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Moscow & St. Petersburg 1900-1920: Art, Life, & Culture of the Russian Silver Age
Lavishly illustrated, Moscow & St. Petersburg 1900–1920 is the quintessential guide to Russia’s vibrant and influential Silver Age.
In this elegantly written narrative survey, John E. Bowlt sheds new light on Russia’s Silver Age, the period of artistic renaissance that flourished as Imperial Russia’s power waned. Much of the creative energy could be attributed to the Symbolist movement, whose proponents sought to transcend the barriers of bourgeois civility and whose unconventional lifestyles led some critics to label them Decadents and Degenerates. But, as Sergei Diaghilev declared, theirs was not a moral or artistic decline, but a voyage of inner discovery and a reinvention of a national culture.
Bowlt’s richly textured volume focuses not only on Russia’s best known artists from this period—Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, Igor Stravinsky, Anna Pavlova and poet Anna Akhmatova—but also on lesser known movements of the period—experimental theater, Nikolai Kalmakov’s innovative painting, and the free dance practiced by followers of Duncan and Dalcroze.
Praise for Moscow & St. Petersburg :
"This book will serve as a reference resource . . . . This ambitious English-language publication aims to cover not only every art group of the time but every aspect of the Russian culture. The pictorial layout of John Bowlt’s book renders the sheer proliferation of new ideas immediately apparent. The highly charged text charts the medley of productions, groups, and individuals, all loosely associated with the symbolist movement, that make up the vast canvas. As the leading specialist in the Russian 20th-century avant-garde, Professor Bowlt is well qualified to place the silver age in context." ~ The Art Newspaper
"This lushly illustrated volume captures the artistic explosion that was Russia’s Silver Age." ~ Russian Life
"(An) authoritative feast of a book." ~ The Irish Times
"Splendidly illustrated, beautifully designed . . . ." ~ Shepherd Express
"A truly seminal work . . . ." ~ Midwest Book Review
"Lavishly illustrated and elegantly written narrative survey." ~ Panache Privée
"A dazzling array of color illustrations and period photos displaying the glories of Russia’s art, architecture and scientific achievements." ~ California Literary Review
In this elegantly written narrative survey, John E. Bowlt sheds new light on Russia’s Silver Age, the period of artistic renaissance that flourished as Imperial Russia’s power waned. Much of the creative energy could be attributed to the Symbolist movement, whose proponents sought to transcend the barriers of bourgeois civility and whose unconventional lifestyles led some critics to label them Decadents and Degenerates. But, as Sergei Diaghilev declared, theirs was not a moral or artistic decline, but a voyage of inner discovery and a reinvention of a national culture.
Bowlt’s richly textured volume focuses not only on Russia’s best known artists from this period—Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, Igor Stravinsky, Anna Pavlova and poet Anna Akhmatova—but also on lesser known movements of the period—experimental theater, Nikolai Kalmakov’s innovative painting, and the free dance practiced by followers of Duncan and Dalcroze.
Praise for Moscow & St. Petersburg :
"This book will serve as a reference resource . . . . This ambitious English-language publication aims to cover not only every art group of the time but every aspect of the Russian culture. The pictorial layout of John Bowlt’s book renders the sheer proliferation of new ideas immediately apparent. The highly charged text charts the medley of productions, groups, and individuals, all loosely associated with the symbolist movement, that make up the vast canvas. As the leading specialist in the Russian 20th-century avant-garde, Professor Bowlt is well qualified to place the silver age in context." ~ The Art Newspaper
"This lushly illustrated volume captures the artistic explosion that was Russia’s Silver Age." ~ Russian Life
"(An) authoritative feast of a book." ~ The Irish Times
"Splendidly illustrated, beautifully designed . . . ." ~ Shepherd Express
"A truly seminal work . . . ." ~ Midwest Book Review
"Lavishly illustrated and elegantly written narrative survey." ~ Panache Privée
"A dazzling array of color illustrations and period photos displaying the glories of Russia’s art, architecture and scientific achievements." ~ California Literary Review
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 13, 2013
A wonderful introduction to Russian art in the last years of tsardom and the first years of Bolshevik rule. Bowlt looks at the cultural context of the Russian Silver Age and at the tensions inside a vast country on the edge of Europe, where a new intelligentsia tried to adapt modernism to Russia--- and drag Russia into the intellectual currents of Paris and the West. Fine illustrations, many of which look at the influence of Silver Age art and artists deep into the Soviet era. Bowlt is a fine writer, and "Moscow & St.Petersburg 1900-1920" is one of those books anyone interested in Russian culture and art will be pulling down to dive into for years.
January 4, 2018
A beautiful book on (mostly) visual arts in the Russian Silver Age.
One can look at it even solely for the visual material, without the narrative.
As for the narrative, I have mixed feelings about its structure. On the one hand, this decision to abstain from the conventional division of material into movements or styles helps to see something more important and connecting for all the different phenomena of the age. On the other hand, it might also be misleading, since as a result of approach through certain 'themes', the same phenomena are mentioned in different chapters. Not a good way to try to understand the basic chronologies. I can imagine being more confused about all this, had I not just taken a course which helped me organize what I know about the Silver Age. (Actually, some of the portions of the book I read during the semester, and now I just finished off the unassigned ones).
Moreover, I have some issues with the attribution of the agency for the cultural developments, but let's not dwell on this.
On a brighter side, I like how Bowlt tackles not only "high art" but applied arts as well, the processed of trickling down of certain aesthetic ideas into consumption goods etc., and somewhat on the part of the dissemination and consumption of the art, not only on the part of its creation.
One can look at it even solely for the visual material, without the narrative.
As for the narrative, I have mixed feelings about its structure. On the one hand, this decision to abstain from the conventional division of material into movements or styles helps to see something more important and connecting for all the different phenomena of the age. On the other hand, it might also be misleading, since as a result of approach through certain 'themes', the same phenomena are mentioned in different chapters. Not a good way to try to understand the basic chronologies. I can imagine being more confused about all this, had I not just taken a course which helped me organize what I know about the Silver Age. (Actually, some of the portions of the book I read during the semester, and now I just finished off the unassigned ones).
Moreover, I have some issues with the attribution of the agency for the cultural developments, but let's not dwell on this.
On a brighter side, I like how Bowlt tackles not only "high art" but applied arts as well, the processed of trickling down of certain aesthetic ideas into consumption goods etc., and somewhat on the part of the dissemination and consumption of the art, not only on the part of its creation.
September 24, 2018
The text is a bit cluttered with art theory jargon, and while it covers almost all artistic endeavours of the period (architecture, dance, theatre, interior design) I was only really interested in the paintings. But it's a nice souvenir of some of the museums I visited there.
May 2, 2020
The quality of the hardcover paper is much better. Lots of images. Clear writing.
March 22, 2021
The images are fascinating, the text is dry as tinder
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December 19, 2021 达·芬奇传。传主版本极多
8.4 (21人评价) [法]塞尔日·布朗利 / 林珍妮 / 浙江大学出版社·启真馆 / 2018
本书以丰富的历史资料为依据，生动刻画了达·芬奇所处的文艺复兴时代的辉煌与暗淡，生动细腻地描写了达·芬奇的内心情感世界及其具有传奇色彩的一生。
8.4 (21人评价) [法]塞尔日·布朗利 / 林珍妮 / 浙江大学出版社·启真馆 / 2018
本书以丰富的历史资料为依据，生动刻画了达·芬奇所处的文艺复兴时代的辉煌与暗淡，生动细腻地描写了达·芬奇的内心情感世界及其具有传奇色彩的一生。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 1, 2024Birthday gift from Mom and Patty
September 2024
September 2024
April 3, 2015
A sumpuous experience. Both illustrations and text have so much to offer. The period of art history has been inspiring me since I first saw an old Russian fairy tale book with illustrations by Bilibin in the library at the age of 8. That book and the movie of Dr. Zhivago led to my enduring interest in Russia and East European culture. This book explored in depth the milieu in which that Russian aesthetic developed. Now I will need to reread my Blok and Belyi, as well as Harrison's book about the period between the two Russian Revolutions. There is also so much inspiration for embroidery here. A book I know I will return to again and again.
December 16, 2020
This book offers a surprisingly complete overview of the Russian Silver Age. The accompanying paintings are wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews