HISTORICAL SUMMARY "World of Art", Russian art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. Petersburg on the basis of a circle of young artists and art lovers headed by A. N. Benois and S. P. Diaghilev. As an exhibition union under the auspices of the magazine "World of Art" in its original form existed until 1904; in an expanded composition, having lost their ideological and creative unity, in the majority of the masters of “M. and." was a member of the Union of Russian Artists. In addition to the main core (L. S. Bakst, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lancers, A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, K. A. Somov), “M. and." included many Petersburg and Moscow painters and graphic artists (I. Ya.Bilibin, A. Ya.Golovin, I.E. Grabar, K.A.Korovin, B.M. Kustodiev, N.K. Roerich, V.A. and etc.). In the exhibitions “M. and." participated M. A. Vrubel, I. I. Levitan, M. V. Nesterov, as well as some foreign artists.

JOURNAL "WORLD OF ISSUES" The art association "World of Art" announced itself with the release of the magazine of the same name at the turn of the XIX XX centuries. The publication of the first issue of the magazine "World of Art" in St. Petersburg at the end of 1898 was the result of ten years of communication between a group of painters and graphic artists headed by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois ().

THE IDEA BASIS The main idea of ​​the unification was expressed in the article by the outstanding philanthropist and art connoisseur Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev () “Difficult questions. Our imaginary decline. " The main goal of artistic creation was declared to be beauty, and beauty in the subjective understanding of each master. This attitude to the tasks of art gave the artist absolute freedom in choosing themes, images and means of expression, which was quite new and unusual for Russia.

Collaboration with the Symbolist writers was of great importance for the masters united around Benoit and Diaghilev. In the twelfth issue of the magazine in 1902, the poet Andrei Bely published an article "Forms of Art", and since then the largest Symbolist poets have regularly appeared on its pages.

ALEXANDER BENOIS Benois's best graphic works; among them are especially interesting illustrations to the poem by Alexander Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" (gg.). Petersburg became the main "hero" of the entire cycle: its streets, canals, architectural masterpieces appear either in the cold severity of thin lines, or in the dramatic contrast of bright and dark spots. At the climax of the tragedy, when Eugene runs away from the formidable giant, the monument to Peter, galloping behind him, the master paints the city with dark, gloomy colors.

LEON BAKST The design of theatrical performances is the brightest page in the work of Lev Samuilovich Bakst (real name Rosenberg;). The most interesting of his works are associated with opera and ballet performances of "Russian Seasons" in Paris. a kind of festival of Russian art, organized by Diaghilev.

LEON BAKST Especially remarkable are the sketches of costumes, which have become independent graphic works. The artist modeled the costume, focusing on the dancer's system of movements, through lines and color he tried to reveal the pattern of the dance and the nature of the music. In his sketches, the sharpness of the vision of the image, a deep understanding of the nature of ballet movements and amazing grace are striking.

THE WORLD OF ISSUES AND ROCOCO One of the main themes for many of the World of Art masters was the appeal to the past, the longing for the lost ideal world. Favorite era was the 18th century, and above all the Rococo period. The artists not only tried to revive this time in their work, they drew the public's attention to the authentic art of the 18th century, actually rediscovering the work of the French painters Antoine Watteau and Honore Fragonard and their compatriots Fyodor Rokotov and Dmitry Levitsky.

KONSTANTIN SOMOV Rococo motifs manifested themselves with particular expressiveness in the works of Konstantin Andreevich Somov (). He early became involved in the history of art (the artist's father was the curator of the Hermitage collections). After graduating from the Academy of Arts, the young master became an excellent connoisseur of old painting.

KONSTANTIN SOMOV Somov brilliantly imitated her technique in his paintings. The main genre of his work could be called variations on the theme of the "gallant scene". Indeed, on the artist's canvases, the characters of Watteau, the ladies in magnificent dresses and wigs, the actors of the comedy of masks, seem to come to life again. They flirt, flirt, sing serenades in the park alleys, surrounded by the caressing glow of the sunset light.

KONSTANTIN SOMOV Somov managed to express his nostalgic admiration for the past with particular subtlety through female images. The famous work "Lady in Blue" (gg.) Portrait of a contemporary of the master artist E. Martynova. She is dressed in old fashion and is depicted against the backdrop of a poetic landscape park. The painting brilliantly imitates the Biedermeier style. But the obvious morbidity of the heroine's appearance (Martynova soon died of tuberculosis) evokes a feeling of acute melancholy, and the idyllic softness of the landscape seems unreal, existing only in the artist's imagination.

NIKOLAI RERICH Russian artist, philosopher, mystic, scientist, writer, traveler, archaeologist, public figure, freemason, poet, teacher. Creator of about 7000 paintings (many of which are in famous galleries around the world) and about 30 literary works, author of the idea and initiator of the Roerich Pact, founder of the international cultural movements "Peace through Culture" and "Banner of Peace".

NICHOLAS ROERICH Art will unite humanity. Art is one and indivisible. Art has many branches, but the root is one ... Everyone feels the truth of beauty. The gates of the sacred source must be open to all. The light of art will illuminate countless hearts with new love. At first, this feeling will come unconsciously, but after that it will purify all human consciousness. How many young hearts are looking for something beautiful and true. Give it to them. Give art to the people where it belongs.

CONTROL QUESTIONS (CONT'D) 7 - WHO WRITTEN THE PORTRAIT OF ZINAIDA HIPPIUS? 8 - WHO IS FAMOUS FOR WORKS RELATED TO OPERA AND BALLET STATIONS? 9 - WHO CALLED "THE RAINBOW SINGER"? 10 - WHO EARNED THE REPUTATION OF A SELLER, GURU? 11 - CALL ROSENBERG'S PSEUDON.

Russian Art Association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (officially in 1900) on the basis of a circle of young artists and art lovers headed by A. N. Benois and S. P. Diaghilev. As an exhibition union under the auspices of the Mir magazine ... ... Art encyclopedia

Association (1898 1924) of artists, created in St. Petersburg by A.N. Benois and S.P. Diaghilev. Representatives of the World of Art rejected both academicism and the tendentiousness of the Itinerants; relying on the poetics of symbolism, they often went into the world of past ... Modern encyclopedia

"World of Art"- “WORLD OF ART”, an association (1898 1924) of artists, created in St. Petersburg by A.N. Benois and S.P. Diaghilev. Representatives of the "World of Art" rejected both academicism and the tendentiousness of the Itinerants; relying on the poetics of symbolism, they often ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

E. E. Lancere. Ships from the times of Peter I. Tempera. 1911. Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow. "World of Art", Russian art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (officially in 1900) based on a circle of young artists and art lovers ... Art encyclopedia

- (1898–1904; 1910–1924), an association of St. Petersburg artists and cultural figures (A. N. Benois, K. A. Somov, L. S. Bakst, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lansere, A. Ya. Golovin, I. Ya. Bilibin, Z. E. Serebryakova, B. M. Kustodiev, N. K. Roerich, ... ... Art encyclopedia

- "World of Art", Russian art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (officially in 1900) in St. Petersburg on the basis of a circle of young artists and art lovers headed by A. N. Benois and S. P. Diaghilev. As an exhibition union under ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

"World of Art"- "World of Art", art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (the charter was approved in 1900) on the basis of a circle of young artists, art critics and art lovers ("society of self-education"), headed by A. N. Benois and ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

An association of Russian artists who opposed the tendentiousness, partisanship and anti-aestheticism of their contemporary "leaders of public opinion", the dictate of academicism and itinerantism. It took shape in the 1890s in St. Petersburg on the basis of a circle ... ... Russian history

1) art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (the charter was approved in 1900) on the basis of a circle of young artists, art critics and art lovers ("society of self-education"), headed by A. N. Benois and S. P. Diaghilev. How … Saint Petersburg (encyclopedia)

"World of Art"- WORLD OF ART artist during the Silver Age. It existed from 1898 to 1927 with interruptions, taking on different organizations. forms: magazine, exhibition, about artists. 1st period of MI 1898 1904. The core of the 1st section of MI was a circle of relatives of Alexander ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary

Books

• World of Art. 1898-1927, GB Romanov, This publication is dedicated to the 30-year period in the history of the "World of Art" association. The publication contains portraits, biographies and works of artists. When preparing this encyclopedia for ... Category: History of Russian art Publisher: Global View, St. Petersburg Orchestra,
• World of Art. Art association of the early twentieth century, Vsevolod Petrov, `World of Art ', Russian art association. It took shape in the late 1890s. (officially in 1900) in St. Petersburg on the basis of a circle of young artists and art lovers headed by A.N. Category: History and theory of art Publisher:

Artists of the World of Art.

The World of Art is an organization that emerged in St. Petersburg in 1898 and brought together masters of the highest artistic culture, the artistic elite of Russia in those years. The "World of Art" began with evenings at A. Benois's house dedicated to art, literature and music. The people who gathered there were united by a love of beauty and the confidence that it can only be found in art, since reality is ugly. Having also arisen as a reaction to the petty themes of late Wanderers, its edification and illustrativeness, the "World of Art" soon turned into one of the major phenomena of Russian artistic culture. This association was attended by almost all famous artists - Benois, Somov, Bakst, E.E. Lancere, 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. Personality was of great importance for the formation of this association. Diaghilev, patron and organizer of exhibitions, and later - impresario of Russian ballet and opera tours abroad ("Russian Seasons", which introduced Europe to the work of Chaliapin, Pavlova, Karsavina, Fokin, Nijinsky, etc. and showed the world an example of the highest culture of the forms of various arts: music , dance, painting, scenography). At the initial stage of the formation of the World of Art, Diaghilev organized an exhibition of English and German watercolors in St. Petersburg in 1897, then an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1898. From 1899 to 1904, he edited a magazine under the same name, consisting of two departments: artistic and literary. The editorials of the first issues of the magazine clearly formulated the main provisions of the "world of art» about the autonomy of art, that the problems of modern culture are exclusively problems of the artistic form and that the main task of art is to educate the aesthetic tastes of Russian society, primarily through acquaintance with the works of world art. We must pay tribute to them: thanks to the "world of art", English and German art was really appreciated in a new way, and most importantly, the painting of the Russian 18th century and the architecture of St. Petersburg classicism became a discovery for many. "Miriskusniki" fought for "criticism as 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 founders of the "World of Art" A.N. Benoit.

"Miriskusniki" organized exhibitions. The first was the only international one, which united, 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 - has been outlined almost from the first day. In March 1903, the last, fifth exhibition of the "World of Art" was 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 went entirely to ballet and theater. His last significant work in the visual arts was a grandiose historical exhibition of Russian painting from icon painting to modern times in the Paris Autumn Salon 1906, then exhibited in Berlin and Venice (1906-1907). In the section of contemporary painting, the main place was occupied by the "world of art." overall 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 to Europe, Somov received an excellent education. Creative maturity came to him early, but, as the researcher (V.N.

Somov, as we know him, appeared in the portrait of the artist Martynova ("Lady in Blue", 1897-1900, Tretyakov Gallery), in the painting-portrait "Echo of the Past Tense" (1903, on maps, aqu., Gouache, Tretyakov Gallery ), where he creates a poetic description of the fragile, anemic female beauty of a decadent model, refusing to convey the real everyday signs of modernity. He dresses the models in old costumes, gives their appearance the features of secret suffering, sadness and dreaminess, painful brokenness.

Earlier than anyone else in The World of Art, Somov turned to the themes of the past, to the interpretation of the 18th century. ("Letter", 1896; "Confidentiality", 1897), being the predecessor of the Versailles landscapes of Benoit. He was the first to create an unreal world, woven from the motives of the noble estate and court culture and his own purely subjective artistic sensations, permeated with irony. The historicism of the "World of Artists" was an escape from reality. Not the past, but its dramatization, longing for its irrevocability - this is their main motive. Not true fun, but playing fun with kisses in the alleys - this is Somov.

D Other works by Somov are pastoral and gallant festivities (Laughed Kiss, 1908, RM; Walk of the Marquise, 1909, RM), full of caustic irony, spiritual emptiness, even hopelessness. Love scenes from the 18th - early 19th centuries. given always with a touch of eroticism Somov worked a lot as a graphic artist, he designed a monograph by S. Diaghilev about D. Levitsky, a work by A. Benois about Tsarskoe 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 "The Lady in Blue" "At the Skating Rink" Benoit. A. "The King's Walk"

The ideological leader of the "World of Art" was Alexander Nikolaevich Benois(1870-1960) - an unusually versatile talent. A painter, graphic easel painter and illustrator, theater artist, director, author of ballet librettos, theoretician and art historian, musical figure, he was, in the words of A. Bely, the main politician and diplomat of the World of Art. Coming from the upper 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 have completely moved into the past ...”). Benois's Versailles landscapes 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, grandeur and cold severity of rhythms, contrasting the grandeur of art monuments and the smallness of human figurines, which are only staffage among them (the 1st Versailles series 1896–1898 entitled “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",). Benoit's thinking is the thinking of a theater artist par excellence, who knew and felt the theater perfectly.

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

In a series of paintings from the Russian past, commissioned by the Moscow publishing house Knebel (illustrations for "The Tsar's Hunt"), in scenes of the noble, landlord 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, Hoffmann) is a whole page in the history of the book. Unlike Somov, Benoit 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 more likely complete independent works, not so much "book art", according to 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 color woodcut). 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 ominous, against which the figure of Eugene seems even more insignificant. This is how Benoit expresses the tragic conflict between the fate of the Russian statehood and the personal fate of the little man (“And all night long the poor madman, / Wherever he turned his feet, / 3 the Copper Horseman was everywhere / He rode with a heavy stomp”).

"Bronze Horseman"

«
Parade under Paul I "

As a theater artist, Benoit designed the performances of the Russian Seasons, of which the most famous was the ballet Petrushka to the music of Stravinsky, worked extensively at the Moscow Art Theater, and subsequently 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 history (see R. Muther's History of Painting of the 19th Century - volume Russian Painting, 1901– 1902; "Russian School of Painting", published in 1904; "Tsarskoe Selo during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna", 1910; articles in the magazines "World of Art" and "Old Years", "Artistic Treasures of Russia", etc.).

T 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, adjoined the left 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 conditions, was transformed into a kind of ideal idea 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. There are no motives of the 18th century in Bakst's graphics. and manor themes. He gravitates towards antiquity, and towards the Greek archaic, interpreted symbolically. His painting "Ancient Horror" - "Terror antiquus" (tempera, 1908, RM) enjoyed particular success among the Symbolists. A terrible stormy sky, lightning that illuminates the abyss of the sea and the ancient city - and the archaic crust with a mysterious frozen smile dominates over this entire universal catastrophe. Soon Bakst completely went into theatrical and decorative work, and his scenery and costumes for the ballets of Diaghilev's entreprise, performed with extraordinary brilliance, masterly, artistically, brought him world fame. It was designed for performances with Anna Pavlova, Fokine's ballets. The artist made sets and costumes for Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Stravinsky's Firebird (both -1910), Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, and for the ballet Debussy's Afternoon of a Faun (both -1912).

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

Of the first generation of the "world of art", the younger in age was Evgeny Evgenievich Lanceray (1875-1946), in his work, having touched upon all the main problems of book graphics at the beginning of the XX century. (see his illustrations for the book "Legends of the Ancient Castles of Brittany", for Lermontov, the cover for "Nevsky Prospect" by Bozheryanov, etc.). Lanceray created a number of watercolors and lithographs in St. Petersburg (Kalinkin Bridge, Nikolsky Market, etc.). Architecture occupies a huge place in his historical compositions ("Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in Tsarskoe Selo", 1905, State Tretyakov Gallery). We can say that a new type of historical painting was created in the works of Serov, Benoit, Lanceray - it is devoid of a plot, but at the same time it perfectly recreates the appearance of the era, evokes many historical, literary and aesthetic associations. One of the best creations of Lanceray - 70 drawings and watercolors for the story by L.N. Tolstoy's "Hadji Murad" (1912-1915), which Benoit considered "an independent song that perfectly fits into the mighty music of Tolstoy."

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

A special place in the "World of Art" is Nicholas Roerich(1874-1947). An expert in the philosophy and ethnography of the East, an archaeologist and scientist, Roerich received an excellent education first at home, then at the Faculty of Law and History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, then at the Academy of Arts, in Kuindzhi's workshop, and in Paris at F. Cormon's studio. He early acquired the authority of a scientist. He was related to the “world of art” by the same love of retrospection, only not of the 17th – 18th centuries, but of pagan Slavic and Scandinavian antiquity, to Ancient Russia; stylistic tendencies, theatrical decorativeness (The Messenger, 1897, State Tretyakov Gallery; The Elders Are Converging, 1898, State Russian Museum; "Sinister", 1901, State 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 appealed, as it were, to all mankind with an appeal for a friendly union of all peoples. Hence the special epic character of his canvases.

«

Heavenly battle "

"Overseas guests"

After 1905, the mood of pantheistic mysticism grew in Roerich's work. Historical themes give way to religious legends ("Heavenly Battle", 1912, RM). The Russian icon had a huge influence on Roerich: his decorative panel Cutting at Kerzhenets (1911) was exhibited while performing a fragment of the same title from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia in the Parisian Russian Seasons.

V about the second generation of "World of Art" by one of the most gifted artists was Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev(1878-1927), a student of Repin, who helped him in the work on the "State Council". Kustodiev is also characterized by stylization, but this is the stylization of folk popular prints. Hence the bright festive "Fairs", "Maslenitsa", "Balagans", hence his paintings from the bourgeois and merchant life, conveyed with light irony, but not without admiration for these red-cheeked, half-asleep beauties at the samovar and with saucers in plump fingers ("Merchant", 1915, RM; "The merchant's wife at tea", 1918, RM).

A.Ya. Golovin - one of the largest theater artists of the first quarter of the 20th century, I. Ya. Bilibin, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedev 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, and returned to art, at the highest professional level, the lost forms of book graphics and theatrical and decorative painting, which acquired through their efforts all-European recognition, which created new art criticism, promoting Russian art abroad, in fact, even opening some of its stages, like the Russian XVIII century. "Miriskusniki" created a new type of historical painting, portrait, landscape with their own stylistic features (distinct stylistic tendencies, the predominance of graphic techniques.

CREATIVE ART ASSOCIATION "WORLD OF ART"

In Russia in the XX century there were more than fifty art associations and creative unions. The cultural life in Russia was very lively. The society showed an increased interest in numerous art exhibitions and auctions, in articles and reports of the periodical press devoted to the visual arts. All sorts of artistic associations arose that set themselves various tasks. One of them was the association, and then the first Russian modernist magazine "World of Art" (1898-1904). It, at different times, included almost all leading Russian artists, such as: L. Bakst, A. Benois, M. Vrubel, A. Golovin, M. Dobuzhinsky, K. Korovin, E. Lansere, I. Levitan, M. Nesterov, V. Serov, K. Somov and others. Artists, musicians and people in love with opera, theater and ballet have set themselves the task of "grooming Russian painting, cleaning it up and, most importantly, bringing it to the West, exalting it in the West." The purpose of this association was the study of artistic culture, both modern and past eras, perceived synthetically, in all the variety of types, forms, genres of art and everyday life. All of them, very different, were united by a protest against the official art and naturalism of the Itinerant artists.

Initially, it was a small, home-based "self-education" circle. At the apartment of A. Benois 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. This association did not represent any artistic movement, direction, or school. It was made up of bright individuals, each went his own way.

Motivating the emergence of the World of Art, Benoit 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 at large exhibitions - academic, traveling and watercolor, or they were only accepted with rejection of everything in which the artists themselves saw the most clear expression of their searches ... And that's why Vrubel was next to Bakst, and Somov was next with Malyavin. The "unrecognized" were joined by those of the "recognized" who were uncomfortable in the approved groups. Mainly, Levitan, Korovin and, to our greatest joy, Serov came up to us. Again, ideologically and by the whole culture, they belonged to a different circle, they were the last offspring of realism, not devoid of a "itinerant coloring". But with us they were bound by hatred for everything musty, established, dead. " Benois A. The emergence of the "World of Art". L .: 1928

Since the mid-1890s. the group was headed by S.P. Diaghilev. In 1898, he convinces 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, the editor of which was Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev.

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 will consider the works of Russian and foreign masters "of all epochs of art history, to what extent the aforementioned works are of interest and significance for modern artistic consciousness."

In the magazine "World of Art" Diaghilev touched upon many issues, such as: the goals and objectives of art and criticism, classics and contemporary art, illustration and book graphics, museum business, artistic culture of other countries and, finally, what we now understand by the words "international cultural cooperation".

In addition to the magazine, Diaghilev was involved in organizing art exhibitions. He was attentive to the composition of the exhibitors, as well as to the selection of exhibits.

Art exhibitions organized by the "World of Art" were a great success. They introduced the Russian society to the works of famous Russian masters and novice artists who have not yet achieved recognition, such as Bilibin, Ostroumova, Dobuzhinsky, Lancere, Kustodiev, Yuon, Sapunov, Larionov, P. Kuznetsov, Saryan.

In 1899, the first international exhibition of the World of Art magazine was held, at which more than 350 works were presented. Along with leading Russian artists, foreign artists took part in it (C. Monet, G. Moreau, P. Puvis de Chavannes, J. Whistler and others). Items of decorative and applied arts were also shown. In 1900-03 there were four subsequent art exhibitions organized by the magazine "World of Art". More than sixty artists took part in them, including such outstanding masters as M.A. Vrubel, V.M. Vasnetsov, A.S. Golubkina, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, P.V. Kuznetsov, A.P. Ryabushkin. In 1902, the works of the world of art were exhibited in the Russian section of the International Exhibition in Paris, where K.A. Korovin, F.A. Malyavin, V.A. Serov and P.P. Trubetskoy received the highest awards. And the next year they merged with the Moscow group "36 Artists" to form the "Union of Russian Artists".

In the Paris Autumn Salon, the World of Artists showed their work at an exhibition of Russian art, which was then exhibited in Berlin and Venice. From that time on, Diaghilev began an independent activity to promote Russian art in the West. He achieved success in the so-called Russian Seasons, which were held annually in Paris from 1909-14. In the history of not only Russian, but also world culture, the era of opera and ballet performances to classical and modern music in innovative productions by young directors-choreographers, performed by a whole galaxy of stars, in designs by Bakst, Benoit, Bilibin, Golovin, Korovin, Roerich made up an era.

The World of Art grouping was closest to Roerich, but in it he also denied and did not accept much. In the late 1890s, when a sharp, intense struggle broke out between the Itinerants and the World of Art, Roerich joined this struggle. He was most of all jarred by the Westernizing orientation of the ideologues of the "World of Art", their oblivion of the social role of the artist. To an intensified invitation from Diaghilev in 1900 to join the "World of Art" Roerich responded with a categorical refusal. He sharply criticized the first performances of the "World of Art" in his articles "Art and Archeology" (1898), "Our Artistic Affairs" (1899). “If the editorial board of Mir Iskusstvo considers itself to be a champion of the new trend, then how can one explain the presence at the exhibition of works that are routine, decadent, in a way old and stereotyped? .. Such promiscuity of the organizers of the exhibition brings little good to art; an untimely decrepit, obsolete decadence and a new, fresh trend are not at all the same, ”the artist writes in 1899.

Roerich's irreconcilable, critical attitude to the organizers of the "World of Art" Diaghilev, Benois, Somov is also eloquently indicated by his letters from 1900-1901 to Stasov.

In the fall of 1902, Diaghilev again invited Roerich to join the "World of Art". This proposal was strenuously accompanied by persuasion on the part of Nesterov and Botkin. Roerich again refused membership, but agreed to participate in the 1902 exhibition. He takes part in the next exhibition as well. Now, when the "World of Art" has grown and taken shape, when great masters have entered it, Roerich began to attract a lot in the creative practice of this group. He was close to the aspiration of her artists to the past, their search for the beauty of content, the development of new formal techniques.

It is no accident that when in 1910 St. Petersburg artists revived the "World of Art", Roerich became a member of this association and its chairman. But still strained relations remain with him with the main core of artists, the "Versailles rhapsods". And they, in turn, did not share Roerich's interest in past eras, or, as Benoit wrote, in "distant bestial ancestors", considered him a "stranger" in their midst. And it becomes clear why in 1903 he wrote with bitterness about his contemporaries: "But we do not know how, we do not want to help the people again find beauty in their difficult life." V.P. Knyazeva, I.A. Sobolev. N. Roerich (album).

The new association was actively involved in exhibitions in St. Petersburg-Petrograd and other cities of Russia. The main criterion for the selection of works for exhibitions was proclaimed "skill and creative originality". This tolerance has attracted many talented artists to exhibitions and to the ranks of the association. Subsequently, 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. Among the exhibitors were 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. Falk, M.Z. Chagall and others.

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, which eventually led to a serious split in the association. The last exhibition "World of Art" was held in 1927 in Paris.

"A work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the creator's personality" (Sergei Diaghilev).

In these words of S. Diaghilev, the essence of the work of the artists of the World of Art association is expressed. For them, the priority was the aesthetic principle in art, the ideas of the Wanderers were not only alien to them - they resisted them.

Association history

The founders of the art association "World of Art" were the St. Petersburg artist A.N. Benois and theatrical figure S.P. Diaghilev.
The "World of Art" has existed since the late 1890s. and with interruptions until 1924. The main core of the association was A.N. Benois, L.S. Bakst, K.A. Somov, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, E.E. Lanceray, I. Ya. Bilibin. K.A. Korovin, A. Ya. Golovin, B.M. Kustodiev, N.K. Roerich, S. Yu. Sudeikin, B. I. Anisfeld and others. At various times the association included V. Serov, I. Levitan, M. Nesterov, M. Vrubel. Ilya Repin shared the views of the Miriskuns.
As we have already said, the activities of the World of Art association opposed themselves to the Itinerants and the Academy of Arts. But what did they suggest? Their program was rather controversial. On the one hand, the artists of this association were supporters of "pure art". On the other hand, they did not break with realism, and in the 1910s. The "world of art" opposed decadence and formalism, although at the beginning of their activity they strove for modernity and symbolism. The strongest trend in their work was a retrospective, fascination with the culture of the 17th-18th centuries.

Leon Bakst. Costume design for I. Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird" (1910)
Most of all, the activity of the "World of Art" manifested itself in book graphics and theatrical scenery. Defending the content and integrity of the performance's solution, the artist's active role in it, "World of Art" continued the reform of theatrical and decorative art, begun by the decorators of the opera S.I. Mamontov.

A. Benois. Illustration for the poem by A.S. Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman"
The decoration works of the World of Art artists are characterized by high culture, enrichment of the theater with the achievements of modern painting, artistic integrity of solutions, delicate taste and depth of interpretation of stage works, including ballet ones.

Prerequisites for the creation of the association "World of Art"

B.M. Kustodiev "Group portrait of artists of the society" World of Art "" (1916-1920). State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg)

The prerequisites were dictated by the time itself. By the end of the XIX century. many young artists were disenchanted with academic painting, which was officially supported by the Academy of Arts. At first, several young artists united who did not always even have an art education (for example, Alexander Benois studied at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University).
The artists were united by a longing for the past, the search for ideals in the art of the era of Peter I, in the baroque of the middle of the 18th century, in the empire of the times of Paul I. They also respected the cultural heritage of Western Europe.
The critic V.V. Stasov was hostile to the members of the new association, since they were far from democratic art. He saw in them only representatives of decadence.

"Russian Seasons" by S. Diaghilev

V. Serov. Portrait of Diaghilev (1909)
A large role was played by the artists of the "World of Art" in the design of the performances of "Russian Seasons" abroad, organized by S.P. Diaghilev, one of the leaders and ideological inspirers of the World of Art. In 1899-1904. Diaghilev published a magazine of the same name in St. Petersburg.

B. Anisfeld "Underwater Kingdom", composition based on the fantastic ballet of the same name to music from the opera "Sadko" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov. Russian Seasons Abroad, by S. Diaghilev's entreprise (1911). Theater Châtelet (Paris)
"Russian Seasons" - touring performances of Russian ballet and opera dancers (1908-1929), organized by the famous cultural figure and entrepreneur Diaghilev abroad: from 1908 - in Paris, from 1912 - in London, from 1915 - in other countries. Ballet became the main activity of the enterprise. Operas were staged mainly until 1914. But the beginning of the "Russian Seasons" was 1906, when Diaghilev brought an exhibition of Russian artists to Paris. In 1908, the opera Boris Godunov was performed in Paris, in the production of which A. Benois, K. Yuon, E. Lanceray took part; costume sketches were created by I. Bilibin; the opera's soloists were Chaliapin, Kastorsky, Smirnov, Ermolenko-Yuzhina and others. In 1908-1909. operas "The Woman of Pskov" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Prince Igor" by Borodin and others were performed.

A. Benois. Sketch for the ballet "Sylphides"
In 1909, ballets by M.M. Fokine: "The Pavilion of the Armida" (art. AN Benois), "Polovtsian Dances" (art. NK Roerich); "Sylphides" ("Chopiniana") to the music of Chopin, "Cleopatra" ("Egyptian Nights") by Arensky (art. LS Bakst) and the divertissement "Feast" to the music of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Mussorgsky.
The ballet troupe consisted of artists from the St. Petersburg Mariinsky and Moscow Bolshoi theaters. Soloists: A.P. Pavlova, V.F. Nijinsky, T.P. Karsavina, E.V. Geltser, S.F. Fedorova, M.M. Mordkin, V.A. Karalli, M. P. Fromman and others. Choreographer - M. M. Fokin.
Since 1910, Russian Seasons passed without the participation of the opera. In 1911 Diaghilev decided to create a permanent troupe, which was finally formed by 1913 and was named Diaghilev's Russian Ballet.

Leon Bakst. Costume design for Nijinsky's ballet "Afternoon of a Faun" (1912)
With the new season of 1912, Diaghilev began to change the character of his entreprise, moving more and more away from the traditional idea of ​​ballet and moving towards new, experimental forms. After Diaghilev's death in 1929, his troupe broke up.
Russian Seasons played a huge role in the promotion of Russian art abroad and in the development of the world artistic process of the 20th century.

World of Art magazine

Leon Bakst. Cover of the magazine "World of Art" No. 2, 1902

One of the organizers and ideologists of the art association "World of Art" was Alexander Benois, and the magazine was organized by Sergei Diaghilev at the expense of Princess M. Tenisheva and Moscow philanthropist Savva Mamontov. After his bankruptcy V. Serov took care of providing the magazine with state support. The editorial secretary of the edition was a Russian publicist, art and literary critic D. Filosofov.

Further history of the art association "World of Art"

The classic period in the life of the association dates back to 1900-1904. At this time, the association was distinguished by a special unity of aesthetic and ideological principles. On February 24, 1900, in the editorial office of the World of Art magazine, a meeting of participants in the magazine's exhibitions was held, which was attended by artists L. Bakst, A. Benois, I. Bilibin, I. Braz, I. Walter, Ap. Vasnetsov, N. Dosekin, E. Lancere, I. Levitan, F. Malyavin, M. Nesterov, A. Ober, A. Ostroumova, V. Purvitis, F. Rushits, S. Svetoslavsky, K. Somov, V. Serov, J. Tsionglinsky, S. Diaghilev.
After 1904, the association expanded, but lost its ideological unity. In 1904-1910. most of the members of the World of Art were members of the Union of Russian Artists. In 1910, the art society "World of Art" was revived, N.K. Roerich.
After the revolution, many of its leaders emigrated. The association actually ceased to exist by 1924. The last exhibition of the "World of Art" was held in Paris in 1927.
We will tell you about the work of some artists, members of the World of Art association in separate articles.

"The ABC of the World of Art"

In 1911, M. Dobuzhinsky compiled the comic "ABC of the World of Art" - a series of watercolor caricatures of "Miriskusniki" from A to Z.