World of Art, Association

Categories / Art/Fine Arts/Art and Literary Associations
WORLD OF ART, an art association. Begun in the mid-1890s by a circle of students, the main body including graduates of K. I. May's Gymnasium, such as Alexander N. Benois, W. F. Nouvel, and D. V. Filosofov, who were later joined by L. S. Bakst, S. P. Dyagilev, E. E. Lansere, A. P. Nurok, and K. A. Somov. The circle made its first public appearance at the Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists arranged by Diaghilev in 1898 in Baron A. L. Stieglitz 's Central Technical Drawing School Museum. Supported by members of the circle, Diaghilev founded a magazine, Mir Iskusstva (The World of Art), the same year. Five exhibitions were held under the auspices of the magazine in 1899-1903, exhibiting not only the circle's founders, but also I. I. Bilibin, O. E. Braz, M. A. Vrubel, A. Y. Golovin, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, K. A. Korovin, F. A. Malyavin, S. V. Malyutin, M. V. Nesterov, A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, V. A. Serov, P. P. Trubetskoy, Y. F. Tsionglinsky, and S. P. Yaremich. The World of Art members were opposed to both academic artists and the Peredvizhniki in that they put a priority on aesthetic beauty, strove for a plastic approach to art, and brought the artist's individuality to the forefront. It was their decorative stylisation, elegant ornamentality, graphic principles, and rococo and empire elements that formed the aesthetics of the Russian Art Nouveau. Their art prompted the development of national romantic trends and a retrospective style based on a passion for old times and the use of various historic reminiscences. The World of Art members were remarkably successful in portraiture, historic and mountainous landscapes (particularly St. Petersburg landscapes), and genre pictures, as well as contributing to the tradition of Russian book and magazine illustration. The synthesis of arts that they idealised was best embodied by their stage designs for the annual Russian Seasons Abroad in 1900-10s. Education work was another major activity for a number of World of Art artists similarly-minded critics and architects, including Benois, I. E. Grabar, V. Y. Kurbatov, G. K. Lukomsky, and I. A. Fomin, who inspired a renewed interest in St. Petersburg's history and architecture of the 18th to the early 19th century. The World of Art artists joined the Union of Russian Artists in 1903, participating in its annual exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Diaghilev arranged a World of Art Exhibition in 1906, represented by the group's own artists, as well as contemporary artists M. F. Larionov, N. D. Milioti, and A. G. Jawlensky. With Benois as their leader, a group of St. Petersburg artists left the Union of Russian Artists due to aesthetic differences in the autumn of 1910 and founded the World of Art Association with a charter approved on 27 June 1914. The World of Art was joined by new members, including B. I. Anisfeld, B. D. Grigoryev, B. M. Kustodiev, A. T. Matveev, D. I. Mitrokhin, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, Z. E. Serebryakova, S. Y. Sudeykin, V. D. Falileev, S. V. Chekhonin, and A. E. Yakovlev, as well as architects I. V. Zholtovsky, V. A. Shchuko, and A. V. Shchusev. The association's committee had several chairs, including N. K. Roerich (1910-13), Lansere (1913-16), and Bilibin (1916-17). The World of Art held annual exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Moscow, representing various art trends, but gradually losing their aesthetic focus. The association split into a Petrograd group and a Moscow group in early 1917. A number of its members, such as Benois and Grabar, brought about various art reforms and initiatives in 1917, and were involved in museum activities later on. Petrograd's World of Art held its last exhibitions in 1922 and 1924. It then arranged exhibitions in Paris in 1927-30, where many of its members had already settled down. The World of Art held its exhibitions in the Central Technical Drawing School Museum in 1899 and 1900, at the Academy of Arts in 1901 and 1918, at the Passage in 1902, at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in 1903, at the Catherine Hall in Malaya Konyushennaya Street in 1906, at the First Cadet Corps in 1910, at 45 Nevsky Prospect in 1912, at the Swedish Church in Malaya Konyushennaya Street in 1913, at N. E. Dobychina's Art Bureau in 1915-17, and at the Anichkov Palace in 1924.

Reference: Гусарова А. П. "Мир искусства". Л., 1972; Петров В. Н. "Мир искусства". М., 1975; Лапшина Н. П. "Мир искусства": Очерки истории и творч. практики. М., 1977; Бенуа А. Н. Возникновение "Мира искусства". Репр. изд. М., 1998; "Мир искусства": К столетию выст. рус. и финл. художников 1898 г. СПб., 1998; Стернин Г. Ю. "Мир искусства" в машине времени // Пинакотека. 1998. № 6/7. С. 4-7.

O. L. Leikind, D.Y. Severyukhin. Anisfeld Boris Izrailevich
Bakst Leon (real name Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg)
Benois Alexander Nikolaevich
Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich
Braz Osip Emmanuilovich
Chekhonin Sergey Vasilievich
Dobuzhinsky Mstislav Valerianovich
Dobychina (Fishman) Nadezhda Evseevna
Dyagilev Sergey Pavlovich
Falileev Vadim Dmitrievich
Filosofov Dmitry Vladimirovich
Fomin Ivan Alexandrovich
Golovin Alexander Yakovlevich
Grabar Igor Emmanuilovich
Grigoryev Boris Dmitrievich
Jawlensky Alexey Georgievich
Korovin Konstantin Alexeevich
Kurbatov Vladimir Yakovlevich
Kustodiev Boris Mikhailovich
Lansere Evgeny Evgenievich (Jr.)
Larionov Mikhail Fedorovich
Lukomsky Georgy Kreskentievich
Malyavin Filipp Andreevich
Malyutin Sergey Vasilievich
Matveev Alexander Terentievich
May Karl Ivanovich
Miliotti Nikolay Dmitrievich
Mitrokhin Dmitry Isidorovich
Nesterov Mikhail Vasilievich
Nouvel Walter Fedorovich
Nurok Alfred Pavlovich
Ostroumova-Lebedeva Anna Peterovna
Petrov-Vodkin Kuzma Sergeevich
Roerich Nikolay Konstantinovich
Serebryakova Zinaida Evgenievna
Serov Valentin Alexandrovich
Shchuko Vladimir Alexeevich
Shchusev Alexey Viktorovich
Somov Konstantin Andreevich
Stieglitz Alexander Ludwigovich, Baron
Sudeykin Sergey Yurievich
Trubetskoy Pavel (Paolo) Petrovich, Duke
Tsionglinsky Yan Frantsevich
Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich
Yakovlev Alexander Evgenievich
Yaremich Stepan Petrovich
Zholtovsky Ivan Vladislavovich
Malaya Konyushennaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 45
Бенуа А. Н. Возникновение "Мира искусства". Репр. изд. М., 1998
Гусарова А. П. "Мир искусства". Л., 1972
"Мир искусства": К столетию выст. рус.и финлянд. художников 1898 г. СПб., 1998
Лапшина Н. П. "Мир искусства": Очерки истории и творч. практики. М., 1977
Петров В. Н. "Мир искусства". М., 1975 May's Gymnasium
Stieglitz Central Technical Drawing School
Mir Iskusstva (World of Art), journal
Artists, Union of
Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
Passage, department store
Society for the Encouragement of the Arts
Art Bureau of N. E. Dobychina
Anichkov Palace
St. Catherine’s Swedish Church
1898