Viktoriia Devdariani

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Paul Sourikoff belongs to the generation of Soviet painters whose professional carrier started in the 20–30s of the 20th century in the USSR. He was a member of the circle of the young and talented people whose painting wasn’t acknowledged by the official authority and that is why it has been forgotten and unclaimed for many years. During their not very long life many of the painters of this so-called Pleiad were able to create brilliant works of art, which amaze us with their mastery, real sincerity and lyric. The main part of their works suffered a tragic fate: sometimes they destroyed their works themselves, sometimes their relatives being not able to value the painting disposed of it and some of their works vanished during World War II. Very often just a few works of a painter have survived till now. And in this case each finding like a photo of some of their works or a review of their exhibition in old newspapers let alone the chance to find their canvas enables us to view their creative activity in a new light.
I am going to present a picture called “The children’s party” (1928) by Paul Sourikoff in my report. The picture was considered to have disappeared many years ago. But I happened to find it in one of the regional museums of the Urals in June 2015. I am planning to speak about the picture within the framework of the whole creative activity of Paul Sourikoff as well.

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Elena Tarakanova

The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

Traditionally, up to a certain time the Western art identified itself by the relation or opposition of the art systems which were being formed inside it with imaginative models of classic eras. The situation changed in the early 20th century, when the Europeans discovered a layer of cultural formations that had previously seemed primitive, frozen in their archaic forms, and in terms of advanced civilised Europe pertained only to the people who stayed at the primitive level of development. The way to integrate foreign aesthetics in the European consciousness was pushed by anthropologists and ethnographists. But in order that the samples that had previously been considered only as artefacts, serving for practical purposes, “acquire citizenship”, it was necessary to convince the public consciousness that these samples represented aesthetic values, had the beauty and image-bearing expressiveness. A crucial role in solving this problem was to be played by avant-garde artists. French artists were the first to see attributes that were consistent with the emerging features of the new art in the so-called primitive forms. At that time, when French avant-garde artists began to explore the aesthetics of traditional and primitive forming, the Italian art still continued to feed on the ideas of Secession and use figurative stylistics of ottocento. The Italians came to the development of the “African style” later and indirectly — through the experience of French artists. C. Carra got infected with the virus of Negrophilia from his Parisian friends. He agrees that an image-bearing system, which should not only be reco­gnized, but also adopted, can be found in a foreign material. M. Campigli also showed interest in traditional cultures. While approving of elements of the new aesthetics, the Italians, closely related to the national tradition, yet often returned to the native Mediterranean art formations. Thus, Carra tried to connect the style of l’art negre and harmony of the Italian primitive, and Campigli drew inspiration from samples of the Minoan culture. For Italian artists both monuments of the Dark Continent and samples of native art formations were rather a catalyst for emergence of a new style than a plastic model for it.

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Elena Okhotnikova

Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia

In the framework of the submitted report two key issues are to be covered. A retrospective analysis of the Art Nouveau in Italy will be carried out in its first part, which will be followed by the survey of this movement development (its “living”) in the context of contemporary culture — both as a concept and as an applied tool. The emphasis will be made on Liberty-style architecture, which has so far been neglected, and on a special movement in fine art photography which exists in modern Italy and is fully devoted to this type of architecture.

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Elizaveta Buluchevskaia

Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

The perception of Italy by Russian emigrant artists of the 20th century is connected with the image of the country formed by the early 1900s. In the 20th century Italian theme was revealed in the art of N. N. Lochoff and V. D. Falileev, whose works have not yet been thoroughly investigated in Russian emigrant context.
Lochoff, a copyist who had no artistic education, created a gallery of copies of canvases and frescoes of the Renaissance artists. Lochoff studied the technique of medieval artists by himself, made paints according to ancient recipes, elaborately copied brushstrokes and the texture of canvases. Not only did he imitate individual style of the artists, but also contributed his own artistic sense to the paintings, revealing the peculiarity of the Renaissance originals. Lochoff is a rare example of a copyist who achieved self-realization only in this profession.
Unlike Lochoff, Falileev was a professional artist. He was one of the first masters to appreciate artistic qualities of linocut and the first to transfer a print to the linoleum. Falileev created etchings after Rembrand’s, Veronese’s and Pussen’s paintings. In 1924 Falileev emigrated to Sweden, then to Berlin and, finally, to Italy (1938). During his Roman period he actively participated in exhibitions. Falileev created paintings dedicated to the Roman theme (landscapes of modern Italy), but still his favourite theme was Russian nature.
To sum up, Lochoff’s art was entirely focused on Italy, whereas in Falileev’s art Italian theme co-existed with the Russian one. Both artists were interested in the Renaissance (Lochoff — through copying, Falileev — through creating etchings), however their perception of Italy was not the same. While Lochoff was attracted by the eternal masterpieces, Falileev concentrated mostly on Italy of the 20th century. Both painters were innovators. For both of them the emigration was an impulse to the creative growth. From the point of view of unique technique the image of Italy was brightly revealed in the creations of Lochoff and Falileev.

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