Artists of the World of Art.

"World of Art" - an organization that arose in St. Petersburg in 1898 and united the masters of the highest artistic culture, the artistic elite of Russia of those years. The beginning of the "World of Art" was laid by the evenings in the house of A. Benois, dedicated to art, literature and music. The people who gathered there were united by their love for beauty and the belief that it can only be found in art, since reality is ugly. Having also arisen as a reaction to the pettiness of the late Wanderers, its edifying and illustrative nature, the World of Art soon turned into one of the major phenomena of Russian artistic culture. Almost all famous artists participated in this association - Benois, Somov, Bakst, E.E. Lansere, Golovin, Dobuzhinsky, Vrubel, Serov, K. Korovin, Levitan, Nesterov, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Bilibin, Sapunov, Sudeikin, Ryabushkin, Roerich, Kustodiev, Petrov-Vodkin, Malyavin, as well as Larionov and Goncharova. Of great importance for the formation of this association was the personality Diaghilev, a philanthropist and organizer of exhibitions, and later - the impresario of Russian ballet and opera tours abroad ("Russian Seasons", which introduced Europe to the work of Chaliapin, Pavlova, Karsavina, Fokine, Nijinsky and others and showed the world an example of the highest culture of form various arts: music, dance, painting, scenography). At the initial stage of the formation of the "World of Art", Diaghilev arranged an exhibition of English and German watercolors in St. Petersburg in 1897, then an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1898. Under his editorship from 1899 to 1904, a magazine was published under the same name, consisting of two departments: artistic and literary. The editorials of the first issues of the magazine were clearly formulated the main provisions of the "World of Art"» on the autonomy of art, that the problems of modern culture are exclusively problems art form and that the main task of art is to educate the aesthetic tastes of Russian society, primarily through acquaintance with works of world art. We must give them their due: thanks to the World of Art, English and German art was really appreciated in a new way, and most importantly, Russian painting of the 18th century and the architecture of St. Petersburg classicism became a discovery for many. "World of Art" fought for "criticism as an art", proclaiming the ideal of a critic-artist with a high professional culture and erudition. The type of such a critic was embodied by one of the creators of The World of Art, A.N. Benoit.

"Miriskusniki" organized exhibitions. The first was also the only international one that brought together, in addition to Russians, artists from France, England, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Finland, etc. Both St. Petersburg and Moscow painters and graphic artists took part in it. But the crack between these two schools - St. Petersburg and Moscow - was outlined almost from the first day. In March 1903, the last, fifth exhibition of the World of Art closed, in December 1904 the last issue of the magazine World of Art was published. Most of the artists moved to the “Union of Russian Artists”, organized on the basis of the Moscow exhibition “36”. Diaghilev completely went into ballet and theater. 1906, then exhibited in Berlin and Venice (1906-1907).In the section of modern painting, the main place was occupied by the "World of Art". This was the first act of pan-European recognition of the "World of Art", as well as the discovery of Russian painting of the 18th - early 20th centuries in in general for Western criticism and a real triumph of Russian art

The leading artist of the "World of Art" was Konstantin Andreevich Somov(1869–1939). The son of the chief curator of the Hermitage, who graduated from the Academy of Arts and traveled around Europe, Somov received an excellent education. Creative maturity came to him early, but, as the researcher (V.N. Petrov) rightly noted, he always had some duality - the struggle between a powerful realistic instinct and a painfully emotional worldview.

Somov, as we know him, appeared in the portrait of the artist Martynova (“Lady in Blue”, 1897–1900, State Tretyakov Gallery), in the portrait painting “Echoes of the Past Time” (1903, b. on the map, aqua., gouache, State Tretyakov Gallery ), where he creates a poetic characterization of the fragile, anemic female beauty of the decadent model, refusing to convey the real everyday signs of modernity. He dresses the models in ancient costumes, gives their appearance the features of secret suffering, sadness and dreaminess, painful brokenness.

Before anyone else in The World of Art, Somov turned to the themes of the past, to the interpretation of the 18th century. ("Letter", 1896; "Confidentialities", 1897), being the forerunner of Benois' Versailles landscapes. He is the first to create an surreal world, woven from the motifs of the nobility, estate and court culture and his own purely subjective artistic sensations, permeated with irony. The historicism of the "World of Art" was an escape from reality. Not the past, but its staging, longing for its irretrievability - this is their main motive. Not true fun, but a game of fun with kisses in the alleys - such is Somov.

Other works by Somov are pastoral and gallant festivities (“The Ridiculous Kiss”, 1908, Russian Museum; “Marquise's Walk”, 1909, Russian Museum), full of caustic irony, spiritual emptiness, even hopelessness. Love scenes from XVIII - early XIX in. always given with a touch of erotica Somov worked a lot as a graphic artist, he designed a monograph by S. Diaghilev on D. Levitsky, an essay by A. Benois on Tsarskoye Selo. The book, as a single organism with its rhythmic and stylistic unity, was raised by him to an extraordinary height. Somov is not an illustrator, he “illustrates not a text, but an era, using a literary device as a springboard,” wrote A.A. Sidorov, and this is very true.

Somov"Lady in Blue" "At the Skating Rink" Benois. A. "King's Walk"

The ideological leader of the "World of Art" was Alexander Nikolaevich Benois(1870-1960) - an unusually versatile talent. Painter, easel graphic artist and illustrator, theater artist, director, author of ballet librettos, art theorist and historian, musical figure, he was, in the words of A. Bely, the main politician and diplomat of the "World of Art". Coming from the highest stratum of the St. Petersburg artistic intelligentsia (composers and conductors, architects and painters), he first studied at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University.

As an artist, he is related to Somov by stylistic tendencies and addiction to the past (“I am intoxicated with Versailles, this is some kind of illness, love, criminal passion ... I completely moved into the past ...”). In the landscapes of Versailles, Benois merged the historical reconstruction of the 17th century. and contemporary impressions of the artist, his perception of French classicism, French engraving. Hence the clear composition, clear spatiality, the grandeur and cold severity of rhythms, the opposition between the grandiosity of monuments of art and the smallness of human figures, which are only staffage among them (the 1st Versailles series of 1896-1898 under the title "The Last Walks of Louis XIV"). In the second Versailles series (1905-1906), the irony, which is also characteristic of the first sheets, is colored with almost tragic notes ("The King's Walk",). The thinking of Benois is the thinking of a theatrical artist par excellence, who knew and felt the theater very well.

Nature is perceived by Benois in an associative connection with history (views of Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, executed by him in watercolor technique).

In a series of paintings from the Russian past, commissioned by the Moscow publishing house Knebel (illustrations for the "Royal Hunts"), in scenes of the noble, landowner life of the 18th century. Benois created an intimate image of this era, albeit a somewhat theatrical Parade under Paul I. Benois the illustrator (Pushkin, Hoffman) is a whole page in the history of the book. Unlike Somov, Benois creates a narrative illustration. The plane of the page is not an end in itself for him. The illustrations for The Queen of Spades were rather complete independent works, not so much the “art of the book”, as A.A. Sidorov, how much "art is in the book." A masterpiece of book illustration was the graphic design of The Bronze Horseman (1903,1905,1916,1921–1922, ink and watercolor imitating colored woodcuts). In a series of illustrations for the great poem, the main character is the architectural landscape of St. Petersburg, now solemnly pathetic, now peaceful, now sinister, against which the figure of Eugene seems even more insignificant. This is how Benois expresses the tragic conflict between the fate of Russian statehood and the personal fate of a little man (“And all night long the poor madman, / Wherever he turned his feet, / The Bronze Horseman was everywhere with him / With a heavy stomp galloped”).

"Bronze Horseman"

"Parade under Paul I"

Like theatrical artist Benois designed the performances of "Russian Seasons", of which the most famous was the ballet "Petrushka" to the music of Stravinsky, worked a lot at the Moscow Art Theater, and later - on almost all major European stages.

The activity of Benois, an art critic and art historian who, together with Grabar, updated the methods, techniques and themes of Russian art history, is a whole stage in the history of art criticism (see "The History of Painting of the 19th Century" by R. Muther - the volume "Russian Painting", 1901- 1902; "Russian School of Painting", edition of 1904; "Tsarskoye Selo in the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna", 1910; articles in the magazines "World of Art" and "Old Years", "Artistic Treasures of Russia", etc.).

The third in the core of the "World of Art" was Lev Samuilovich Bakst(1866-1924), who became famous as a theater artist and was the first among the "World of Art" to gain fame in Europe. He came to the "World of Art" from the Academy of Arts, then professed the Art Nouveau style, joined the leftist trends in European painting. At the first exhibitions of the "World of Art" he exhibited a number of pictorial and graphic portraits (Benoit, Bely, Somov, Rozanov, Gippius, Diaghilev), where nature, coming in a stream of living states, was transformed into a kind of ideal representation of a contemporary person. Bakst created the brand of the magazine "World of Art", which became the emblem of Diaghilev's "Russian Seasons" in Paris. Bakst's graphics lack 18th-century motifs. and estate themes. He gravitates towards antiquity, moreover, to the Greek archaic, interpreted symbolically. Particularly successful with the Symbolists was his painting "Ancient Horror" - "Terror antiquus" (tempera, 1908, Russian Museum). Terrible stormy sky, lightning illuminating the depths of the sea and ancient city, - and over all this universal catastrophe dominates the archaic bark with a mysterious frozen smile. Soon Bakst completely devoted himself to theatrical and scenery work, and his scenery and costumes for the ballets of the Diaghilev entreprise, performed with extraordinary brilliance, virtuoso, artistically, brought him worldwide fame. In its design there were performances with Anna Pavlova, ballets by Fokine. The artist made sets and costumes for Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Stravinsky's The Firebird (both 1910), Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, and The Afternoon of a Faun to Debussy's music (both 1912).

"Ancient Horror" Afternoon of a Faun "Portrait of Gippius

Of the first generation of "World of Art" the younger was Evgeny Evgenievich Lansere (1875–1946), in his work, he touched upon all the main problems of book graphics of the early 20th century. (See his illustrations for the book "Legends of the ancient castles of Brittany", for Lermontov, the cover for "Nevsky Prospekt" by Bozheryanov, etc.). Lansere created a number of watercolors and lithographs of St. Petersburg (Kalinkin Bridge, Nikolsky Market, etc.). Architecture occupies a huge place in his historical compositions (“Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in Tsarskoye Selo”, 1905, State Tretyakov Gallery). We can say that in the work of Serov, Benois, Lansere a new type of historical painting was created - it is devoid of a plot, but at the same time perfectly recreates the appearance of the era, evoking many historical, literary and aesthetic associations. One of Lansere's best creations - 70 drawings and watercolors for L.N. Tolstoy's "Hadji Murad" (1912-1915), which Benois considered "an independent song that fits perfectly into Tolstoy's powerful music."

In the schedule of Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinsky(1875–1957) represents not so much Petersburg of the Pushkin era or the 18th century as a modern city, which he was able to convey with almost tragic expressiveness (“The Old House”, 1905, watercolor, State Tretyakov Gallery), as well as a person living in such cities (“ A Man with Glasses”, 1905-1906, pastel, State Tretyakov Gallery: a lonely, against the backdrop of dull houses, a sad man, whose head resembles a skull). The urbanism of the future inspired Dobuzhinsky with panic fear. He also worked extensively in illustration, where his series of ink drawings for Dostoevsky's White Nights (1922) can be considered the most remarkable. Dobuzhinsky also worked in the theater, designed for Nemirovich-Danchenko "Nikolai Stavrogin" (staged "Demons" by Dostoevsky), Turgenev's plays "A Month in the Country" and "The Freeloader".

A special place in the "World of Art" occupies Nicholas Roerich(1874–1947). A connoisseur of philosophy and ethnography of the East, an archaeologist-scientist, Roerich received an excellent education, first at home, then at the law and historical-philological faculties of St. Petersburg University, then at the Academy of Arts, in the workshop of Kuindzhi, and in Paris in the studio of F. Cormon. Early he gained the authority of a scientist. He was related to the "World of Art" by the same love for retrospection, only not of the 17th-18th centuries, but of pagan Slavic and Scandinavian antiquity, to Ancient Russia; stylistic tendencies, theatrical decorativeness (“Messenger”, 1897, State Tretyakov Gallery; “The Elders Converge”, 1898, Russian Museum; “Sinister”, 1901, Russian Museum). Roerich was most closely associated with the philosophy and aesthetics of Russian symbolism, but his art did not fit into the framework of the existing trends, because, in accordance with the artist’s worldview, it turned, as it were, to all of humanity with an appeal for a friendly union of all peoples. Hence the special epic nature of his paintings.

"Sky Fight"

"Overseas guests"

After 1905, the mood of pantheistic mysticism grew in Roerich's work. Historical themes give way to religious legends (The Heavenly Battle, 1912, Russian Museum). The Russian icon had a huge influence on Roerich: his decorative panel The Battle of Kerzhents (1911) was exhibited during the performance of a fragment of the same title from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia in the Paris Russian Seasons.

In the second generation of the "World of Art" one of the most gifted artists was Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev(1878–1927), a student of Repin, who helped him in his work on the State Council. Kustodiev is also characterized by stylization, but this is a stylization of popular popular print. Hence the bright festive “Fairs”, “Shrovetide”, “Balagany”, hence his paintings from the petty-bourgeois and merchant life, conveyed with slight irony, but not without admiring these red-cheeked, half-asleep beauties behind a samovar and with saucers in plump fingers (“Merchant”, 1915, Russian Museum; "The Merchant for Tea", 1918, Russian Museum).

A.Ya. Golovin is one of the greatest theater artists of the first quarter of the 20th century; I. Ya. Bilibin, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva and others.

The "World of Art" was a major aesthetic movement at the turn of the century, which overestimated the entire modern artistic culture, approved new tastes and problems, returned to art - at the highest professional level - the lost forms of book graphics and theatrical and decorative painting, which gained all-European recognition through their efforts, created new art criticism, which promoted Russian art abroad, in fact, even opened some of its stages, like the Russian 18th century. "Miriskusniki" created a new type historical picture, portrait, landscape with their own stylistic features (distinct stylistic trends, the predominance of graphic techniques.

An important role in Russian culture at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries was played by the artistic association "World of Art", which had a huge impact on the development of Russian symbolism and modernity.

The emergence and main stages of the existence of the association

The history of the emergence of the "World of Art" began in 1887 with the formation of a group of students from the Karl May school "Neva Pickwickians", which included A. Benois, K. Somov, V. Nouvel, D. Philosophers.

The purpose of the circle is to study the history of fine arts and music. Later, S. Diaghilev and L. Bakst joined this circle. The circle under the leadership of Diaghilev by 1898 had grown and turned into the creative association "World of Art".

A. Benois, self-portrait

Two events contributed to this:

1. The first issue of the magazine "World of Art", the publishers of which were Princess M.K. Tenisheva and S.I. Mammoths;

2. An exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists, in which, in addition to members of the circle, S.V. Malyutin, I.I. Levitan, A.M. Vasnetsov, V.A. Serov and others.

In 1900, the association was formalized, a charter was drawn up and an administrative committee was elected.

In 1902, the article "Forms of Art" was published in the twentieth issue of the magazine "World of Art", from that moment on, many symbolist poets published their works on its pages.

In 1904, disagreements arose between artists and poets, the World of Art magazine ceased to be published, and the association broke up. In 1906, he arranged a farewell exhibition before emigrating to Paris under the same title. In Paris, from 1909-1914, he also organizes the Russian Seasons. Since 1910, the association has been revived under the leadership of Benois, but acts as an exhibition organization; since 1917, some members of the association turned to restoration and museum-organizational activities. In the 1920s, the World of Art finally ceased to exist.

World of Art

The main ideologists of this artistic association were A. Benois and S. Diaghilev.

From 1904 to 1910, many members of the association were members of the Union of Russian Artists. The main core of the "World of Art" included E. Lansere, K. Somov, L. Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky. Subsequently, members of the Abramavtsev circle V. Serov, M. Nesterov, the Vasnetsov brothers, M. Vrubel and others joined them. In 1906, young artists joined the association: M. Saryan, M. Larionov and N. Feofilaktov.

Diaghilev paid great attention to the journal "World of Art", published critical articles there, wrote about the problems of international cultural exchange. Also, Diaghilev was actively engaged in organizational activities, arranged exhibitions of contemporary Russian artists, Western European painters, etc.

aesthetic views

The World of Art association strove for lofty spiritual and artistic values ​​and opposed the contemporary artistic views of wandering and academism. In the fine arts, the World of Arts cultivated even "cultural dilettantism", since he also personified a form of freedom of creativity, not bound by any canons.

The ideal of "pure" art was combined among the World of Arts with the idea that artistic creativity is designed to aesthetically change the surrounding reality. Most of the members of the association drew inspiration from the artistic achievements of the past. - received a peculiar embodiment in their works. Different eras attracted artists not for their historical features or turns of development, but only for aesthetics, style, and atmosphere. The artists of the "Mir" in such canvases strove for the game, fantasy, theatricalization. Another important feature of the World of Art was irony and self-irony.

The early "World of Art", focusing on Western European groupings, united artists and writers based on the ideas of modernity, neo-romanticism, etc. The main goal of creativity in the understanding of the participants of the "World of Art" is beauty in the subjective understanding of the artist. A little later, painters began to focus more on the motives of the national past of pre-Petrine Russia. As a result, the association was divided into two groups of artists: St. Petersburg (oriented to the West) and Moscow (oriented to the national past). But, despite all the differences, this artistic association connected them all to oppose the official academic art and later naturalism.

In the second half of the 19th century, art was sometimes created by amateurs who did not have a professional art education; they sought to establish a new direction in the problems of fine art and in matters of culture.

Association activities

Exhibitions organized by the "World of Art" were held with great success. In 1899, Diaghilev organized an international exhibition at which the works of Böcklin, Whistler, Monet, Degas, Moreau, Puvis de Chavant and others were exhibited. In the period from 1899 to 1903, five such major exhibitions were held.

Miriskusniki published a magazine of the same name, in which many philosophers, religious thinkers and poets were published. The magazine was beautifully illustrated by artists of this direction.

One of the important aspects of the activities of the participants of the "World of Art" was to arouse interest in the artistic creations of the national past, in this regard, they published the collections "Artistic Treasures of Russia", etc. Members of the community opened to a wide range of Russian intelligentsia entire periods in the history of art - movements , artists sculptors XVIII-XIX centuries. Publications in the journal also dealt with contemporary artists, published articles about the great figures of world culture.

The creativity of the Mir participants was multifaceted, they were engaged in painting, arts and crafts, design of theatrical productions, but most of their heritage is graphic works.

The highest flowering of theatrical and scenery activity was the design of the performances of "Russian Seasons" in Paris. In painting dominated the urban landscape, portrait and historical genre. In graphics special achievement was the appearance of book illustration. Some of the participants during the revolution of 1905-1907. acted as masters of political satire.

A characteristic feature of the works of many World of Art artists was decorativeism, linearity and a combination of matte tones.

The association "World of Art" was closely associated with "Evenings contemporary music”, the purpose of which was the performance and promotion of Western European music of the XIX-XX centuries.

Members of the association "World of Art" often took part in various evening salons. The most famous of them in Russian culture silver age there were “Ivanovo Wednesdays”, collections “On the Tower” by Vyacheslav Ivanov, “Sundays”, salons of Sologub and

The unification left a deep mark on the history of Russian art, primarily by the fact that people of this circle in a new way paid attention to the problems of artistic form and pictorial language.

The contribution of the World of Art to history is invaluable. This is not only painting, graphics, poetry and prose, but scientific work on the history of art and culture of the Silver Age

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