Russian Symbolism

Introduction

The Russian symbolism was the Spiritual and Artistic movement that dominated the late nineteenth century until the early twentieth. He was mainly known for his contribution to Russian poetry. Symbolism represented a new artistic strategy, which avoided trying to portray reality and instead tried to evoke emotions (Russian Symbolism - New World Encyclopedia). In Russia, it was developed later than in other European countries. It was largely influenced by French, Scandinavian and Belgian movements, but developed faster and more actively than in the West. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was the only European country with such a difficult economic, political and social situation, which provoked the desire for change. At that time, Russian art was trying to form the idea of the central driving force of life and took on the mission to change the ugly Russian reality, making it beautiful, filling it with a higher kind of beauty and spirituality (The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine). Primary influences on the movement were the absurd and mystical poetry and philosophy of Tyutchev and Soloviov, the operas of Wagner, the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, the French Symbolists and Decadent poets such as Mallarmé, Verlaine and Baudelaire, and the dramas of Henrik Ibsen (Russian Symbolism - New World Encyclopedia).

Rise of Symbolism - The Older Generation

Russian symbolism can be divided into two stages, the so-called "two waves". The first wave took place in the early 1890s and came in the form of the chaotic neoromantic protest against 1) the prosaism of life and 2) the analytical perception of the world. In their desire to escape from the existing reality, each of the "older symbolists" chose his own path. Some of them turned 1) to the characters of romantic literature, others 2) to ancient history, while 3) others to religious and moral ideals. All of them dreamed of changing the surrounding world by creating their own, new world, with the laws of high art (The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine). Until the mid-1890s, Russian symbolism was still primarily a set of theories and had few notable practitioners. Some of the artists of the first wave of Russian symbolism include: 1) Minsky, 2) Merezkovsky, who is considered the "father" of Russian symbolism, 3) Zinaida Gripius, who was a very important poet of the early days of the symbolist movement, 4) Konstantin Balmont, who is regarded as one of the most popular poets, 5) Fyodor Sologumb,  who was a pessimistic Russian symbolist writer and 6) Alexei Remizov, who wrote mainly prose. Although the fame of many of these writers had already faded by the mid-20th century, the influence of the symbolist movement was of paramount importance (Wikipedia contributors).

Russian symbolism - new generation

The "second wave" of Russian symbolism appeared in 1900 (The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine). Currently, Russian symbolism really flourished. Many young talents began to publish verses written in a symbolist vein. His self-proclaimed principle was to combine the "archaic Miltonian saying" into Russian poetry. From the new generation, two young poets became the most famous of the movement, Alexander Block and Andrei Belly (Wikipedia contributors). Unlike the first wave, it acquired features of an aesthetic system and the nature of an artistic trend. While each "elder symbolist" sought his own way of achieving creative freedom for his own style and individual artistic language, the work of the "new symbolists" was directed towards finding some general principles of symbolist art. They wanted to elaborate a symbolist artistic language. The brightest representatives of this trend in Russian art were students of Viktor Borisov-Musatov, who continued his ideas and are known as artists of "Blue Rose" (The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine).

Decline of the movement

Russian symbolism began to lose popularity in literature in the 1920s, as many younger poets were attracted either by the flourishing movement, which distanced itself from the excesses of symbolism, or joined the Futurists, an iconoclastic group that tried to completely recreate art, eschewing all aesthetic conventions. However, Symbolism continued to influence poets such as Boris Pasternak (Wikipedia contributors).

Visual arts

In the world of fine arts, the Russian symbolist movement lasted about 20 years and two generations of painters: the first generation from 1890 to 1900, and the second generation from 1900 to 1910. The movement continued to evolve into a third generation of artists, who worked in the second decade of the twentieth century. The most notable artists of the first generation were Alexander Benoit (1870-1960) and Konstantin Somov (1869-1939). For these artists, painting was purely an aesthetic experience, as they worked to create a mood or emotion through the use of color and traditional elements of Symbolism. Two important painters of the Symbolist Movement whose work spanned the first two generations were Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) and Mikhail Nesterov (1863-1942). These two painters were the first to incorporate mystical themes. Later, these themes became the hallmark of the second and third generations of Russian Symbolist painters (Russian Symbolism). Vrubel gained fame with his mosaic canvas entitled Seated Demon (1890) (Wikipedia contributors).

The Blue Rose movement

The second wave of Russian symbolism in painting is often referred to as Blue Rose Movement and was most active from 1904 to 1908. The pioneers of the movement played an important role in its development. The association developed from a club of young artists organized around the beginning of the 20th century at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Its members were united by the desire to put an end to the old system of artistic education based on a naturalistic approach to artistic problems by proposing instead a vibrant, inspired art (The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine). These artists were not only known for their contribution to Russian symbolism, but also for the evolution of modern Russian painting. The name came from the title of the movement's only exhibition held in the spring of 1907. The very name of the movement was in line with the ideals of these painters, for whom the color blue was a symbol of the ultimate world, the higher reality. The term "blue rose" was first used in German symbolist literature to draw parallels with "slender female figures that are as malleable as flowers." The movement's paintings were characterized by their dreamlike, contemplative quality within the framework of introspection and exploration of the spiritual nature of life. The primary goals of these artists were 1) transcending mundane reality and 2) communicating with the beyond, which they achieved through the use of certain symbols such as women, babies, fountains, and rainbows. Color was also a very important element for these artists. They rejected warm colors in favor of "soft" ones. Thus, the palette of these painters consisted of blue, gray and green, which they used for psychological appeal (Russian Symbolism).

The Third Generation of Russian Symbolists

The painting, Birth of Aphrodite (1912) by Nikolai Miliotis (1874-1962), marked the beginning of her development abstract painting, along with many similarities to Kandinsky's work of the same time period. In his painting, the Milioti He created a rhythmic pattern through the dynamic use of the line that became known as "sonography". Kandinsky, who was recognized as the pioneer of abstract art, created a series of these sound paintings, which he named Compositions (Russian Symbolism).

The Birth of the Russian Avant-Garde

Neglecting or even distorting form, his artists Blue Rose freed art from the rigid demands of Realism. Their work instilled a new form of dynamism into Russian painting, which later became the hallmark of artists of the Russian avant-garde. Abstraction of reality, his artists Blue Rose reduced the importance of this object to a minimum. Color and line became an expressive force unprecedented in the history of Russian painting, as the loss of "objectivity" was compensated by an increase in philosophical and mystical value in their work. It was in their "internalization", in the transmutation of the object and not in its rejection, that his artists Blue Rose remained deeply Symbolist, while maintaining a direct connection to the future achievement of the Russian avant-garde (Russian Symbolism).

Theatre

Regarding theater, Paul Schmidt, an important translator, wrote that: "The Cherry Orchard and some other late works by Chekhov showed the influence of the symbolist movement." Stanislavsky collaborated with Englishman Edward Craig on a major production of Hamlet in 1911–12, which experimented with symbolist monodrama as the basis for his direction (Wikipedia contributors). Nikolai Evreinov was one of many writers who developed symbolic theory of theater. Evreinov insisted that everything around us is "theater" and that nature is full of theatrical conventions, for example, desert flowers imitating stones, mice feigning death to escape the clutches of cats, and the intricate dances of some birds. Theater, for Evreinov, was a universal symbol of existence (Wikipedia contributors).

Music

In music, the most important Russian symbolist was Alexander Scriabin, who in First Symphony He praised art as a kind of religion (Wikipedia contributors). The symbolic characteristics of his works can be compared with 1) the literary, 2) poetic and 3) artistic conceptions of Beli, Ivanov, Balmont, Vrubel and many others. Such stylistic and aesthetic features of symbolism are the unspoken, indirect sentence, the mystical or the "arabesque". As the main figure of Russian symbolism in music, and an exceptional one at that, Scriabin transcended the boundaries of Symbolism, seeking to set a new paradigm in Russian artistic culture at the beginning of the 20th century and reach a "new form of spirituality" (Tchinaev). The spirit of music permeated Russian symbolism. Poetry itself had a special musicality, as the Symbolists tried to turn words into music and develop the innate musicality of poetic form. They used sound and rhythm to create a mood, evoke emotions, bypass logic and directly attract the unconscious. The symbolists not only loved music, for them music was a guiding principle, a worldview, the ideal society they desired. They believed that music would be their soul and restore the destroyed totality of Russian society. Of all the leading Symbolists, only Merezkovsky did not elevate the spirit of music (Rosenthal). Under the auspices of this movement, artistic concerns moved from romanticism to the transcendent, where beauty and grandeur were transformed into an experience of religious communion. Poetry and music soon became a spell and an example of theurgy, a kind of religious magic. These concerns cannot simply fall under the narrative of the transition to atonality. Russian symbolism began in the Silver Age, a period that has been described as one of the most vibrant eras of Russian culture. The many apocalyptic premonitions during this period reflected not only the dawn of a new century, but also a turbulent political climate that culminated in two revolutions. Much of the art reflected this very atmosphere. The principles of the Russian symbolist movement epitomized the tendency towards transcendentism in art that encompassed the whole of Europe. Rooted in the teachings of the Neoplatonists, theurgy is defined as a kind of "religious magic." With music placed on such a high pedestal, soon the Symbolists tried to harness its power. For example, Beli experimented by writing four symphonies in prose, while Churlioni tried to express this in painting, trying to imitate the form of sonata and fugue. The composers themselves, however, played an integral role in this interest in musical theurgy (Rowen).

Scriabin was incessantly presented as a pioneer of the symbolist cause. Having been influenced by German idealistic philosophy and occult thought, he became confident that his own compositional art could reveal universal truth. Scriabin's claim of synesthesia also helped reiterate this idea, pushing him further toward apparent megalomania. He intended to write the seven-day piece titled Mystery which was the model of the overall artwork, combining music, smells, aromas and color through an illuminated piano. Scriabin's musical projects show the culmination of the Symbolist agenda. Although it did not cause a revelation, the nature of his compositional practice had a significant impact on the world of music. It pushed the boundaries of the tonal conventions of the late 19th century to the point of collapse. The impetus towards the metaphysical present throughout the symbolist agenda is an important evolution towards modernity. Pushing To find new ways of expressing subjectivity, the Symbolists eventually moved their art forms ever closer to abstraction. If there was a revelation during the fin de siècle it was modernism that caused art to be redefined (Rowen).

Introduction- The World of Art

In the late 1890s, Diaghilev, together with friends, formed the art club "The Art World". This association rejected academicism in all its manifestations. The artists persuaded the famous patrons of the arts Mamontov and Princess Tenishev to fund their magazine. Thanks to Diaghilev's rare organizational talent, but also to his ability to penetrate the essence of the creative process, Sergei organized his exhibitions Club (The Russian eras of Diaghilev: history, interesting facts, videos, films. Postage stamps of Russia). The artists held meetings to discuss art, particularly the philosophy of art. They formulated an aesthetic theory contrary to that then accepted in Russia, but which was known to Western European artists. The theory they proposed was contrary to the Itinerant, The dominant artistic movement of the time. His rejection was tantamount to a rejection of Chernyshevsky and the Russian legacy he had created. The World of Art, He attempted to establish conditions for a competitive art school. He trained Russians in their artistic heritage and informed them about the artistic history of Western Europe. He tried to write the history of Russian art and make it known for two reasons. The first motive was nationalist. The artists wanted to show that Russia did indeed have an art history. The second was to give Russian artists a base on which to work. Nationalism and its expression in art forms was a main theme of the association throughout its period of existence, but the concept of nationalism as well as the means of its formulation changed. The artists of the association were individualists and dealt with artistic and aesthetic issues.  They rejected the realist art school and did not try to plan things properly. They also believed that "good drawing does not consist of academic correctness, but of the artist's ability to convey his subject through drawing." (Grover).

Ballet performances were strongly influenced by the creativity of modernist artists. The sets and costumes were created by figures of the club who turned to symbolism, such as the pioneering artist Goncharov, the Spanish monumental artist Sert, the Italian futurist Bala, the French impressionist Matisse, the neoclassicist Survague, and many others (The Russian eras of Diaghilev: history, interesting facts, videos, films. Postage stamps of Russia). The play of lines on the floor thrilled the audience of the show. A variety of music was used in the performances: from world classics and Richard Strauss to Russian composers Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. In 1907, Sergey Pavlovich organized "Historic Russian concerts", the program of which includes 5 symphonic performances. The unique bass, the choir of the Bolshoi Theater, the directing skills of Arthur Nikis and the pleasant piano of Hoffman captivated the audience thirsty for talent. In the spring of 1908, Diaghilev introduced Paris to opera. However, it did not fill the hall and the proceeds barely covered the cost of organizing the event (The Russian eras of Diaghilev: history, interesting facts, videos, films. Postage stamps of Russia).

Bibliography

Alexander Scriabin - Prometheus or The Poem of Fire (with Score). Directed by Contemporary Classical, 2021. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp386CtJTls.

'Cléopâtre (Ballet)'. Wikipedia, 5 Sept. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cl%C3%A9op%C3%A2tre_(ballet)&oldid=1108567559.

Frédéric Chopin - Les Sylphides (Ballet Music). Directed by miljkmi, 2012. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6RARe-qsDU.

Grover, Stuart R. ‘The World of Art Movement in Russia’. The Russian Review, vol. 32, no. 1, 1973, pp. 28–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/128091.

Le Pavilion d’Armide - Armida’s Pavilion. Directed by Gina Milroy, 2021. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffar0Hc_6TI.

‘Le Pavillon d’Armide’. Wikipedia, 2 July 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_Pavillon_d%27Armide&oldid=1096108111.

‘Les Sylphides’. Wikipedia, 30 June 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Sylphides&oldid=1095739014.

‘Medtner, Prologue from Eight Mood Pictures, Op. 1, No. 1’. Piano World Piano & Digital Piano Forums, https://forum.pianoworld.com//ubbthreads.php/topics/1823099.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

Morrison, S. ‘Interlude: SYMBOLISM’S NUTCRACKER. In Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement’. University of California Press., vol. Second Edition (2nd ed., pp. 71–78)., no. 2nd ed, 2019, pp. 71–78, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpb3vb6.7.

‘Nikolai Medtner’. Wikipedia, 23 Oct. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nikolai_Medtner&oldid=1117816798.

‘Nikolai Tcherepnin’. Wikipedia, 19 Sept. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nikolai_Tcherepnin&oldid=1111083151.

‘Polovtsian Dances’. Wikipedia, 20 Oct. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polovtsian_Dances&oldid=1117237069.

‘Prelude in C-Sharp Minor (Rachmaninoff)’. Wikipedia, 11 Sept. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prelude_in_C-sharp_minor_(Rachmaninoff)&oldid=1109781396.

‘Prince Igor’. Wikipedia, 19 Sept. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prince_Igor&oldid=1111185960.

‘Prometheus: The Poem of Fire’. Wikipedia, 27 Aug. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prometheus:_The_Poem_of_Fire&oldid=1106934181.

Romanou, Katy. 'RUSSIAN MUSIC I IN THE RUSSIA OF THE TSARS'. Notes for students DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS 2001, Jan. 2001. www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/38664175/%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%A3%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%97_%CE%9C%CE%9F%CE%A5%CE%A3%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%97_%CE%91_%CE%A3%CE%A4%CE%97%CE%9D_%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%A3%CE%99%CE%91_%CE%A4%CE%A9%CE%9D_%CE%A4%CE%A3%CE%91%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%9D.

Rosenthal, Bernice G. ‘The Spirit of Music in Russian Symbolism’. Russian History, vol. 10, no. 1, 1983, pp. 66–76. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24652780.

Rowen, Ryan Isao. Transcending Imagination; Or, An Approach to Music and Symbolism during the Russian Silver Age. UCLA, 2015. escholarship.org, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92f9x7r2.

Russian Symbolism. https://musings-on-art.org/russian-symbolist. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.

Russian Symbolism - New World Encyclopedia. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Russian_Symbolism. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.

‘Sergei Prokofiev’. Wikipedia, 20 Oct. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sergei_Prokofiev&oldid=1117286095#Works.

‘Sylph’. Wikipedia, 25 Sept. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sylph&oldid=1112207939.

Tchinaev, Vladimir P. ‘“The Scriabin Case”. The Poetics of Scriabin’s Piano Works and Their Symbolist Analogies’. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (Moscow, Russia), vol. 7, no. 2, 2016, pp. 32–83, https://doi.org/10.26176/mosconsv.2016.25.2.02.

The Blue Rose OF RUSSIAN SYMBOLISM | The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine. 24 Mar. 2019, https://www.tretyakovgallerymagazine.com/node/6590.

The Fiery Angel, Mariinsky Theatre, 2021. Directed by telmondis, 2021. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQgUq3yGss.

‘The Fiery Angel (Opera)’. Wikipedia, 15 Oct. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Fiery_Angel_(opera)&oldid=1116308767.

‘The Queen of Spades (Opera)’. Wikipedia, 6 May 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Queen_of_Spades_(opera)&oldid=1086543912.

Vladimir Rebikov - The Christmas Tree Op. 21 (Audio + Sheet Music). Directed by thenameisgsarci, 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=885j3TRzsX4.

‘Vladimir Rebikov Biography, Songs, & Albums’. AllMusic, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vladimir-rebikov-mn0002184622/biography. Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

Wikipedia contributors. ‘Russian Symbolism’. Russian Symbolism, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Sept. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Russian_symbolism&oldid=1110661069.

The Russian eras of Diaghilev: history, interesting facts, videos, films. Stamps of Russia. https://moscsp.ru/el/russkie-sezony-dyagileva-istoriya-interesnye-fakty-video-filmy.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2022.