Moscou et Saint-Pétersbourg 1900-1920

Diaghilev, Nijinsly and the Russian Ballets, Malevitch, Bakst, Chagall, Rodtchenko, Anna Akhmatova… At the turn of the XXth century, Russia produced a unique round of artists, in all fields. It was not exactly a spontaneous generation, since strolling painters or the group of the World of Art had prepared the way. But the political transformations undoubtedly exalted the creative tension and caused a real tornado that swings between the symbolism of Vroubel and the modernism of Tatline. The wealth of the illustrations – nearly 700 images, old photographs, architecture views, paintings, scenography, icons, «constructivist» apartment interiors, ads, manifestoes or traditional engravings («lioubok») – sometimes make one forget the text. And yet it is the complete story of a golden age in which grand dukes, revolutionaries, apostles of Nudism, experimental movie directors, great poets and collectors lived side by side. It was an exceptional alchemy that gave birth to one of pillars of XXth century art.

• Moscou et Saint-Pétersbourg 1900-1920 (Moscow and Saint-Petersburg 1900-1920) by John E. Bowlt, Hazan publishing house, 2008, 392 p., 35 €, ISBN : 978-2-7541-0303-9