History and culture: “Dreams of Universal Flowering” Exhibition will open in St. Petersburg

“Dreams of Universal Flowering” Exhibition will open in the Benois Wing of the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) on the September 14, 2017.

At the beginning of the XX century, Russia faced radical social changes which were reflected in the oeuvre of most of the artists of that period.

In 1900-1920s, especially after the Revolution of 1905, during the First World War and several years after the Revolution of 1917 the representatives of artistic and literary circles reacted differently on these historical events. The difference of the views lay not only in the variety of ways of depicting the same subjects. For example, in the middle of 1910-1920s, the avant-garde artists focused more on the formal novelty than on the social problems, while the figurative masters such as Repin, Serov, Grigoriev, and others emphasized the actual themes of these days remaining in more traditional forms. On the other hand, most of the artists of that epoch were dreaming of radical changes not only in Russia but all over the world.

The exhibition at the Russian Museum is aimed to present for the first time the complicated and multisided situation of the first decades of XX century. The exhibition will comprise around 100 artworks added by the historic documents and literary materials by the poets and writers of that period.