CHINESE SCULPTURE IN THE NEW ERA

With the advent of a new era, universal social changes pose new challenges for the art of sculpture. In terms of cultural content and practice, sculpture needs to keep pace with time. Chinese sculpture should participate in the global processes of modern sculptural development, guided by the literary and artistic concept «do not forget the past, absorb the foreign, look into the future». Not only should it receive inspiration and stimuli for development from the West but find its voice, preserving Chinese cultural tradition and Chinese national spirit.

THE ITALIAN BRANCH OF THE FOLLOWERS OF ANDREA PALLADIO. 17TH-18TH CENTURIES

The article is devoted to the study of the specific features of the development of the Palladian architectural system in the architect’s homeland in Italy. On examples of specific monuments, drawings and projects created during two and a half centuries, the peculiarities of the author’s transformation of style in the work of Andrea Palladio’s followers, the continuity of tradition, deviations from canonical rules and the results of this process are consistently studied. The buildings of the Italian branch of the architectural movements, little-known in Russia, are highlighted. The topic of cultural continuity and, at the same time, the rivalry between the Palladian style and the Baroque is touched upon. Particular attention is paid to the Italian tradition of research, additions and commentaries to the works and buildings of Andrea Palladio. The tradition developed among the professional architectural community of the Veneto region in the 18th century, significantly enriching the modern understanding of the master’s heritage.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN IRINA N. SEDOVA — HEAD OF SCULPTURE DEPARTMENT AT THE STATE TRETYAKOV GALLERY, AND ALEXANDER N. BURGANOV — AN OUTSTANDING RUSSIAN SCULPTOR, NATIONAL ARTIST OF RUSSIA, THE ACADEMICIAN OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS, DOCTOR OF ART HISTORY, PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR OF THE MOSCOW STATE MUSEUM BURGANOV HOUSE

The journal traditionally opens with an academic interview. In this issue, we present an interview between Irina N. Sedova — head of Sculpture department at The State Tretyakov Gallery, and Alexander N. Burganov — an outstanding Russian sculptor, National Artist of Russia, the academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, doctor of art history, professor, director of the Moscow State Museum Burganov House. This dialogue became part of the sculptor’s creative evening at the State Tretyakov Gallery, which combined a personal exhibition, a screening of an author’s film and a dialogue with the audience in the format of an interactive interview.

FORMATION OF THE NEW HERO IMAGE IN RUSSIAN ART OF THE 1920’S AND 1930’S

The art of the Soviet era attracts more and more attention of researchers and the public year by year. The exhibitions held over the past decades in Russia and abroad, the published monographs dedicated to works of art of the era and particular artists, the international creative contacts in cultural field — all of that has introduced previously unknown works into art history studies, which has allowed to re-evaluate the objectives and tasks of the art of the period and the development of the artistic process in general. That is why it is of great interest to study the ways the plastic arts formed and developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The 1917 revolution in its foundations had not just a change in social and political reality, but also a change in the very essence of man. The new era demanded a new hero, shaped his appearance in its works. The soviet man, thought of as a new man, became a fundamentally new object of art. If the 1920’s became the time of the search in proletarian art and the flourishing of avant-gardism, then in the 1930’s the objective of art in building the lifeworld of a new man began to be understood much narrower and stricter, and this Man who perceives art began to be described as a “normal” (that is, average, “ordinary”) consumer of cultural tradition. The “New Man” in the plastic arts of the 1920’s and 1930’s was formed as the new hero of society; avant-garde artists sought his originality in the images of generalized and abstract aviators, peasants, women; artists of socialist realism began to form the images of “typical” heroes of the time (military men, athletes, rural workers, scientists) as new “Renaissance people”, equally ready for work and defense. At the same time, two main tendencies, two directions that correspond to the two tasks of socialist realism, clearly lie in the image of the “new” Soviet man: the depiction of reality (that is, the new Soviet man that really exists) and the depiction of the ideal (that is, the ideal man).

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear readers, We are pleased to present to you Issue 5, 2021, of the scientific and analytical journal Burganov House. The Space of Culture. Upon the recommendation of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission, the journal is included in the List of Leading Peer-reviewed Scientific Journals and Publications in which the main scientific results of theses for the academic degrees of doctor and candidate of science must be published. The journal publishes scientific articles by leading specialists in various humanitarian fields, doctoral students, and graduate students. Research areas concern topical problems in multiple areas of culture, art, philology, and linguistics. This versatility of the review reveals the main specificity of the journal, which represents the current state of the cultural space. The journal traditionally opens with the Academic Interview rubric. In this issue, we present an interview with Alexander Burganov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, an outstanding Russian sculptor, National Artist of Russia, Doctor of Art History, Professor, Director of the Burganov House Moscow State Museum, interviewed by Irina Sedova, the Head of the 20th Century Sculpture Department of the State Tretyakov Gallery. This dialogue became part of the sculptor’s creative evening at the State Tretyakov Gallery, which included a personal exhibition, donation of the sculptural work Letter, screening of a special film and a dialogue with the audience in the format of an interactive interview. In the article “The Apocalypse Icon from the Kremlin’s Assumption Cathedral. Dating and Historical Context”, T. Samoilova points out the similarities between some motifs of the Apocalypse iconography and the motifs of Botticelli’s illustrations to the Divine Comedy, as well as the role of a line in both artworks which testifies to the influence of the Renaissance art on icon painting of the late 15th — early 16th centuries. Studying palaeography and stylistic features of the icon, the author clarifies the dates and believes that the icon was most likely painted after 1500, in the first decade of the 16th century. P. Tsvetkova researches the features of the development of the Palladian architectural system in Italy, in the homeland of Andrea Palladio. On the examples of specific monuments, drawings and projects created during two and a half centuries, the author analyses the peculiarities of the style transformation in the work of Palladio’s followers, the continuity of tradition, deviations from canonical rules. In the article “Artistic Features of the Northern White Night Motif in the Landscapes of Alexander Borisov and Louis Apol”, I. Yenina conducts art analysis and compares the works of the Russian “artist of eternal ice”, A. Borisov, and the Dutch “winter artist”, L. Apol. They were the first to depict such a phenomenon as a white night in the Far North. V. Slepukhin studies the artworks of the first decades of the Soviet era in the article “Formation of the Image of a New Hero in Russian Art of 1920- 1930”. The author concludes that the New Hero in the plastic arts of the 1920s–1930s was formed as a reflection of social ideals. The avant-garde artists searched for the Hero’s originality in the images of aviators, peasants, women. The artists of socialist realism began to form the images of the “typical” heroes of the time — warriors, athletes, rural workers, scientists, as new “people of the Renaissance”. In the article “Dialogues of the Avant-garde”, A. N. Lavrentyev presents a comparative analysis of spatial constructions created by the Russian Avant-Garde Artist Alexander Rodchenko and the famous kinetic European and American artist Alexander Calder in the first half of the 20th century. Wei Xiao continues his analysis of contemporary art in the article “Chinese Sculpture in the New Era”. The author notes that the art of sculpture is in many ways a reflection of social change, both in terms of cultural content and practice. The author emphasises the need for cultural identity to preserve national traditions and spirituality. Xu Yanping’s article “The Dynamics of the Choral Culture Development in China in the 1930s on the Example of Huang Tzi’s Oratorio Eternal Regret” is a scientific study of a particular phase of the active entry of Chinese choral music into the sphere of the oratorio genre, directly related to the name of the great Chinese composer, Huang Tzi. It also highlights the issues of the country’s political life in the 1930s, which actively influenced the creation of nationwide singing movements and new choral works in the country. The author believes that the oratorio Eternal Regret presented in the article is a unique creation that organically combines ethnic musical material and Western composition techniques. The publication is addressed to professionals specialising in the theory and practice of the fine arts and philology and all those interested in the arts and culture.

THE DYNAMICS OF CHORAL CULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA IN THE 1930S ON THE EXAMPLE OF HUANG TZI’S ORATORIO ETERNAL REGRET

Choral music in China is a dynamically developing form of contemporary musical art. Scientific works devoted to the Chinese choral culture consider the 1930s of the 20th century as the most productive period in the development of this branch of musical creativity. The article examines the phase of the active entry of Chinese choral music into the sphere of the oratorio genre, which is directly related to the name of the great Chinese composer — Huang Tzi. It also highlights the issues of the country’s political life in the 1930s, which actively influenced the creation of nationwide singing movements and new choral works in the country. The oratorio genre, the genesis of which refers us to the European religious musical tradition of the 17th century, spread in China owing to the massive flow of Chinese intelligentsia to the territory of Western states throughout the entire beginning of the 20th century. In the article, the actualisation of the oratorio and its interpretation in a new light is presented as the merit of Huang Tzi, whose civic position was directly related to the desire to preserve ethnic origins in Chinese music and to complement them with Western composing techniques organically. Having proved himself not only as a composer but also as a theorist and teacher, Huang Tzi devoted most of his life to educating a large number of music professors, initiating a progressive approach to music education. His desire to raise the level of the composing school in China made it possible to enrich the repertoire of vocal and instrumental music with characteristics of the folk style. The oratorio Eternal Regret presented in the article is a unique creation that organically combines ethnic music and Western composition techniques. In the story of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei (to the poems of Tang poet Bai Juyi), taken by the composer as the theme for the libretto, there is certain symbolism that has the conceptual plan of addressing the power to demonstrate the alleged results of Kuomintang’s unclear policy. Thus, directly related to political cataclysms and their final embodiment in the form of the Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945), the oratorio Eternal Regret is presented in the article as a consolidating core that inspired the civilian masses to fight the Japanese invaders. The analysis of Bai Juyi’s original poem “Eternal Regret” and a fragmentary historical-stylistic and vocal-choral analysis of the oratorio have been carried out. The artistic features of individual parts of the oratorio, seven of which were completed by the composer, are revealed. Based on literary sources and theoretical research presented in the article, the author asserts the special role of the oratorio Eternal Regret in history and its far-reaching influence on the prospects for the development of the Chinese choir.

AVANT-GARDE DIALOGUES

The article is dedicated to comparative analysis of spatial constructions created by the Russian Avant-Garde Artist Alexander Rodchenko and the famous kinetic European and American artist Alexander Calder in the first half of the 20-th century. For both artists technology played the decisive role in constructing spatial objects, both of them used line as a basic expressive element. Still there is a certain difference stressed by the author: Rodchenko used linear elements to express structural and constructive qualities of spatial objects, while Calder was more intending to represent emotion and movement. Rodchenko and Calder belong to the common abstract artistic trend in 20th century sculpture. But their works served as the basis for the two different traditions: minimalist conceptual and geometric art of Donuld Judd on one side and spontaneous mechanisms of Jean Tinguely on the other.

ARTISTIC FEATURES OF THE NORTHERN “WHITE NIGHT” MOTIF IN THE LANDSCAPES OF ALEXANDER BORISOV AND LOUIS APOL

The article examines the peculiarities of the color and light atmosphere of the phenomenon of white night in the Far North in the seascapes of the Russian and Northern European art. Attention is drawn to the period from the second third of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century, when scientific and artistic exploration of the Arctic begins to take place on a regular basis. The article shows that the motive of the luminous night at the turn of the century appeared in connection with the appeal of artists to the study of natural contrasts of the Far North. Owing to the comprehending of the monotonous northern landscape, the palette of paintings was enriched with cold light shades of a lightair environment, the artists caught its special glow in the reflections in the water, ice floes and on the snow cover. The article mentions works of art by K. A. Korovin, V. A. Serov, V. V. Perepletchikov, N. V. Pinegin, A. A. Rylov and A. N. Benois, created during their participation in polar expeditions in late XIX and early XX centuries. Attention is drawn to the fact that the painters are branching out from marine pictorial art towards the study of special natural phenomena, such as images of light and dark polar nights, the northern lights, floating ice, fogs and snowy shores. It is carried out an art analysis and comparison of the works of the Russian “artist of eternal ice” Alexander Borisov and the Dutch “winter artist” Louis Apol, who were the first to depict such a phenomenon as a white night in the Far North. But their artistic interpretation of this phenomenon differs. A. Borisov perceives the North as a kind of “living” space in his own experience of figurative-symbolic comprehension of the world order, but at the same time does not lose touch with his realistic painting manner. And L. Apol impartially captures the surrounding nature, remaining in the principles of the features of compositional construction, which are characteristic of late romanticism. The European painter prefers muffled coloring, while on the canvas of the Russian artist, the paints literally ring and glow.

ICON OF THE APOCALYPSE FROM THE DORMITION CATHEDRAL OF THE KREMLIN. DATE AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The “Apocalypse” icon from the Domition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin has long been in the field of view of researchers, but still there is no common opinion about its dating, and therefore there is no context in which this monument would take its place. The icon has many inscriptions, all of which correspond to the text of the Revelation of John the Theologian. In the construction of the composition, the master of the “Apocalypse” could not rely on the Byzantine tradition of illustrating the Revelation, since it actually did not exist. So what could the author of the iconography of the Moscow Apocalypse have been inspired by? The process of penetration of Renaissance influences into Russian culture, which began in the reign of Ivan III, reached its highest point at the beginning of the XVI century. The coincidence of certain motives of the iconographic program of the «Apocalypse» with the motives of Botticelli’s illustrations for the Divine Comedy, as well as the role of the line in both works, indicate the penetration of Renaissance art influences into iconеpainting. The discovered parallels do not allow us to date the icon from the Domition Cathedral earlier than 1491-1500, the icon was most likely written after 1500, in the first decade of the XVI century. The icon became the “banner” of a new period of understanding of eschatological ideas.

ARCHITECTURAL SPACE IN DANCE AS AN ARTISTIC AND FIGURATIVE SYSTEM

The study examines the expressive means of dance and architecture, establishes common and specific areas in the nature of their artistic language, identifies the extent of interaction between architectural principles with dance dramaturgy and choreographic composition, and analyzes examples of interpretation of dance production solutions in the architectural space. Through a simultaneous review, the author examines the expressive means of dance and architecture, establishing the common and the specific in the expressive and pictorial nature of their artistic language. The focus is on identifying the degree of influence of architectural principles on the dance drama, choreographic composition, and the reverse impact. The analysis provides examples of the interpretation of dance staging solutions in the architectural space, including innovative modern practices of the 20th‑21st centuries. The artistic and imaginative metamorphoses of staged choreographic solutions occurring in different kinds of architectural spaces are considered. Starting with the perspectivism of the scenery on the stage and the light architecture of the 18th century, the author moves on to the monumental construction of the large stage performance of the 19th century and concludes with the choreographic experiments of the early 20th century. The article points out that modern times offer the most curious design solutions. There are examples of bold, original methods of interaction between choreography and architecture: dances are staged directly in the interiors of buildings, bypassing the traditional stage platform. The implied idea of human movement in space, encompassing the viewer, appears here because of successively changing impressions. Finally, the author explores the directorial approach, where the choreography itself masters and constructs the architecture, helping the viewer to perceive themselves as if within its own spatial structure. This peculiar artistic and visual synthesis appears in the dynamics of genre and style of the author’s stage context. The study of the specifics of ballet as a dramatic phenomenon seems to be a fundamental research task, because, more than any other theatrics genre, it is the ballet that provided extremely diversified artistic samples of space and stage creativity in the heritage of the 20th century, and probably, will continue to do so in the 21st. The question of dance interpretation in the architectural space is a significant independent subject of research in connection with the structure and evolution of the artistic image in contemporary choreographic art. Against the background of postmodernist modern style trends as a global creative principle of post-culture, this topic includes broad general aesthetic associations. It is vital to the understanding of the artistic process in contemporary art in general.