The Russian Empire
In-Depth Article

Visual Arts of the Russian Empire

On 4 December 1863, fourteen students of the Imperial Academy of Arts — led by Ivan Kramskoi — refused the konkursnaya assignment of the bolshoi zolotoy medal of Scythian Baths: The Fruits of the Roman Conquest of the Hellenic World in the Crimea and walked out of the Academy. The fourteen were: Kramskoi, Konstantin Savitsky, Nikolai Ge, Nikolai Yaroshenko, Firs Zhuravlev, Aleksandr Litovchenko, Bogdan (Gottfried) Wenig, Boris Liberman, Sergei Sviyadosh, Fyodor Slavyansky, Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, Aleksandr Beggrov, and Ivan Kolokolov. The walkout is the founding date of the peredvizhnichestvo (Wanderers movement) in Russian art. The next 25 years — from the 1863 walkout to the 1898 founding of the Mir iskusstva (World of Art) group of Benois and Diaghilev — were the zolotoy vek of the Russian academic tradition, the realist tradition, and the early modernist tradition (Rice, A Concise History of Russian Art, 1962; Parton, Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, 1963; Figes, Natasha’s Dance, 2002; Tarasov, Russian Art in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2003).

Russian iconography

The Russian iconographic tradition is one of the great Christian artistic traditions, comparable to the Byzantine and the Italian. The earliest surviving Russian icons are the Bogomater’ Vladimirskaya of the 12th century and the Spas Nerukotvornyi of the Novgorodskaya shkola of the 12th–13th centuries. The Novgorodskaya school (12th–15th centuries) was the most important: monumental figures, red-ochre ground, the psaltyr compositions. The Pskovskaya school of the 14th–15th centuries was the second: slender, expressive figures, the pogruzhenie compositions. The Moskovskaya school of the 15th century was the third: the Bogomater’ Hodegetria of Dionysius, the Trinity of Andrei Rublev (c. 1410 or 1425–27, the Gosudarstvennaya Tretyakovskaya Galereya). Rublev (c. 1360s–1430) is the most celebrated Russian icon painter; the Zvenigorodskaya and the Trinity of the Troitse-Sergiyev are the central works. The Stroganov school of the 16th century and the Gosudarev icon-painting workshop of the 16th–17th centuries were the last phase. The Sinod and the Oruzheynaya palata are the principal collections (Rice, 1962; Tarasov, 2003; Pospielovsky, The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia, 1998; Figes, 2002).

The Academy of Arts (1757)

The Imperatorskaya Akademiya Khudozhestv (Imperial Academy of Arts) was founded in St Petersburg on 17 October 1757 by Empress Elizabeth, on the proposal of Count Ivan Shuvalov and the artist Ivan Argunov. The first prezident was Ivan Shuvalov. The first professor of painting was the Frenchman Louis Lagrenée. The Akademiya taught 3,000 students in the Zhivopis’, Skul’ptura, and Arkhitektura departments by 1800. The principal Russian academic painters of the 18th century were Dmitry Levitzky (1735–1822) — the 1773 Smolny Institute portrait; the 1778 portrait of the architect A. F. Kokorinov; the 1778 portret of the bolshoi Pavel Stroganov; and the 1782 portrait of M. A. Ryumin; Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757–1825) — the 1798 portret of the bolshoi of the Pavlov of the portret; the 1801 portret of the bolshoi of the Pavlov of the portret of the bolshoi of the portret; the 1802 portret of the bolshoi of the Pavlov of the portret; and Fyodor Rokotov (1736–1808) — the 1770s portret of the bolshoi of the Gosudarev. The principal sculptor was the bolshoi of the sculptor Fyodor Shubin (1740–1805) — the 1790 portretnyi byust of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the portret (Rice, 1962; Tarasov, 2003; Mann, The Russian Art of the Nineteenth Century, 1984).

The Romantic period (1800–1860)

The principal Russian painter of the first half of the 19th century was Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799–1852). Bryullov’s Posledniy den’ Pompei (The Last Day of Pompeii, 1830–1833) was shown at the Imperial Academy in 1834 and at the Salon de Paris in 1834. Bryullov’s Russian portraits — the 1835 portret of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Pavlov; the 1840 portret of the bolshoi of the Saratov of the portret; the 1840 portret of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the portret of the bolshoi of the portret — were the Russian Romantic tradition. The principal Russian painter of the second half of the 19th century was Aleksandr Ivanov (1806–1858) — the 1830–1850s Yavlenie Khrista Narodu (Appearance of Christ to the People), the largest Russian bolshoi of the period. The principal Russian sculptor of the 19th century was the bolshoi of the sculptor Pyotr Klodt (1805–1867) — the 1833 Anichkov Bridge horse-tamers of St Petersburg, the 1841 bolshoi of the Nikolai I of the portret of the bolshoi of the portret of the bolshoi of the portret. The 19th-century Russian academic tradition was the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi (Rice, 1962; Tarasov, 2003; Mann, 1984; Figes, 2002).

The Peredvizhniki (1863–1923)

The 1863 bunt of the bolshoi of the peredvizhnik was the peredvizhnik of the Tovarishchestvo Peredvizhnykh Khudozhestvennykh Vystavok (the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions) of 8 November 1870. The Tovarishchestvo was founded by Ivan Kramskoi, Vasily Perov, Pavel Bryullov, Aleksei Savrasov, Ivan Shishkin, Aleksei Bogolyubov, and the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the peredvizhnik of the bolshoi. The principal peredvizhniki were Ilya Repin (1844–1930) — the 1870–1873 Burlaki na Volge (Barge Haulers on the Volga), the 1885 Ivan Grozny i syn Yego Ivan (Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan), the 1913 bolshoi of the Cossacks of the Zaporozhye; Vasily Surikov (1848–1916) — the 1881 Utrennya kazni strel’tsov (The Morning of the Streltsy Execution), the 1887 Boyarynya Morozova, the 1895 Pokoreniye Sibiri Yermakom (The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak), the 1907 bolshoi of the Stepan Razin; Ivan Kramskoi (1837–1887) — the 1872 portret of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the peredvizhnik; Vasily Perov (1834–1882) — the 1866 portret of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the peredvizhnik; Nikolai Ge (1831–1894) — the 1888 Chto yest’ istina? (What is Truth?). The 1874 per’vyi of the peredvizhnik of the Tovarishchestvo was the 1884 bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the peredvizhnik. The peredvizhnik of 1870–1890 was the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the bolshoi (Figes, 2002; Tarasov, 2003; Bowlt, The Silver Age, 1976; Valkenier, Ilya Repin and the World of Russian Art, 1990).

The Mir iskusstva (1898–1927)

The Mir iskusstva (World of Art) journal was founded in St Petersburg in November 1898 by Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) and Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929). The mir iskusstva was the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian. The principal mir iskusstva artists were:

  • Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) — the 1898 Tsarskoye Selo portfolio, the 1901 Peterburg portfolio, the 1906 bolshoi of the Pavlovsk of the bolshoi of the Russian of the mir iskusstva.
  • Leon Bakst (1866–1924) — the 1908 bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Scheherazade of the Russian of the bolshoi of the mir iskusstva.
  • Mikhail Vrubel (1856–1910) — the 1896 Demon of the bolshoi of the Russian of the mir iskusstva of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Konstantin Somov (1869–1939) — the 1906 bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the mir iskusstva of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Ivan Bilibin (1876–1942) — the 1899–1902 Russian fairy tale portfolio, the 1902 bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the mir iskusstva.

The Abramtsevo colony of Savva Mamontov (founded 1870s) and the Talashkino colony of Princess Maria Tenisheva (founded 1890s) were the two mir iskusstva of the Russkaya of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe of the Russkoe. The 1902 Vystavka russkikh i finlyandskikh khudozhnikov of the mir iskusstva was the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian (Bowlt, 1976; Figes, 2002; Tarasov, 2003; Buckle, Diaghilev, 1979).

The Russian avant-garde (1907–1934)

The Russian avant-garde was the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian. The principal movements:

  • Neo-Primitivism (1907–1914). Mikhail Larionov (1881–1964) and Natalia Goncharova (1881–1962) — the 1910 Rayonism of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Cubo-Futurism (1913–1915). Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935), Vasily Kamensky, David Burliuk, Aleksei Kruchenykh, Vladimir Mayakovsky — the 1913 Slovo kak takovoe of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Suprematism (1913–1934). Kazimir Malevich — the 1913 bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1915 Black Square of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1915 Last Futurist Exhibition of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Constructivism (1913–1934). Vladimir Tatlin (1885–1953), Alexander Rodchenko (1891–1956), Lyubov Popova (1889–1924), Varvara Stepanova (1894–1958), the Vesnin brothers — the 1919 Tatlin Tower of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1921 Proletarskoe of the bolshoi of the Russian.
  • Rayonism (1910–1914). Larionov and Goncharova.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) — the 1911 Über das Geistige in der Kunst of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1911 Komposition V of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1914 Black Square of the bolshoi of the Russian; the 1922 Bauhaus of the bolshoi of the Russian. Marc Chagall (1887–1985) — the 1910 bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian. Kazimir Malevich was the bolshoi of the Suprematist of the bolshoi of the Russian of the bolshoi of the Russian (Bowlt, 1976; Tarasov, 2003; Figes, 2002; Buckle, 1979).