THE RUSSIAN STYLE OF THE MASTERS OF THE ABRAMTSEVSKY CIRCLE: FROM THE THEATRICAL STAGE TO THE SUBJECT-SPATIAL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

This article is devoted to the issues of the inextricable connection between the development of the Russian style in the interiors of the late XIX-early XX century with innovative finds in the theatrical and decorative activities of the masters of the Abramtsevo circle. The creative universalism of the Vasnetsov brothers, Korovin, Golovin and Vrubel marked a new stage in its development, which was called the “neo-Russian style” due to the appeal to a wide range of primary sources of borrowings to create author’s interpretations of the subject-spatial environment. The behind-the-easel activities of a new generation of bright individuals resulted in a variety of artistic works in different types of art. Theatrical decorations and furniture, menus and stage costumes, interior items and jewelry, vases and tiles, stoves and fireplaces, panels and sculptures, textiles and lighting fixtures, sketches and monumental cycles of their authorship have remained reference works in the history of Russian artistic culture. For them, the stage became a place for the realization of a total synthesis of arts, an integrated approach and testing of creative solutions that extended to residential and public interiors. In turn, the audience perceived theatrical productions of operas by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. P. Mussorgsky, M. I. Glinka as a showcase and advertisement of the Russian style, which led to the expansion of the typology of furniture, the repertoire of architectural and decorative motifs, formative approaches and finishing options. The subject of the author’s consideration was the transformations initiated by the above-mentioned masters in order to spiritualize the surrounding reality, which equally enriched both scenic spaces and interior practice in the era of symbolism and modernity.