This essay discusses the unique interplay between mushrooms and Russian Conceptualism, situating the mycological theme within the broader framework of Second Avant-garde aesthetics and socio-political critique. Russian artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Ilya Kabakov, Andrei Monastyrsky, and others embedded mushroom imagery into their works as a metaphorical device transcending mere visual motifs. These symbols embody philosophical explorations of consciousness, spirituality, and esoteric mysticism, reflecting resistance to Soviet materialism and ideological orthodoxy. The analysis traces the historical roots of this fascination back to early modernist experiments, such as the 1909 War of Mushrooms, blending allegory and satire with political critique. The mushroom becomes an icon of transformation, indexing a rich tradition of Eurasian shamanism and psychoactive practices. Moving into the 1970s and 1980s, mushrooms served as central symbols in Moscow Conceptualist works, articulating alternative spiritualities through avant-garde rituals and visual provocations. By examining the works of notable figures and groups, including the Mukhomor collective and conceptual artists Igor Makarevich and Elena Elagina, this paper explores how fungal motifs and esotericism converge to challenge artistic and ideological boundaries. It highlights the interdisciplinary nature of these explorations, drawing from mythology, alchemy, ethnography, and Soviet underground culture. Ultimately, this study reveals how mushrooms became a prism for rethinking identity, community, and the boundaries of artistic expression in late 20th-century Russia.
Публикация продолжает исследование судеб и творчества представителей литературно-художественной жизни поволжского города Саратова в первой трети ХХ века и посвящена неизученному этапу биографии художника и идеолога советского искусства Виктора Перельмана. Перельман интересен и по связи художника с саратовской школой живописи, и по его юношеским оккультно-психологическим занятиям. Акцент делается на пересечении художественных и психологических (с уклоном в мистицизм) практик в судьбе человека, состоявшегося не только как знаменитый в свое время советский художник, автор работ по теории и практике изобразительного искусства, но и как «неистовый ревнитель» героического реализма, администратор и один из руководителей Ассоциации Художников Революционной России ( АХРР ) и Московской организации Союза советских художников ( МОССХ ). В статье приводятся новые архивные данные, вводятся в научный оборот неизвестные биографические факты, приводится как опубликованный (но в новом контексте), так и не обнародовавшийся ранее изобразительный материал.
The Amaravella collective, also known as the Cosmists, belongs to the period of the Russian avant-garde. There were seven members: Petr Fateev (1891–1971), Aleksandr Baranov (1901–1974), Vera Pshesetskaia (1879–1945/46), Sergei Shigolev (1895–1942), Boris Smirnoff-Rusetsky (1905–1993), Victor Chernovolenko (1900–1972), and Vladimir Yatskevich (?–late 1930s). Until now, very little was known about the work of Yatskevich. The article looks at the Petr Fateev archive in Moscow, which contains some 750 items, the majority by Fateev, and hundreds of drawings by Yatskevich; they show that he was a central member of the group, and that a reassessment needs to be made. The paper looks at the occult background of cosmism, the influence of Nikolai and Elena Roerich, the philosophy of Nikolai Fedorov, and the science of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. An examination of Yatskevich’s hitherto unknown Maro album, posits the theory that it is a visual and textual manifesto of Amaravella. A critical look at the cosmist landscapes by Fateev, shows how the cosmists’ spiritual quest elided into space flight, how Amaravella was intended to be the guide on that journey.
Статья посвящена символическому и метафизическому содержанию последних произведений и рисунков Мартироса Сарьяна, созданных в 1971–1972 годы. Среди них главенствующим является его живописное полотно “Сказка” и рисунки, выполненные черным фломастером. В исследовании анализируется широкий спектр символов, используемых художником – птицы, деревья, глаза, кипарисы, лабиринты, фантастические существа, явления природы – как частей единой художественной системы, выражающей размышления о жизни, смерти, памяти и трансценденции. В целом, поздние рисунки Сарьяна интерпретируются как визуальные медитации, в которых художник осмысляет универсальные вопросы бытия, используя язык символов, близкий традициям символизма и философского искусства XX века.
Статья посвящена влиянию учения Рудольфа Штейнера (антропософии) на мировоззрение Андрея Белого. Это влияние выразилось в литературном творчестве писателя и в различных схемах и рисунках, которыми он активно пользовался в антропософский период своей деятельности. Основным объектом изучения в статье выбран неоконченный трактат «История становления самосознающей души», в котором автор рассматривает с антропософской точки зрения историю культуры от начала христианской эры до начала XX в. В трактате А. Белый общается с читателем не только при помощи слова, но также при помощи графических образов. Он включает схемы в текст и всегда предполагает, что читатель помнит о его визуальных образах. Согласно Белому, развитие человека и человечества подчинено общим закономерностям. Но для развития человека адекватен графический образ «спирали», а для человечества – образ «кривой истории». Авторская стратегия Белого отнюдь не объясняется ощущением невыразимости мистических идей. Напротив, он убежден в том, что для адекватного выражения идей его трактата следует синтетически использовать различные способы передачи смысла. Одновременно это приводит к сложности восприятия текста. При интерпретации «Истории становления самосознающей души» надо обращаться от трактата к интерпретирующему его «Ответу Петру Перцову», а от «Ответа Петру Перцову» – к мистическим рисункам и схемам.
For Russian spiritualists of the early twentieth century, the invention of radiotelegraphy provided an empirical basis for their ideas about communication with the otherworldly. For them, the ability to transmute messages into electrical signals offered proof of their own potential to connect with anyone regardless of distance, time, or space. Using the journals Rebus and Spiritualist, this article traces the emergence of a wireless discourse and examines the movement's practical engagement with early remote communication. Illustrated instructions on how to produce devices like homemade electrical telegraphs and 'transmitter' mirrors show how technological innovations were fueling the movement's varying ambitions, from communication with the dead to the unification of humankind and beyond. Analyzing these devices reveals that technology and human bodies were coming to be thought of as more alike than not. This paper also explores the way that spiritualist authors promoted this vision for a wireless cosmology in their literature by depicting new imagined devices, and offering an alternative epistemology based on aural experience. Taking Andrei Zarin's novella Dar Satany (1900) as a case study, this article illustrates the similar ways that spiritualist and telegraphic practices exerted pressure upon older, textual media by breaking down language and turning it into something to be deciphered.
The Amaravella collective, also known as the Cosmists, belongs to the period of the Russian avant-garde. There were seven members: Petr Fateev (1891-1971), Aleksandr Baranov (1901-1974), Vera Pshesetskaia (1879-1945/46), Sergei Shigolev (1895-1942), Boris Smirnoff-Rusetsky (1905-1993), Victor Chernovolenko (1900-1972), and Vladimir Yatskevich (?-late 1930s). Until now, very little was known about the work of Yatskevich. The article looks at the Petr Fateev archive in Moscow, which contains some 750 items, the majority by Fateev, and hundreds of drawings by Yatskevich; they show that he was a central member of the group, and that a reassessment needs to be made. The paper looks at the occult background of cosmism, the influence of Nikolai and Elena Roerich, the philosophy of Nikolai Fedorov, and the science of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. An examination of Yatskevich's hitherto unknown Maro album, posits the theory that it is a visual and textual manifesto of Amaravella. A critical look at the cosmist landscapes by Fateev, shows how the cosmists' spiritual quest elided into space flight, how Amaravella was intended to be the guide on that journey.
The article is devoted to the symbolic and metaphysical content in the last works of Martiros Sar'ian (1971-1972), especially the painting Fairy Tale, along with a series of drawings made with black marker. The study analyzes a wide range of symbols used by the artist-birds, trees, eyes, cypresses, labyrinths, fantastic creatures, and natural phenomena-as elements of a unified artistic system expressing reflections on life, death, memory, and transcendence. Sarian's late drawings are being interpreted as visual meditations in which the artist contemplates universal questions of existence, using a symbolic language closely aligned with the artistic and philosophical traditions of the fin de si & egrave;cle.
The focus of this article is on the psychological or psychiatric dimensions of the artistic productions of Mikhail Vrubel' and Pavel Filonov, a main argument being that the two artists, even of different generations and worldviews, had much in common in their approach to the artistic process, specifically to the act of painting. Copious reference is made to their respective encounters with the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, to their attitudes towards decoration and ornament and to certain pictorial motifs such as flight and floridity. Reference is also made to psychiatrists of the time such as Pavel Karpov, the exhibition of works by the mentally ill in 1926 and to RAKhN (Russian Academy of Artistic Sciences).
Russian fin de si & egrave;cle drew much of inspiration from the ideas of the occult: poets, philosophers, and artists of Decadence and Symbolism engaged with spiritual ideas in pursuit of capturing the ephemeral by means of artistic expression. Their enthusiasm for the spiritualist soon became an object of parody and ridicule in the press. These comical representations of the otherworldly were brought about as instruments of social and cultural critique that defined the categories of "normal" and "abnormal" in social life and artistic practices. I argue that the satirical journal Oskolki distilled the expressive language of Decadence and Symbolism to ready-made formulas, and contributed to the public image of the occult, as well as to the discourse on mental health and institutional care.
Throughout fin de si & egrave;cle Russia, an interest in Symbolism appeared in the works of various artists, including Isaak Levitan. His relationship to early Symbolism becomes apparent through an understanding that some of his landscapes may impart his spiritual ideas and physical sufferings. Through some of his landscapes, the painter sought to convey his conceptions of nature, the cosmos, and God as well as aspects of his Jewish identity and the focus of artists and poets of the fin de si & egrave;cle on mortality. His efforts to convey his spiritual concerns along with his recurring depressive states and failing health allows for some of his paintings to be recognized as reflections upon his understanding of creation's unity, humanity's impermanence, death's secrets, and eternity's unfathomableness. Levitan's engagement with the Symbolist themes of an animistic nature, mortality, dissolution, and transcendence suggest the importance of considering some of his landscapes as proto-Symbolist works.
Mystical symbols played a significant role in the life and work of Nicholas Roerich. Throughout his life Roerich attached great importance to secret knowledge, to signs and symbols, considering them as the guiding star of not only his own life, but also the universal path of all mankind. The study and deep exploration of ancient symbols led to the desire to create a symbol himself. In the wave of growing global interest in culture as a unifying force, in the context of world events, Roerich decided to create a new mystical symbol - the Banner of Peace (for the protection of cultural values). However, over time the initial role of the banner transforms, to a certain extent, into an emblem of the Roerich movement.
This essay discusses the unique interplay between mushrooms and Russian Conceptualism, situating the mycological theme within the broader framework of Second Avant-garde aesthetics and socio-political critique. Russian artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Ilya Kabakov, Andrei Monastyrsky, and others embedded mushroom imagery into their works as a metaphorical device transcending mere visual motifs. These symbols embody philosophical explorations of consciousness, spirituality, and esoteric mysticism, reflecting resistance to Soviet materialism and ideological orthodoxy. The analysis traces the historical roots of this fascination back to early modernist experiments, such as the 1909 War of Mushrooms, blending allegory and satire with political critique. The mushroom becomes an icon of transformation, indexing a rich tradition of Eurasian shamanism and psychoactive practices. Moving into the 1970s and 1980s, mushrooms served as central symbols in Moscow Conceptualist works, articulating alternative spiritualities through avant-garde rituals and visual provocations. By examining the works of notable figures and groups, including the Mukhomor collective and conceptual artists Igor Makarevich and Elena Elagina, this paper explores how fungal motifs and esotericism converge to challenge artistic and ideological boundaries. It highlights the interdisciplinary nature of these explorations, drawing from mythology, alchemy, ethnography, and Soviet underground culture. Ultimately, this study reveals how mushrooms became a prism for rethinking identity, community, and the boundaries of artistic expression in late 20th-century Russia.
The article is devoted to the influence of Rudolf Steiner's teaching (anthroposophy) on Andrey Bely's worldview. This influence was expressed in the literary works of the writer and in various schemes and drawings, which he actively used during the anthroposophical period of his activity. The main object of study in the article is the unfinished treatise "The History of the formation of a self-conscious soul", in which the author examines from an anthroposophical point of view the history of culture from the beginning of the Christian era to the beginning of the xx century. In the treatise, A. Bely communicates with the reader not only with the help of words, but also with the help of graphic images. He includes diagrams in the text and always assumes that the reader remembers his visual images. According to Bely, the development of man and humanity is subject to common patterns. But the graphic image of a "spiral" is adequate for human development, and the image of a "curve of history" is adequate for humanity. Bely's author's strategy is by no means explained by a sense of the ineffability of mystical ideas. On the contrary, he is convinced that in order to adequately express the ideas of his treatise, various ways of conveying meaning should be used synthetically. At the same time, this leads to difficulty in perceiving the text. When interpreting the "History of the formation of the self-conscious Soul", one must turn from the treatise to the "Answer to Peter Pertsov" interpreting it, and from the "Answer to Peter Pertsov" to mystical drawings and diagrams.
The article focuses on a little-studied, or rather completely unstudied, stage in the biography of the artist and ideologist of Soviet Art Viktor Perelman. The publication continues the study of the fates and work of representatives of the literary and artistic life of the Volga city of Saratov in the first third of the 20th century. Viktor Perelman is interesting to the author both because of the artist's connection with the "Saratov school" of painting and because of his youthful occult-psychological studies. The emphasis is on the intersection of artistic and psychological (with a bias towards mys-ticism) practices in the fate of a person who became not only a famous Soviet artist of his time, the author of works on the theory and practice of fine art, but also as a "furious zealot" of heroic realism, administrator and one of the leaders of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR) and the Moscow Union of Soviet Artists. The article presents new archival data, introduces unknown biographical facts into scientific circulation, presents both published (but in a completely new context) and previously unpublished visual material.
The article describes how Vasilii Kandinsky combined the "logical" and the "illogical" in his approach to the theory and practice of painting, especially during the period of his Improvisations and Compositions. To this end, attention is paid both to the exact sciences and to the esoteric or "Other", including Theosophy and its immediate effect on Kandinsky's tract, "On the Spiritual in Art". Particular reference is made to the Theosophist and music teacher, Aleksandra Zakhar'ina-Unkovskaia, and, specifically, to the influence of her interpretations of music, colour and number on Kandinsky's aesthetic development.
This article explores the esoteric dimensions of Russian avant-garde artist Mikhail Matiushin's theory of art, emphasizing the profound influence of Pyotr Ouspensky's mystical and philosophical writings. It situates Matiushin's work within the broader context of late Imperial Russia's intellectual and artistic ferment, where Theosophy, occultism, and emerging scientific theories shaped alternative visions of reality. While Russian modernist artists shared Western European interests in higher dimensions and unseen realms, Matiushin uniquely integrated Ouspensky's notions of the fourth dimension and mystical intuition into his art and theoretical writings. The essay traces how Matiushin's early embrace of esoteric ideas - especially those mediated through Ouspensky's Tertium Organum - evolved into a more scientifically couched discourse by the 1920s, even as its core remained deeply mystical. By analyzing the evolution of his artistic worldview in several drafts, the article reveals Matiushin's enduring search for the miraculous, which continued to underpin his artistic vision despite his public disavowal of occultism in the early 1930s.
There is a large group of artists, heirs of the avant-garde era, who never attracted the interest of Nikolai Khardzhiev, and whose work was saved thanks to George Costakis' own view on the importance of their art. One of the most prominent among them is Solomon Borisovich Nikritin (1898-1965). His art is of great interest, especially today, as it is extremely relevant to the events of our time. But Nikritin's art is not just about his original style. His metods bear no resemblance to any previous familiar styles. Nikritin's way of thinking amazed even his contemporaries. Reserching his archive is important for understanding his work. Nikritin's archive includes a wide variety of objects: personal documents, autobiographical texts, diaries, theoretical texts, analyti-cal calculations, sketches and independent drawings along with numerous inscrip-tions and comments by the artist. The study of the artist's personal experiments and writings provides answers to many of the questions and mysteries that always accom-pany Nikritin's artworks. This paper is the result of my research into the archive of Solomon Nikritin in the collection of MOMus Museum of Modern Art - Costakis Collection (Thessaloniki). Some of the documents have never been published before and are studied for the first time.
This article examines an episode in the history of the formation of I.V. Savitsky collection of fine arts at the Nukus Museum. In a 1984 journal article, I.V. Savitsky mentioned the names of two Moscow artists - M.V. Gorchilina (Raube-Gorchilina)and Z.P. Komissarenko, who assisted him in searching for works of his interest for the museum's collection. The recent publication of memoirs about I.V. Savitsky (Babanazarova, 2022), and the personal communication with the artist's son, A.A.Volkov, also an artist, have provided us new material about M.V. Raube-Gorchilina. This material served as the basis for the reconstructing some of the collecting techniques and methods employed by I.V. Savitsky. One of his goals was arguably to identify the heritage of the artists who had studied or worked in the 1920-1930s (especially, graduates of VKHUTEMAS / VKHUTEIN). However, it must be admitted that the final selection of works for the museum, made by I.V. Savitsky, was subjective and reflected his personal preferences and tastes.
The paper is dedicated to the acquisition by the Department of Personal Collections of the Pushkin Museum, of a previously unknown part of the creative heritage of Solomon Nikritin (1898-1965). The extensive collection of the Department, created in 1985 on the basis of donations from collectors and heirs of artists, includes more than 10,000 exhibits, a significant part of which belongs to masters of the Russian avant-garde of the early 20th century, nonconformist artists and masters of conceptual art of the second half of the 20th-early 21st centuries, etc. An essential part of the Department's activities is also the "Pleiad" program, aimed at preserving, researching and disseminating the work of VKhUTEMAS graduates, which is supported by the arrival of a large pictorial and graphic complex of works by S. Nikritin, originating from the artist's Moscow studio. S. Nikritin, a representative of the younger generation of the Russian historical avant-garde, experimented in the field of non-objective art in the early 1920s and proposed the vibrant avant-garde theory of Projectionism. After receiving criticism in 1936, he quit experimentations and concentrated on figurative art, enriching it, however, with techniques from his innovative period. Nikritin's heritage, donated to the Pushkin Museum, is being studied, is of a retrospective character, it reflects the main themes and nature of the master's work, and hundreds of numbers of works from the 1920s to the 1960s. Among them are self-portraits, works from his well-known pre-war cycles, preparatory material for his programmatic painting "The Old and the New", numerous drawings from the "War" period, sketches for propaganda posters, sketches of the front -line and the city life. The optimism of the post-war years is reflected in his kolkhoz and industrial series, his sketches of cities along the Soviet Union's southern coast, and diverse landscapes of Moscow. A separate "chapter" consists of works based on "the motifs of the old masters", produced mainly in the Pushkin Museum. Monographic collections of Nikritin's works are kept at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia, at the MOMus - Museum of Modern Art - Costakis Collection in Thessaloniki, Greece, and at the Savitsky Art Museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan. Following the latest acquisition of a large corpus of the artist's works by the Pushkin Museum, his work that is kept in museums is nearing completion.
