Thanks to a recent reshowing on BBC America, I have now watched this fantastic documentary by Andrew Graham-Dixon, an excellent guide with a refreshingly open and international view of art history. Aptly named The Art of Russia, the program is diced into three components: Into the Forest: beginning with early roots in Russia's Kievian history, secluded from Western culture until its influential opening to the West by Peter the Great.
The second part, Roads to Revolution, examines the sweep of European modernism in art across Russia, as well as the 19th Century movement led by Tolstoy to rediscover Russia's roots in the forests where its genuine soul and people dwell. Political unrest and ever growing estrangement between the ruling classes and ruled create a unique divide in styles, one gazing outwardly to Western elegance and excess, and other inwardly towards internal struggle and harsh reality of daily life within the country. Most noteworthy is the Russian interpretation of the Arts & Crafts movement, led by Lev Tolstoy and Ilya Repin, which was not a retaliation against the industrialization of craft, but instead a politically motivated movement to go back to the naturalism and naivety of the land, Mother Russia, herself.
Smashing the Mould, as the eponymous third part is named, bulldozes straight on into the Bolshevik revolution and the events that followed, showing the casualties it claimed in history as well as in the progress of art in Russia. Icons and Orthodoxy are replaced by a rigid propaganda and worship of the State's idealistic and ruthless vision of total Communism. The skeletons of an era long past are dug up, and a look towards what lies head is examined. And what exactly does lie ahead? That is exactly what I wonder as well. He touches on the notion of uncertainty and searching for a new voice. A good point, however, it is not one that is unique to contemporary Russia.
Overall, this documentary is an excellent introduction into the vast and diverse realm of Russian art. It shows us so much within such a brief period of time, and running at nearly three hours total, it seems to fly by, telling the great story of Russia's pictorial development with rapid excitement and passion. Graham-Dixon's tastes sometimes tinge the atmosphere, with his obvious disapporoval of Tsar Nicholas II's taste and his gushing, unabashed adorement of Rodchenko's posters, yet overall the piece is very informative in showing us the tip of the gargantuan iceberg is that is Russia's rich art history. Highly recommended, especially since he was granted access to places that the average tourist might never get to see! The above are clips, to see the entirety of the documentary, catch it over here at Doku Watch.
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