i Wassily Kandinsky, Zubovsky Platz, 1916, oil on canvas on cardboard, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, erworben mit Unterstützung der Société Kandinsky, Paris und Dr. Winterstein, München und der Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung, München. Image: Lenbachhaus.de

Russian Art 1863-1932: Innovations, Influences and the Roots of Modernity

Online

Dr Natalia Murray

10 pre-recorded lectures and 5 Zoom seminars over 5 weeks at 18:00, and where necessary, also at 19:30 [London time], from Wednesday 6 November to Wednesday 4 December 2024
£395

Course description

This course examines the history of Russian art in all its diversity from the first artists’ rebellion against St. Petersburg’s almighty Art Academy in 1863, the blossoming of arts in Russia’s ‘Silver Age’, to the upsurge of avant-garde art and its subsequent disappearance after 1932, when Socialist Realism became the only artistic style permitted in the Soviet Union.

We shall look at the cultural as well as geographical boundaries of Russian art, and its contact with developments in European art. Equally important will be the shifts in cultural context, which often occurred through emigration, cultural export, exhibitions, publications, and collaborations. The complex nature of the Russian avant-garde, its origins, and roots, will be examined throughout the course. We shall also look at traditional Russian art and icons and their influence on the Russian avant-garde, and will discuss the works of Repin, Serov, Benois, Bakst, Somov, Vrubel, Malevich, Tatlin, Kandinsky, Filonov, Rodchenko, Chagall, Popova, and others. Lastly, we shall examine the influence of political changes in Russia under Stalin on the development of Russian art.

How to book

To book your chosen course(s) please use the book now button below and you will be taken to our booking system where you can book and pay (Visa / Mastercard / GooglePay / ApplePay).

At checkout, you will be prompted to login (if you have previously booked gallery tickets) or to register and create a new account.

(Please note: this ticketing login is not the same as your short courses VLE login if you have one).

Once you have made your selection, your chosen course(s) will be added to your shopping basket which has a timer of 20 minutes, after which time your basket will be cleared and you will need to start again. The timer starts from when you put an item in the basket (not when you login or register).

If you have any questions please email us at short.courses@courtauld.ac.uk

Book now

Lecturer’s biography

Dr Natalia Murray gained a BA and MA in art history at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, and a PhD at The Courtauld Institute of Art. She is a writer, lecturer and curator specialising in late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Russian and Western European art and is the curator of the Royal Academy’s major exhibition Revolution. Russian Art 1917-1932 (2017). Natalia is currently working on several new exhibition projects in the US and in Europe, while also teaching history of collecting and curating at The Courtauld. She has published widely: her most recent book, Two Women Patrons of the Russian Avant-Garde. Nadezhda Dobychina and Klavdia Mikhailova, was published in 2021 and was dedicated to the first gallerists in Russia.

Citations