiprensky, and in Venetsianov, and in Fedotov, as well as in outstanding masters directly the generation that preceded us - in Kramskoy, Repin, Surikov.

V.E. Makovsky, famous Wanderer, in an interview with a journalist, said: “We did our job<...>We are constantly being cited as an example by the Union of Russian Artists and the World of Art, where all the best forces of Russian painting are supposedly now concentrated. But who are they, these best forces, if not our own children?<...>Why did they leave us? Yes, because they felt cramped, and they decided to found their new society.

In the works of the World of Art, this continuity of the best traditions of the Wanderers manifested itself during the revolution of 1905. Most of the artists of the "World of Art" joined the struggle against tsarism, taking an active part in the release of publications of political satire.

K.S. Petrov-Vodkin wrote in 1923 in his memoirs of The World of Art: “What is the charm of Diaghilev, Benois, Somov, Bakst, Dobuzhinsky? Such constellations of human groups arise at the boundaries of historical turning points. They know a lot and carry with them these values ​​of the past. They know how to extract things from the dust of history and, reviving them, give them a modern sound... The World of Art played its historical role brilliantly.” And in another place of the same memoirs: “When you remember how twenty years ago, amid the miasma of decadence, amid the historical bad taste, blackness and slush of painting, Sergey Diaghilev and his comrades equipped their ship, how then we, young men, took wings together with them, suffocating in the obscurantism surrounding us - remember all this, say: yes, well done guys, you brought us to the present on your shoulders.

N. K. Roerich stated that it was the "World of Art" that "raised the banner for new conquests of art."

Recalling the distant 1900s on the slope of her life, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva wrote: “World of Art students chose and invited young artists to their society when they noticed in them, in addition to talent, a sincere and serious attitude to art and to their work<...>The World of Art persistently put forward the principle of "craft in art", that is, they wanted artists to make paintings with a complete, detailed knowledge of the materials they worked with and bring the technique to perfection<...>In addition, they all talked about the need to increase culture and taste among artists and never denied themes in the paintings and, therefore, did not deprive the fine arts of its inherent properties of agitation and propaganda. The conclusion of Ostroumova-Lebedeva was very definite: “It is simply impossible to destroy the significance of the World of Art society and deny it, for example, as art historians do in our country because of the principle “art for art’s sake”.

K.F. Yuon noted: “The “World of Art” indicated the untouched virgin land of diverse means of artistic expression. He encouraged everything soil and national ... ". In 1922, A. M. Gorky defined this concentration of remarkable talents as "a whole trend that revived Russian art."

AT modern Russia The traditions of the World of Art are adequately supported by the magazines New World of Art, Golden Age, Our Heritage.

The art magazine "New World of Art" has existed since January 1998. It was conceived by its publisher Y. Kalinovsky as an art magazine. The concept of the magazine is the search for a new tone, a way of expressing the impression of visual arts literary language. Among the staff there are many poets, writers, philologists. The magazine draws a line of isolated, "pure" perception of the art object, separating it from the author's personality, representing the self-sufficiency of the art object.

An informal editorial board of the journal was formed, a council of authors, which includes Arkady Ippolitov, Mikhail Zolotonosov, Sergei Daniel, Nikolai Kononov. The journal relies on young authors (more than 70 percent of them). Expanding the field of artistic and literary experiment, the journal engages authors to work with topics that were previously uncharacteristic for them.

The journal exists as a publishing house. Posters and a special issue for the exhibition “Petersburg Workshops. XX century”, exhibitions of the sculptor D.Kaminker, a book of poems by A.Belle and others.

One of the activities of the magazine, as well as the magazine "World of Art", is the organization of various creative events. In January 1998, the magazine staff met with the creative intelligentsia of St. Petersburg in the Dostoevsky Museum. In the summer of the same year, the presentation of the third issue, the first printed in Russia (before that, printing was carried out in Finland), was held in the Moscow gallery "L". In the autumn of 1998, the Defile action took place in the Elagin Palace (St. Petersburg): the actors of the Farsy Theater walked along the catwalk, using paintings as a kind of entourage of the theatrical performance. Then the audience was shown the artists who demonstrated themselves on the podium after their works. In July 1999, under the patronage of the magazine in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Non-Conformism hosted the Bad Art exhibition. In September, a "Tea Action" took place in the "England" store.

In this term paper the creation of an association of artists "World of Art" and the magazine "World of Art" was considered; the concept of the journal and the principles of its publication; the role and significance of the magazine "World of Art" in the cultural life of Russia.

The World of Art magazine was founded in 1898 and existed until 1904. An important role in the creation and activities of the magazine was played by its organizer and editor-in-chief Sergei Diaghilev. At various times, the overwhelming majority of leading Russian artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries took part in the work of the journal. All of them were united by the protest against the official art promoted by the Academy and the naturalism of the Wanderers.

The World of Art was the first art magazine whose character and direction were determined by the artists themselves. The editors informed the readers that the magazine would consider the works of Russian and foreign masters "from all eras of art history, to the extent that these works are of interest and significance for modern artistic consciousness."

Unlike similar publications, which mainly published only messages about artistic life, the magazine began to systematically publish articles about Russian and European masters of painting. The magazine produced interesting and detailed publications about various periods of Russian art, and was notable for its excellent printing performance. In the course of its activity, a literary department appeared in the journal; articles about the great representatives of world culture were repeatedly published in it.

The art exhibitions organized by the World of Art were a huge success. Exhibitions of the "World of Art" thoroughly introduced the Russian society, as with the works foreign artists, and well-known domestic masters; as well as with the works of emerging Russian artists who have not yet achieved recognition.

Gradually, the disagreements that reigned within the World of Art group led to the disintegration of both the movement and the magazine, which ceased to exist at the end of 1904.

The association "World of Art" was not an accidental, but a historically determined phenomenon in Russian art, which is confirmed by the statements of various famous people that time. In modern Russia, the traditions of the World of Art are adequately supported by the magazines New World of Art, Golden Age, Our Heritage.

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