Decadents. People in the landscape of the era

The new book of the famous historian and collector Vasily Molodyakov represents decadence as a cultural phenomenon of a global scale in the portraits of his characteristic figures. The history of the life of the great decadents - three French (Charles Bodler, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbao) and three Russians (Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov, Fedor Sologub) - is well known (all of them are presented in the series Life of wonderful people), so the French are shown First of all, through their perception in Russia, Russians - through their perception of French decadence. The gallery is complemented by Alexander Dobrolyubov-the most consistent of the Russian decadents-and Alexander Emelyanov-Kokhansky-an example of commercialization of literary fashion through the scandal. The British decadence is not represented by a replicated Oscar Wilde, but less known in Russia, but a more talented poet Aldernon Swinbern, the aesthet and the author of “horror films” Hans Everse, the American - the only and unique George Virekom