V.V. Stasov in the perception of Russian art criticism of the second half of the 19th – early 20th century

Abstract

The article deals with the issues associated with the new stage in the evolution of Russian art at the turn of the 19th – early 20th century, and the reflection of these processes in Russian art criticism. The analysis of articles written by the famous art critic and publicist V.V. Stasov in his later period, as well as the polemics between him and the representatives of the “World of Art” association, makes it possible to point out serious contradictions in the understanding of methods for assessing the quality of a work of art. At the same time, the early period of Stasov’s activity also provoked a sharp reaction from the adherents of “pure art” in N.А. Ramazanov and A.A. Fet, whose aesthetic position appeared to be unexpectedly close to the young figures of the Russian artistic culture at the beginning of the 20th century. Extremely revealing material in this sense is a program critical article by Stepan Petrovich Yaremic “Peredvizhnik (Itinerant) principle in the Russian art”. The young art critic convincingly sees the origins of the Stasov position in the tradition of European art criticism of the Enlightenment. The relevance to the subject matter is added by the fact of active using a publicistic approach to the evaluation of works of art in the 20th century, as well as the demonstration of its definite rebirth in our days. In this regard, the authorposes a question about the responsibility of the art critic both to the nowaday reader and to the history of art in general.