| Mir Iskusstva or, in English, “World
of Art” was an artistic movement that flourished in Russia
at the turn of the twentieth century. It incorporated artists from
all disciplines––music, literature, dance, theater,
and visual art––who shared ideas and inspiration. United
under the idea of “art for art’s sake,” Mir Iskusstva
aspired to create a Russian national art parallel to Western European
art.
Opening October 8 and running through December 31, the Weisman
Art Museum will host a world-class exhibition from this period,
Mir Iskusstva: Russia’s Age of Elegance. The show includes
more than fifty paintings and forty designs for costumes, stage
sets, sculptures, and books, all from the State Russian Museum in
St. Petersburg. Mir Iskusstva is touring to just three American
museums, of which the Weisman is fortunate to be one. It is the
first time most of this art will have been seen in this country.
The period from 1890 to 1917 is commonly referred to as Russia’s
“Silver Age,” and St. Petersburg was the base for many
of the most prominent artists, musicians, composers, writers, and
poets of the period. Mir Iskusstva was part of the flourishing of
the arts during this time.
Mir Iskusstva was most active from 1898 to 1905, when members of
the group organized exhibitions of their own work and the work of
European artists, published a magazine, and held lectures, concerts,
and discussions on cultural issues. Each year between 1899 and 1903
Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario behind the renowned Ballets Russes
and fiery leader of the World of Art, organized exhibitions that
included the best of the period—the works of Russian artists
Leon Bakst, Alexander Golovin, Isaac Levitan, Mikhail Nesterov,
and Valentin Serov, along with Europeans such as the French Edgar
Degas, and the American James Abbott McNeill Whistler. These exhibitions
included a decorative arts section with ceramics, embroidery, and
sculpture.
Always a loose coalition, the group’s activities were badly
disrupted by the 1905 revolution. This ill-fated revolution started
in January 1905 with a protest march in St. Petersburg that ended
in a massacre. The day is known in Russian history as “Bloody
Sunday.” In March of that year Diaghilev organized an exhibition
of three thousand Russian portraits, paintings, sculptures, and
other objects for the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg. Tsar Nicholas
II and the imperial family attended the opening. At the banquet
in his honor, Diaghilev spoke prophetically of a “new and
unknown culture which will be created by us and which will also
sweep us away.” Over the next fifteen years, World of Art
exhibitions were presented sporadically; the last one opened in
the newly renamed Leningrad in June 1924. The World of Art ranks
had been depleted by many emigrations and by 1924 it was understood
that the Communist regime had taken control of culture and art for
its own ends. The role of the World of Art in Russian society was
over.
No other exhibition in the United States has ever been devoted
to the World of Art and the brilliant cultural flowering that took
place in Russia during this time.
This exhibition is organized by the Foundation for International
Arts and Education, Bethesda, Maryland, and is presented in conjunction
with the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
The presentation of Mir Iskusstva: Russia’s Age of Elegance
at the Weisman Art Museum is made possible through the generous
support of Gary and JoAnn Fink, the Jerry and Lisa O’Brien
Family Fund of Minnesota Community Foundation, the Office of the
Provost of the University of Minnesota, and the estate of Donald
C. and Mary Jo Savelkoul. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Additional operating support for the Weisman Art Museum is provided
by Architectural Alliance; the Boss Foundation; the Dorsey and Whitney
Foundation; Faribault Foods, Inc.; the General Mills Foundation;
Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc.; the Art and Martha Kaemmer
Fund of HRK Foundation; the R. C. Lilly Foundation; Target Foundation;
Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota; the Minnesota State Arts Board;
the Colleagues of the Weisman Art Museum; and the University of
Minnesota.
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