History of Russian art

The fate of the Russian historian of art and literature Viktor Alexandrovich Nikolsky (1875–1934) was difficult. The art critic was immersed in the Old Russian decorative world, painting by V.I. Surikova, work of P.P. Konchalovsky and A.V. Kuprina. Two -volume labor V.A. Nikolsky was planned to publish about Russian art in one of the best printing houses I.D. Sytin in 1915. But if the author managed to finish his manuscript, when the fire of the First World War was already flared around the world, the Russian publishers could not release it in full. The 1917 revolution set its priorities. V.N. Nikolsky did not become a supporter of the new government, he was imprisoned in Butyrki, then exiled to Siberia, and then to the settlement in Saratov. In the preface to the Berlin edition of 1921, art critic P.P. Muratov wrote: “Russia, even this fourth, born in agony, industrial Russia, is not America. And we Russian people are not people without the past. The age of our arts is immeasurable, and the spirit of very ancient creativity is revealed over our ancient country. The history of Russian art, not led by Europe and still little known to us, depicts us faithful heirs of Byzantium, guardians who have forever disappeared in the West of the Hellenism features, owners of fairy -tale treasures lurking in our earth and revealing themselves throughout centuries in folk art. Closing this small book, we exclaim with legitimate pride: Barbari non sumus! ”