Feminism in Russia - Passport magazine

Apart from mythological characters, Russian symbolism of
the Silver Age portrayed personalities not of a divine nature,
but personalities whose emotions nonetheless create the
impression of loftiness and inner concentration. The portrait
of the lady artist E.M. Martynova (1897—1900) by Konstantin
Somov (1869-1939) is a highly poetic image of a sophisticated
and creative woman. A young lady in a light blue décolleté
with a book of poetry stands against a green bush. The artist
transfers his model to the world of the past, puts an old
fashioned dress on and places herself against a background
of a decorative park. As a member of the World of Art group,
Somov stylizes the landscape. The viewer is attracted by the
unusual contrast of the stylized park of the old times, of the
History of Art
18th century dress of the model and the complicated inner
world of the lady artist, Somov’s contemporary.
Victor Borisov-Musatov (1970-1903) became a symbolist on
the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, a highly complicated
epoch highly rich in large creative individualities. However, existing
side by side with Vrubel, Serov and others, he found his
own original way in the arts. The peak of his creativity is “Pond”
(1902). The artist’s poetic dreams are depicted here in a perfect
form. Everything is balanced in this painting, falling into line
with the complicated but strict musical rhythm of the line and
form. The color is also in line with the strict rhythm, the repetition
of blue, tender violet and green correlations. This canvas
looking like a tapestry is monumental and lyrical at the same
time. The most intimate movements of the artist’s soul stand
still in a beautiful moment, in the bewitched and magic world
of beauty. That was the happiest period in the short life of the
talented artist when the girl he was in love with agreed to be
his wife. Both the bride and the sister of the artist acted as models
for this great painting.
Nikolai Roerich (1874–1947), artist, writer, philosopher, a legend
of a man is one of the greatest figures of the Russian symbolism
and Art Nouveau. His creativity is an exclusive phenomenon
in the history of both Russian and world art. His canvases
attract one by their original themes and subjects, by their poetry
and deep symbolism. The unusual life of Roerich is a legend
itself. He started out in Russia and ended up in Asia, having
gone through Europe and America. In his painting “The Himalayas,
the Pink Mountains”, for example, Roerich expressed not
just mountains in a symbolic form, but his philosophy and his
religion, the meditation of a Guru praying for the world. P
April 2011
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