We present a detailed illustrated overview of the Russian Art Nouveau works: from paintings and posters to architectural and decorative masterpieces.
"The new style has completely conquered Europe and become cosmopolitan, like a nord express carriage, which runs through Germany, Belgium and France in one day," Sergei Diaghilev wrote at the beginning of the 20th century. Fleeting — that’s the word for Art Nouveau. Indeed, it did not stay in Russia for a long time, no more than ten to fifteen years: it appeared in the 1890s, existed until the early 1900s. And at the same time, it gave the name to an entire epoch, as it managed to leave the museum halls and take root in all spheres of everyday life of cities and provinces, from the appearance of buildings to household items, clothing, jewellery, posters and even postcards.
Ryabushinsky’s mansion is a residential building in the early Art Nouveau style, built in 1900—1903 by architect Fyodor Shekhtel.
At present time, it is the A. M. Gorky Memorial Flat, Moscow. Photo source
At present time, it is the A. M. Gorky Memorial Flat, Moscow. Photo source
In Russia, this art movement was most often called the modern style or the new style. In France, they called it Art Nouveau and fin de siècle, in the USA — Tiffany, in Germany — Jugendstil, and in Austria, Poland, Czech Republic — Secession… In Europe, it was associated with Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons, the most famous theatrical tours of Russian artists, dancers and musicians. However, it appeared much earlier: the Seasons began in 1908 and lasted until 1929, and the Russian Art Nouveau made itself felt back in the 1890s.
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Art Nouveau
Alexander Golovin.
Portrait of Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold, 1917
By that time, the "frantic avant-gardist", Vsevolod Meyerhold had already put his art colleagues' attempts to bring something new to art in the pillory. "It's awful when the stage is filled with familiar motives from ‘modernist' magazines like Die Kunst, The Studio, Jugend. It’s awful, if art nouveau and modern style, which are everywhere now, on canes, on houses, in pastry shops and on posters, will penetrate the stage, albeit in more noble forms," the director was indignant. And he was not alone: many contemporaries did not accept the new style, considering it decadent.
Meyerhold’s "fears" came true: Russian modern style hastened to go beyond the framework of "pure art" and penetrate into all spheres of life. However, although it came from the pages of magazines, it were the Russian ones, such as Mir Iskusstva, Iskusstvo i Khudozhestvennaya Promyshlennost, Vesy. As well as from art studios in the estates of Talashkino and Abramtsevo, where in the late 19th — early 20th centuries, folk traditions were revived and the new style was born.
Renaissance & handicrafts
Although Russian Art Nouveau had many features in common with its Western European branch, its departure from angles and straight lines, preference for curvy lines, emphasized attention to plant motives, interest in new architectural technologies, the rise of applied art had a pronounced national character.The adherents of Art Nouveau and Secession in the West worked striving to return to the simplicity and practicality of the Middle Ages, the early Renaissance , and followed the aesthetics of the Pre-Raphaelites and the philosophy of John Ruskin in applied art, whereas Russian artists drew inspiration from folk art, reviving domestic art handicrafts.
Joint cultural events of Russian and other artists contributed to the spread of the new style. One of them was the International Exhibition of Posters, which took place in St. Petersburg in 1897. Among the participants, there were Art Nouveau artists recognized in the West, such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Eckmann, Grasset.
Photo Source
For the first time, the word "poster" in the commercial sphere was used by the Russian art critic and curator of the Imperial Hermitage, Andrei Ivanovich Somov. In 1898, he wrote the Poster
article for the new Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, which stated: "The forms of nature are only a pretext for the flight of fantasy; the human face, hands … are barely visible in them, only in the main, beautifully altered, widely drawn outlines, women’s hair turns into ornamental curls and convolutions, flowers, trees and animals take on an unprecedented, bizarre look."
The largest event of this kind was the World Exhibition of 1900: Elena Polenova and Maria Yakunchikova participated in the preparation of the Russian pavilion, the project was created by Vasnetsov and Vrubel, and the architectural solution was made by Golovin and Korovin. The main building for the exhibits was the Pavilion of the Russian outskirts designed by the architect Robert-Friedrich Melzer in the style of the Moscow Kremlin. It looked like a Russian town that grew up in Paris by a miracle.
Photo Source
The openwork cast-iron pavilion of Kasli iron, awarded the Grand Prix at the 1900 World Exhibition.
Russia sculpture by N.A. Laveretsky, Kasli iron, 1896. Kasli cast-iron pavilion.
Konstantin Korovin. Taiga near Baikal. Decorative panel for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
Konstantin Korovin. Handicraft department. Sketch
.
Konstantin Korovin. Decorative panel for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
The public was also delighted by another pavilion, the Kasli cast-iron one, was specially created for the exhibition in the city of Kasli near Chelyabinsk and awarded the Grand Prix. As well as other exhibits and works of art by Russian artists, presented on the largest exposition area, in comparison with the rest of the participants, which measured 24,000 m2. "We are still under the influence of the feeling of surprise and admiration we experienced when we visited the Russian section," the French Liberté wrote.
Viktor Vasnetsov.
Boyan, 1910
Almost from the very moment of its appearance in Russia, Art Nouveau turned to the historical past. Perhaps that is why the works by Viktor Vasnetsov, who was its pioneer, enjoyed such popularity.
The peculiarities of Russian Art Nouveau were subjected to influence from another direction, the interest in the philosophical and aesthetic problems of man, which was especially manifested in the art of Mikhail Vrubel with its fabulous mysticism, the precious stones splendour, the themes of Christ and the Demon.
The six-winged Seraph (Azrael)
1904, 131×155 cm
Don’t you miss the aesthetic Mir Iskusstva, the magazine that united the artworks of Vasnetsov and Vrubel, Alexander Golovin, Mikhail Nesterov, Viktor Borisov-Musatov, Elena Polenova, Ivan Bilibin, Konstantin Somov, Léon Bakst, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky on its pages! And for many years, under the strict guidance of the first Russian producer, impresario Sergei Diaghilev, it actively promoted the new style.
Mir Iskusstva magazine cover.
Maria Vasilievna Yakunchikova-Weber.
History getting along with mysticism
The concept of "stylization", important for modernist aesthetics, which was essential in every article about the style peculiarities, came into use in the 1890s thanks to the artist Elena Polenova, who was looking for methods of "aesthetic transformation of nature"."In our Russian ornament, I could notice a feature that I have not seen in other nations. It is use of not just geometric combinations, always somewhat dry, but also more lively motives, inspired by natural impressions, i.e. stylization of plants and animals, for example, the development of a leaf, flower, fish, bird," Polenova wrote.
"Looking for inspiration in nature is a common principle of art, common to all mankind," one of her contemporaries echoed her in 1901. "But as the artist’s personality is reflected in his work, the work of a whole people reflects those features, … which are characteristic of its race, its life, its historical past." Fortunately, there is an immense scope for this.
Heroes
1898, 295.3×446 cm
Valkyrie of Russian Art Nouveau and Savva the Magnificent
Originally, the Mir Iskusstva magazine was sponsored by Princess Maria Tenisheva and the philanthropist Savva Mamontov. Both were notable for the fact that at the end of the 19th century, they founded art-industrial studios on their estates, which became centres of education and revival of the national culture: she was in Talashkino near Smolensk, he was in Abramtsevo, near Moscow.
Teremok Historical and Architectural Complex.
Talashkino-Flonovo. Photo
Both Talashkino and Abramtsevo united painters, musicians, artists who not only came, but lived and worked there for a long time.
"I have long wanted to implement one more plan in Talashkino. The Russian style, as it has been interpreted until now, was completely forgotten… I wanted to try my hand in this direction, calling on the aid of an artist with great imagination, who was also working on this old Russian fabulous past, to find a person with whom I could create an artistic atmosphere that I lacked," Tenisheva wrote in her memoirs.
The Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino (1910s) was richly decorated with ornamented ceramic tiles with plant motifs. The Saviour Not Made by Hands icon by Nicholas Roerich was located on the western façade above the entrance. He created the mosaics and canvas paintings on the walls by the Russian painting techniques of the 12—13th centuries.
Church of the Saviour Not Made by Hands. Western façade
Designed by V. M. Vasnetsov and V. D. Polenov. 1881—1882
Designed by V. M. Vasnetsov and V. D. Polenov. 1881—1882
Mikhail Vrubel. The stove in Abramtsevo. 1890
Mikhail Vrubel. Sadko dish, 1899—1900. Abramtsevo ceramic studio. Majolica, coloured glaze. The Russian Museum
Three-part sideboard with stained-glass window in the Russian style, sketched by Elena Polenova. The studio in Abramtsevo.
Vasily Polenov. A sketch
of the scenery for the Joseph play staged in Abramtsevo with the guests and the hosts themselves acting.
Ilya Repin.
Portrait of Princess M. K. Tenisheva
1896
The dreams came true: Mikhail Vrubel created sketches, and architect Sergei Malyutin built a neo-Russian style temple of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino, designed by the artist Nicholas Roerich. Nikolai Konstantinovich also decorated the building with paintings and mosaics. Ilya Repin and Konstantin Korovin painted their portraits of Tenisheva in Talashkino.
In Abramtsevo, Valentin Serov painted his Girl with Peaches, the daughter of Savva Mamonotov, Vera; Vasnetsov painted his Alenushka, Vrubel created his majolica in the studios there, Vasily Polenov made the scenery for the performances of Mamontov’s Private Opera, in which he himself took part with other distinguished guests. According to art historians, it was there that a new type of theatrical scenery emerged, which Diaghilev later adopted in the design of his Seasons.
By the way, the artistic settlements in Abramtsevo and Talashkino were signs of the time: they were somewhat similar to the colonies of the French impressionists, who settled in Argenteuil near Paris at about the same period. The difference was that neither Monet, nor Renoir, nor their colleagues tried to find the national ground of art. And the Russian "villagers" put this idea at the forefront: artist Elena Polenova and the wife of Savva Ivanovich, Elizaveta Mamontova, the protectress of the Abramtsevo club walked many miles to collect decorative elements of peasant huts and household items.
Oh, Those Storytellers, or To the Past — for the Future
"Art is too little part of our life!" Alexander Benois lamented, assuring that it should not look like an everyday reality, boring and inexpressive.Plunging into the past, sometimes fabulous (which was especially evident in the works of Bilibin, Vasnetsov, Polenova), "royal hunting", the conventional "gallant age" (which Dobuzhinsky, Benois, Somov were fond of), they modernized the images of "distant old times". And they used the power of beauty to fight with the greyness of the surrounding world to transform buildings, interiors, clothes, jewellery, household items.
The interior of the mansion of A. I. Derozhinskaya.
Built in 1901−1904. Designed by architect Fyodor Shekhtel.
Built in 1901−1904. Designed by architect Fyodor Shekhtel.
The new trends also touched on theatrical scenery (decorators have become very influential persons in the production), and book design. Since then, an individual design has been created for each performance, rather than selected from old stocks, as before. Books were illustrated in a unique style, while graphics were revived as an independent art. This happened largely thanks to the "saviour" of woodcuts, Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva.
1970, 34.2×48.6 cm
1904
Aleksander Benois
The King’s Walk, 1906
Graphic art.
"You love the past too much to appreciate at least something modern", the painter and art critic Igor Grabar scolded Alexander Benois. The gaze of Alexander Nikolaevich and some of the "modernist hailers", indeed, was turned to the past, but fictional, poeticized and fabulously beautiful, organically blended into the reality of the turn of the 19—20th centuries.
The Art Nouveau artists strove to bring to life the main idea, the synthesis of arts, which emerged the universal artist: architects were successful painters and graphic artists, and painters worked in the field of decorative and applied arts. But the main thing is that each their work, whether it is a private mansion, a tenement house, a public building, interior design, furniture, household items or decorations created according to their sketches, reflected the personality of the artist.
- The project of the theatre façade by architect I.A. Ivanov-Schitz, one of the Russian Art Nouveau maîtres, who developed his own recognizable style based on the Vienna Secession and Greek classics. 1899
- M.A. Vrubel. Mikula Selyaninovich and Volga fireplace, 1899. Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery. Photo source: yavarda.ru
Faust. Triptych
1896
Vrubel created these decorative panels for the Gothic study
in the house of A. V. Morozov in Moscow.
The trendsetters
Léon Bakst, the set designer for Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons and the author of a gallery of spectacular portraits, was an innovator in every way. It was he who became one of the trendsetters of European fashion, especially for exoticism and orientalism . He also influenced the fashion preferences of the early 20th century: he created designs for fabrics and sketches of stage costumes, the models of which so much impressed the top Parisian couturiers Jeanne Paquin, Paul Poiret, Charles Frederic Worth, and other world fashion designers thereafter.
Ladle. The Firm of Carl Fabergé, 1889—1908
Not only Art Nouveau outfits have become fashionable, but also jewellery in the form of stylized flowers, dragonflies, butterflies, and intricate decorative elements. As well as dishes, even spatulas had intricately curved handles.
Elena Polenova was one of those who enthusiastically created ornaments for furniture and household items based on Russian folk ornaments. Vasnetsov, Korovin, Benois, Lanceray, Golovin created interior sketches and thus raised the aesthetic bar of the townsfolk.
The shell-shaped enamel bonbonniere cut from solid topaz with hinged lid. The lid is inlaid with gold, diamonds, cabochon ruby. The Firm of Carl Fabergé, made by Mikhail Perkhin. 1890, St. Petersburg.
Perfume bottle. 1886. The Firm of Carl Fabergé.
Brooch. Gold, diamonds, amethysts, rubies. Russia, early 20th century.
Basket with Lilies of the Valley table decoration. St. Petersburg,
1895-1898, the Firm of Carl Fabergé, made by M. Perkhin. Photo
1895-1898, the Firm of Carl Fabergé, made by M. Perkhin. Photo
Architectural ecstasy
Tenement buildings, banks, shops, Art Nouveau mansions are a story of its own. Art Nouveau architects sought to convey not only the "aesthetic spectacularity of the façades" through flowing lines, floral motifs, asymmetry, decorativeness, stylization, but also to create an atmosphere of intimacy, comfort and cosiness inside the room itself. The architecture of Russian Art Nouveau had other features as well."Under the sky, which is often gloomy, the building tops should be very expressive silhouettes, and their outer surfaces should be very vivid juxtapositions of light and shadow to achieve greater effect during the long and beautiful summer days. Old Russian architects took these two conditions into account. They not only loved silhouettes that boldly stand out in the sky, but they also knew how to give them an impression as graceful as picturesque," noted the French architect Viollet-le-Duc. This observation was adopted by the architects of Russian Art Nouveau Fyodor Shekhtel, Lev Kekushev, Fyodor Lidval, Alexander von Hohen, Gustav Gelrich, who created their architectural masterpieces in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Astrakhan, Saratov, Omsk.
Singer Company house. 1902—1904, St. Petersburg. Designed by architect Pavel Suzor for the Singer Joint Stock Company in Russia. Photo
The State Museum of the Political History of Russia is located in the centre of St. Petersburg in old mansions that belonged to the ballerina M. F. Kschessinska and the timber merchant V. E. Brant. Photo
Tenement building of N. G. Tarkhova. Moscow, 1903. Architect G. I. Makayev (he is also the developer and the first owner of the house). Photo
Metropol Hotel. Moscow, 1899—1905. Philanthropist Savva Mamontov was the initiator of the construction: by his order, the British architect and artist William Walcot developed the initial project. But in the same year, Savva Ivanovich was arrested on charges of large embezzlement, and although he was fully acquitted eventually, his property was sold off to pay for debts. The new owners invited architects Lev Kekushev and Nikolai Shevyakov: they became co-authors of the project. Separate interiors in the Metropol were designed by architects Ivan Zholtovsky, Adolf Erichson and Viktor Vesnin. As well as artists Mikhail Vrubel, Alexander Golovin, Sergei Chekhonin, Ignatiy Nivinsky, sculptor Nikolai Andreev, ceramic artist Pyotr Vaulin. Photo
The main façade of the Yaroslavsky railway station building in Moscow. Architects Roman Kuzmin, Fyodor Shekhtel, 1880—1882. Photo source
Tenement building of Z. A. Pertsova on Prechistinskaya embankment in Moscow. Architect Nikolai Zhukov. Built in 1907. Photo source
S. N. Chaev’s mansion was built in St. Petersburg in 1906—1907. Architect Vladimir Apyshkov. Photo Source
House of the Eliseev Brothers Trade Partnership in St. Petersburg. 1902—1903. Architect G. V. Baranovsky. Photo Source
Four sculptures by A. G. Adamson are installed on the façade of the Eliseev Brothers Trade Partnership house: Art, Industry, Science, and Trade.
Towered house in St. Petersburg, also known as the Rosenstein-Belogrud house, 1913—1915. The authors of the project are K. I. Rosenstein, A. E. Belogrud. Since 1996, the Andrei Mironov St. Petersburg Russian Entreprise Theatre, founded in 1988, is located here. Photo Source
The former tenement house of K. K. Keldal on Kamennoostrovsky prospect, 13. Architect Wilhelm Schaub, 1903. Photo source
Bas-reliefs on the façade of the tenement house of K. K. Keldal on Kamennoostrovsky prospect. Photo Source
Arseny Morozov’s mansion on Vozdvizhenka, now the Reception House of the Government of the Russian Federation; from 1959 to the end of the 1990s — the House of Friendship with the Peoples of Foreign Countries. The author of the project is V. Mazyrin. 1895—1899. Photo source
Mansion of I. L. Ding, 1902. Moscow. Architect Alexandr Kalmykov. Photo Source
Kekusheva’s mansion on Ostrozhenka. Architect Lev Kekushev. 1900/1901—1903, Moscow. Initially, the site belonged to the wife of the architect, Anna Kekusheva, but was soon sold. After the reconstruction in 2018, the mansion was occupied by one of the divisions of the diplomatic corps. Photo Source
The mansion house of Paisiy Mikhailovich Maltsev, a large grain merchant, built in the 1900s by Shekhtel’s project, Balakovo, Saratov Oblast. Maltsev’s library mansion was built at the beginning of the 20th century based on Western European Baroque
with masks and vultures, an intricate attic, urns and balustrades on the roofs. Photo Source
Mansion of A. I. Derozhinskaya. Built in 1901-1904. Designed by architect Fyodor Shekhtel for Alexandra Derozhinskaya, owner of the Ivan Butikov’s Manufactories Partnership textile enterprise. Recognized as one of the most expressive examples of Moscow Art Nouveau. Photo Source
Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, building 6, chapel. Architect F. O. Shekhtel, 1892. Moscow. Photo Source
Church of St. Basil of Caesarea on Tverskaya-Yamskaya St. Just in front of the church, there is a chapel in memory of the wedding day of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich. Architect Fyodor Shekhtel. 1902, Moscow. Photo Source
Paradise Theatre building. Architects Tersky, Shekhtel (theatre facade), 1885, Moscow. At present day — the Mayakovsky Theatre. Photo
Stylization on the Gothic theme, poeticization of the heritage of Russian classicism
and Empire
style, roofs crowned with dragons, multi-coloured façades decorated with ornaments, sculptures of naiads and lion heads, mosaic
panels, stained glass windows, twisted staircases with waves billowing at the lower steps… And also railings through which gigantic lilies, irises, orchids. Each mansion was unique and turned into a kind of standard for a new style.
Image of iris on the façade of the merchant N. I. Kazakov’s mansion (1898)
Architect Karl Hippius. Photo Source
Architect Karl Hippius. Photo Source
The interiors were not inferior to the external appearance of the buildings. The baroque
character of the main staircase did not argue with the "fine carvings of doors, close to Japanese graphics", the fireplace decorated with openwork birds in majolica glaze, and authentic Vrubel’s painting on the entire wall — on the contrary, it was favourably contrasted.
The mansion was built in 1900—1903 by order of the banker and manufacturer S. P. Ryabushinsky, an art lover and connoisseur. He entrusted the construction of the house to his close friend, the architect Fyodor Shekhtel. One of the symbols of the mansion is the wave-shaped marble staircase.
Ryabushinsky mansion. The arched opening between the dining room and the hall.
The decor of the mansion comprises many floral patterns, images of insects, animals of the surface and underwater world: turtoises, jellyfish, seahorses, shells, etc. The lobby windows are decorated with stained-glass windows in the form of a huge butterfly wing, the floor mosaic depicts water swell, the stucco relief resembles a duckweed pond with a sluggish snail.
The decor of the mansion comprises many floral patterns, images of insects, animals of the surface and underwater world: turtoises, jellyfish, seahorses, shells, etc. The lobby windows are decorated with stained-glass windows in the form of a huge butterfly wing, the floor mosaic depicts water swell, the stucco relief resembles a duckweed pond with a sluggish snail.
The Gorky memorial library in the Ryabushinsky mansion. Photo source: museum.imli.ru
The dining and living room in the Ryabushinsky mansion: this is how it looked in the time of Maxim Gorky.
Balcony with spiral owl eyes against the frieze with orchids. Ryabushinsky mansion.
Ryabushinsky mansion. Frieze detail.
Today the Ryabushinsky mansion is called a masterpiece of Moscow Art Nouveau and a classic of the genre. In the early 20th century, the style enjoyed quite contradictory attitude: "The ugliest example of decadent style. There is not a single honest line, not a single right angle. Everything is spoiled with obscene squiggles, mediocre arrogant crooks. The stairs, ceilings, windows — all this vile vulgarity. Now it has been painted, varnished and therefore became even more impudent," Kornei Chukovsky wrote in his diary about this building.
For a long time it was believed that the "low taste" of bourgeois clients influenced the aesthetics of the style, but another phenomenon appeared, the passionate desire of Russian modern artists to fight the "ugly" in the world with the help of "art in all its manifestations". They partly succeeded: at that time, according to Igor Grabar, art expanded beyond the museum halls and surrounded man in his daily life — "on the street, at home, in architecture, clothes, in books, in the theatre". It seemed to acquire an "independent spirituality". For the creators of Art Nouveau, everything mattered, every detail became a work of art.
- The three-fold screen. The early 20th century. Russia, St. Petersburg. F. Meltzer factory. Pear, carving, painting.
- At the late 19th — early 20th centuries, the famous furniture manufactory of the Meltzer brothers occupied a leading place in the Russian furniture industry. Armchair. St. Petersburg, late 19th century
"In this atmosphere, a work of art turns out to be a magical subject endowed with its own spirituality, capable of self-development," the poet Osip Mandelstam quipped about it.
The house of Zinaida Morozova in Spiridonovka, a Moscow estate in the neo-Gothic style, 1893—1898. It is considered a masterpiece of early Moscow Art Nouveau. Rumours nicknamed the rich and unusual merchant house "palazzo" and "the Moscow miracle". Photo Source
Portrait of Zinaida Grigorievna Morozova.
In the early 1890s, Savva Morozov bought a mansion with a garden in Spiridonovka and titled it in the name of his wife. Fyodor Shekhtel took over the reconstruction of the house. The Morozovs arranged a ball on the occasion of the housewarming, which was long discussed throughout Moscow. After the death of Savva Morozov, Zinaida Grigorievna sold the estate to the industrialist and philanthropist Mikhail Ryabushinsky, who emigrated in 1918. The building was later nationalized.
The main staircase. Sculpture by Mikhail Vrubel. Photo from the book by Viktor Sutormin, On Both Sides of the Arbat or Three Houses of Margarita. The PathWalker.
The mansion of Z. G. Morozova. After the nationalization, the building was transferred to the department of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs and later converted into the Reception House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Photo
Photo
After the eccentric artists who adored pretentious undertakings, other authors came and "made up for the lost time" by mass production of "standard projects". And the works created by the artists of Art Nouveau remained as a memory of their desire to escape from the ordinary to the world of beauty, where everything was unique, individual, inimitable.
