Alexey Bobrikov’s new book has a supplementary title: “Russian art: everything you wanted to know about Repin but were afraid to ask Stasov about”. Although too long to fi t on the cover, this title accurately describes the style and approach of the book. This truly is an “alternative history” of Russian art — not only because it structures the events and mechanisms of history in an unusual way, but also because it is written with a freedom unusual for such serious work.
In the accepted history of Russian art, there exists an untouchable pantheon of great artists. Th eir mythological status renders them immune to criticism, making a re-evaluation of the existing system of values impossible. The author of this study strives to keep an objective distance from this pantheon, forging a dispassionate critique of the artists and the myths about them.
The book covers a period in Russian art from the age of Peter the Great to the beginning of the 20th century, and reads like a thrilling historical novel. It is also an insightful and thorough piece of research, which allows the reader to see the history of Russian art with fresh eyes.
The author jettisons the widely accepted terminology of art, replacing it with understandable, everyday expressions. All this serves to create an alternative reading of Russian art, shedding critical light on the received ideas and fallacies of accepted history. Many of the author’s ideas may seem controversial, even wildly so, but they are always well-supported by fact, as well as being consistently engaging and thought-provoking.
