Magazine Golden Fleece Krupskoy. "The Golden Fleece
"THE GOLDEN FLEECE"
Immediately after the termination of the "World of Art", from January 1905 in Moscow began to appear "art and art-critical magazine" - "Iskusstvo". Its editor-publisher was a young artist N. Ya. Tarovaty. Although the new magazine diligently tried to outwardly resemble its predecessor and develop the artistic principles laid down in the World of Art, it did not enjoy the support of the "senior" and evoked mostly squeamishly derogatory reviews. The idea of succession seemed to the founders of the closed magazine too bold and arrogant for the Moscow artistic youth, who had not yet shown themselves to be anything serious; The predominant interest of the new magazine in folk and decorative and applied art, in the French impressionists and post-impressionists, reliance on the Moscow Association of Artists also could not but arouse a jealous and wary attitude among the World of Art. And in the writing environment, "Art" did not have reliable support. The literary (more precisely, critical and bibliographic) department of Art was, in comparison with the Libra and Questions of Life published simultaneously, very thin. He participated in the organization of the journal and at first its secretary was the young symbolist poet V. Hoffman, a student of Balmont and Bryusov, who then retired from the circle of Scorpio and Libra and managed to attract only a few novice writers to work in Art. modernists. A few articles, newsreels and reviews in the first issues of the journal were signed mainly by M.I. Pantyukhov (Mikh. Pan-v), M.I. Sizov (Mikh. S.), V.F. Hoffman, various pseudonyms, of course, hiding the same names for the most part.
In the summer of 1905, S. A. Sokolov (literary pseudonym - Sergey Krechetov) joined the work in the editorial office of Iskusstva. In No. 5/7 of the journal it was announced that Sokolov was taking an active part in editing the literary department; in No. 8 he was already named along with Tarovaty as an equal editor. The head of the symbolist publishing house Grif, second in importance after Scorpion, the publisher of the almanacs of the same name, Sokolov was associated with all the most significant representatives of the "new" art and could provide Tarovaty's magazine with a quite representative literary department. “I thought of helping Art and I am attracting a whole number of people there, starting with Balmont,” Sokolov informed V.F. Khodasevich on May 11, 1905. employees, among whom now, by the way, are: Merezhkovsky, Balmont, Minsky, Gippius, Sologub, A. Blok and Bely.
The efforts of Sokolov gave a certain result: the 8th issue of the magazine was already presented by the names of Balmont, Bryusov, Blok. However, the activities of the magazine ceased at this point due to the then usual reason for financial insolvency. Nevertheless, the publication of "Iskusstvo" and the union of Tarovaty and Sokolov - the leaders, respectively, of its artistic and literary departments - became a kind of springboard for the activities of the new Moscow modernist publication - the magazine "Golden Fleece". “Art as such no longer exists, and the 8th issue that came out is the last,” Tarovaty Konst reported. Erberg in October 1905 - But from the "Art" a new magazine "Golden Fleece" arose, which is supposed to be published monthly starting in January 1906. Staff, with a few additions<…>the same as in Art, but I was invited to head the art department in it. Sokolov became the head of the literary department of the magazine.
Nikolai Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (1876–1951), a representative of a large family of millionaire capitalists in Moscow, a generous philanthropist, a remarkable and extravagant figure in his own way, gave money for the publication of The Golden Fleece. As M. D. Bakhrushin recalls, “he was not involved in the affairs of the family banking company (or rather, he was not allowed to them), he was married several times and only spent his money and his and his wives ... He built the Black Villa in Petrovsky Park in Moscow. Swan", where he set fantastic tricks for golden youth. However, he was a very capable and even talented person.” Sincerely devoted to the "new" art, Ryabushinsky tried his hand at painting and literature (under the pseudonym "N. Shinsky"), but in these experiments he was not able to go beyond dilettantism. This is evidenced by his paintings, repeatedly reproduced in the "Golden Fleece", and poems, and with particular obviousness the story "Confession", published under the "Golden Fleece" in a separate edition in 1906 - an ultra-decadent work in the spirit of Przybyszewski and D' Annunzio, written from the point of view of the artist, and with typically epigone zeal, develops the themes of individualism and immorality, free creativity and free passion.
From the very beginning, The Golden Fleece was conceived as a magazine close in its literary and aesthetic principles to Libra. The desire to take into account and adopt the editorial experience of Bryusov characterizes the first steps of Ryabushinsky and Sokolov on the way to organizing a new edition. Bryusov, however, reacted to Ryabushinsky's publishing venture with a certain amount of caution, cautiously taking a wait-and-see attitude, although he willingly joined the ranks of the magazine's closest collaborators. This wariness was partly dictated by the fact that S. Sokolov, the leader of the "Grifov" group of Symbolists, was in charge of the literary affairs of the "Golden Fleece", which Bryusov regarded as a hotbed of epigonism and in relation to which he cultivated "some kind of rivalry and a kind of antagonism." While welcoming the “Golden Fleece” in general as a significant symptom of the development and spread of “new” art, Bryusov, nevertheless, could not but point out possible vulnerable sides, and above all, the threat of the notorious secondary nature of this enterprise, organized on a grand scale and far-reaching claims. Such fears were voiced even in Bryusov's speech, prepared for the gala dinner on the occasion of the publication of the first issue of The Golden Fleece (January 31, 1906); the leader of symbolism drew attention in it to the urgent need for radically new searches and daring for the further fruitful development of the literary school he defended:
“Thirteen years ago, in the autumn of 1893, I was working on the publication of a thin, tiny book that bore the impotent and impudent title of The Russian Symbolists. I called this title powerless because it is colorless, does not say anything in itself, refers to something else. But it was also bold, because it openly presented its authors as defenders of that movement in literature, which in our country until that time had been subjected only to the most bitter attacks and ridicule, except for its very ambiguous defense in the pages of Sev.<ерного>Herald". A struggle began, at first imperceptible, then noticed only in order to also be subjected to all kinds of attacks. And it lasted 13 years, growing, capturing more and more vast areas, attracting more and more significant number of supporters. Today, at last, I am present at the launch of the newly equipped, richly decorated, luxurious ship Argo, which Jason hands over to us, politicians so different in their convictions.<еским>, philosophical<им>and religious<ым>, but united precisely under the banner of new art. And seeing before me this marvel of building art, its golden sails, its beautiful flags, I finally realize that the struggle in which I had the honor to participate with my companions was not fruitless, was not hopeless. But, as I board this ship, I ask myself the question: where will our feeder take us? What Golden Fleece are we going for. If for the one for which we set out 13 years ago in a fragile boat, then it has already been torn out in Colchis from the evil dragon, has already become property home country. Is it really the task of the new Argo only to deliver strands of evil<отого>rune and distribute it among the hands. Is it really the business of the new edition only to disseminate ideas previously expressed by others? Oh, then your Argo will not be winged<м>by ship - but by bulk<ным>crypt, marble<ым>a sarcophagus, which, like the tombs of Pergamon, will be admired in museums, but in which the new poetry will be magnificently buried. I raise my glass to<ы>this was not, I raise a glass against everyone who wants to rest, celebrating victory, and for everyone who wants a new struggle, in the name of new ideals in art, who is waiting for new failures and new ridicule.
Bryusov's characterization of the "Golden Fleece" as a "miracle of building art" was not only a tribute to the solemn and festive style. Ryabushinsky did everything to attract the best symbolist and near-symbolist literary forces to his magazine, and the art department of the magazine was organized on a grand scale, built on the example of the World of Art. Huge amounts of money were invested in the publication. The design was distinguished by the defiant high cost of execution. The orientation was initially given to the loudest, most prestigious names of their kind: the first issue opened with a whole album of reproductions from the works of M. Vrubel (subsequent issues were respectively devoted to the work of K. Somov, V. Borisov-Musatov, L. Bakst), the literary department it was represented by the names of D. Merezhkovsky, K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, A. Blok, Andrei Bely, F. Sologub. The entire text of the magazine was printed in parallel in two languages - Russian and French. And at the same time, from the very beginning there were fears similar to Bryusov's, and suspicions that "the Golden Fleece" - it seems - has a lot of money and few ideas.
Having presumptuously become the editor-publisher of The Golden Fleece, Ryabushinsky placed himself in the curious position of a "philistine in the nobility" among the refined representatives of the "new" art. “... It seemed like he on purpose appears to the point of caricature as a typical merchant-dear from Ostrovsky’s plays,” Benois recalled Ryabushinsky, noting at the same time the founder of the magazine had a touching desire to “crawl out of the state that was determined for him by class, environment, upbringing, and penetrate into some“ spiritual zone “, which seemed to him incomparably more sublime and bright.” The same Benois, at the time of the publication of The Golden Fleece, concluded that Ryabushinsky was “a true boor, although“ decorated ”with brocade, gold, and maybe even flowers.” D. V. Filosofov echoed him: “Golden Fleece is a boorish magazine, but the only one where you can work,” he meant, first of all, the financial security of the publication, which he admitted with ironic frankness: “We had N. Riabouchinsky. I'm not talking about the impression. When finances are cracking, la Toison d’or is of great importance for intelligent proletarians!” Not yet very experienced in the capital's literary affairs, L. Shestov was sincerely perplexed after meeting with Ryabushinsky in the editorial office of the Golden Fleece: “He told me that he was both a publisher and an editor. But when I tried to talk to him about literature, it turned out that he had nothing to do with it. Not only has he not heard anything about me, but apart from Bryusov, Balmont and Merezhkovsky, he knows no one. Yes, and those whom he knows, he knows only by name. That's the editor! However, the editor himself was full of confidence that he was able to brilliantly establish a literary business. "A mixture of naivety and boastfulness" stated in Ryabushinsky E. Lancer, citing some of his assurances: "Everything talented works for me", "My magazine will be everywhere - in Japan, and in America, and in Europe."
Everything in Ryabushinsky's journal - already starting with the title, chosen under the deliberate influence of Andrei Bely's famous poem "The Golden Fleece" and the figurative symbolism of the circle of Moscow "Argonauts" - was focused on ready-made samples and insistently claimed only for the completeness and completeness of their expression. Adopting the experience of The World of Art and Scales, which were published at a high printing level, in an exquisite and strictly deliberate design, Ryabushinsky sought to outshine and suppress his predecessors with excessive, excessive luxury, pretentiousness, which constantly threatened to develop into triumphant bad taste. The determination to follow the aesthetic precepts of symbolism gave rise to an editorial manifesto that opened the first issue of the magazine; in it, with disarming naivety, filled with an almost parodic sound, it was announced that in the “mad whirlpool” of modern life, in the “roar of struggle”, “it is impossible to live without Beauty”, that “it is necessary to win for our descendants free, bright, sunlit creativity”, and proclaimed program mottos:
« Art is forever for it is based on the imperishable, on what cannot be rejected.
Art is one for its only source is the soul.
Art is symbolic for it bears within itself a symbol, a reflection of the Eternal in the temporal.
Art is free for it is created by a free creative impulse” (1906, no. 1, p. 4).
Behind the eloquence and pathos of the manifesto, we can clearly distinguish the imprint of the personality of S. Sokolov (Krechetov), who in the first months of the Golden Fleece's activity became its ideologist and actual leader. He himself considered The Golden Fleece to be a publication “very amazing in terms of scope and breadth of tasks”, emphasizing in every possible way his leading position in it, but he could tell the magazine nothing but a “lexicon of common truths” of symbolist aesthetics in its specifically “decadent” refraction.
To a certain extent, Ryabushinsky's money saved the situation. Thanks to this important factor, the "Golden Fleece" had the appearance of a solid, well-established monthly. In terms of volume and level of the literary department, the issues of the Golden Fleece were not inferior to the issues of Libra. K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, Andrey Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, F. Sologub, A. Blok, Z. Gippius, D. Merezhkovsky - in fact, all the symbolists "with a name" who published poetry, prose, and articles in the Golden Fleece. Extremely indicative in this regard was the first, "debut" issue of the magazine: it contained Merezhkovsky's poem "Old Octaves", Sologub's story "The Caller of the Beast", Andrey Bely's dramatic excerpt "The Mouth of the Night", poems by Balmont, Bryusov, Blok, Bely; the same Balmont, Merezhkovsky, Blok participated in the critical department. Symbolist writers of the second rank and novice writers also found a safe haven in the "Golden Fleece", although in general they were published in a smaller proportion than the "masters". The leading artists of the epoch, for the most part “World of Art”, participated in the design, who had already won fame (L. Bakst, E. Lansere, K. Somov, A. Benois, S. Yaremich, M. Dobuzhinsky) and were just starting to conquer public acceptance(N. Sapunov, P. Kuznetsov, N. Feofilaktov, V. Milioti and others).
A serious impression was made by the chronicle and critical-bibliographic departments. In their charge, there was a noticeable desire to solve somewhat different tasks than those that the editors of Libra set themselves: in Bryusov's journal, much attention was paid to novelties in foreign literature and events cultural life West, in the "Golden Fleece" the main emphasis was placed on Russian literary and artistic chronicles. The selection and evaluation of the material was carried out from aesthetic positions close to Libra. In particular, Ryabushinsky's journal fully adopted the tone of Libra in relation to realist writers. In the "Golden Fleece" disparaging reviews were published about the collections "Knowledge", about Bunin's poems (S. Solovyov - 1907. No. 1, p. 89), about the works of secondary authors of the realistic school. It should be noted, however, that, in comparison with Libra, The Golden Fleece paid little attention to the fight against realism and did not try to withstand polemical one-linearism. So, A. Kursinsky, calling M. Gorky “an artist who has already exhausted himself”, at the same time highly appreciated L. Andreev’s Savva (1906. No. 10. P. 90–91), and V. Khodasevich, who saw in the majority works of the 7th collection of "Knowledge" only "a monotonous gray mass", focused all attention on Gorky's "Children of the Sun" as a "truly remarkable" drama (1906. No. 1. P. 154-155). The main interest of the "Golden Fleece" showed to the phenomena of art, directly or indirectly related to modernism. N. Tarovaty was engaged in the artistic chronicle of Moscow in the magazine, D. V. Filosofov prepared the reviews “The Artistic Life of St. Petersburg”, and then (after the departure of Filosofov with the Merezhkovskys on February 25, 1906 to France) Konst. Erberg. The “Musical Chronicle of St. Petersburg” was conducted from issue to issue by the famous music critic V. Karatygin (signing with the cryptonym V. K.), correspondence about Moscow musical life was placed by I. A. Sats, Alexander Struve, E. K. Medtner (Wolfing), B Popov (Mizgir). Reports on the events of the theatrical life in Moscow were published by N. Petrovskaya and A. Kursinsky, in St. Petersburg - by O. Dymov. Reviews by S. Makovsky, A. Rostislavov, A. Vorotnikov, Parisian correspondence by M. Voloshin, A. Benois, A. Shervashidze appeared sporadically.
On the whole, there were no fundamental, programmatic differences from Libra in the Golden Fleece at the beginning of the publication. Only one more, richer journal of a similar direction and subject appeared, relying on the same authors and practically duplicating Scales, diverting employees from Bryusov's journal and ultimately preventing it from maintaining its former monopoly position. Bryusov's fears that the "Golden Fleece" would become a "marble sarcophagus" crowning the values already won long ago received eloquent confirmation with each issue. The desire to partly restore the priority of the pioneers of the "new" art, partly to reveal the initial lack of independence and weakness that were hiding behind the external magnificence and prestige of Ryabushinsky's journal, his article "Links. II. Golden Fleece”, published on March 27, 1906 in the literary supplement to the Slovo newspaper. The Golden Fleece was regarded in it as a publication focused on yesterday and proclaiming elementary truths that no one cares about anymore: “This whole“ new ”magazine tells me about something old, he offers readers, obtained not by him, but by others, long before he was equipped for the journey. “What is the Golden Fleece? Bryusov asks. - These are interesting and artistically published collections that do not give anything new, but allow a group of artists to finish their speeches. This is a beautiful, lovingly executed edition, similar, however, to an alien plant, to a beautiful orchid that feeds on juices that it did not extract from the earth. This is a luxurious palace in which those of the former “decadents” who are tired of the rebellion of their youth and are ready to rest on drying laurels, rattling the strings with their usual hand and waving the brush, can peacefully calm down.
If Bryusov blamed the "Golden Fleece" primarily for the lack of search and independent initiative, then Z. Gippius's criticism was directed in a slightly different direction: she exposed Ryabushinsky's journal as an anti-cultural phenomenon. The concept of culture in general was the main weapon used by the Libra employees for polemical purposes, and in the case of the Golden Fleece it turned out to be especially convenient. Hiding under the pseudonym "Comrade German", Gippius placed in "Balance" a note "Golden Fleece", in which she ridiculed the appearance of the first issue of Ryabushinsky's magazine ("pomp" of the "richest Moscow wedding"), his ideological credo ("decayed decadence") and editorial manifesto (“there is not a single reader of the Golden Fleece who has not heard that there is beauty, that there is art, that beauty is eternal, and art too”), caustically touched on the bilingualism of the magazine (“Obviously, the time has come for the French too learn that without beauty one cannot live and that it is eternal”). The accusations of bad taste and lack of culture contained in this review were imbued with arrogance towards the founders of the journal and, in contrast to Bryusov's article, were expressed in a very harsh, even insulting form. “The Golden Fleece is unreliable, but not hopeless,” Gippius concluded. - Only he would not have to teach, but to learn beauty. The Goddess-culture is incorruptible and gives the rights of teaching only to those who have really gone through her long school. "Beauty" cannot be written out like a dress from Paris. And luxury is not yet beauty.
S. Sokolov (Krechetov) made a rebuttal on the pages of the Golden Fleece. In the note Apologists of Culture (1906. No. 3, pp. 131-132), he, refusing to argue on the merits ("We will not answer abuse with abuse"), again insisted on the unshakable significance of the ideological and aesthetic slogans of the "Golden Fleece" and returned back to "Comrade Herman" accusations of lack of culture. Sokolov also pointed out the underlying reason for the dissatisfaction of the "Vyesovites": "... the note of offended monopoly sounds too unambiguously in their words."
"Scales" did not forgive this performance. Another note "Comrade Herman" - "Golden Fleece" followed; this time its author was Bryusov. The direct object of ironic criticism in this case turned out to be the pompous and pathetic style of S. Krechetov’s answer, which is especially ridiculous because it is called upon to defend undisputed truisms: a burning novelty for persons importantly informing Europe that art is eternal.
With this, the direct printed polemics between Libra and the Golden Fleece temporarily died out. Taking a pose of offended nobility, Sokolov only composed a memorandum to "Libra", which was not published:
“In No. 5 of the Scales, an article appeared again under the title “Golden Fleece” signed “Comrade Herman”. In it, the magazine again resorts to the indecent method of literary polemics - to open and rude abuse. Next to reproaching us for being "uncivilized," the new trick of the "Balance" is a suicidal spearhead.
This time article T<оварища>G<ермана>has nothing to do with the<олотому>R<уну>“like a magazine. These cries of petty irritated pride are directed at me personally.
I declare to “Libra” that, not wanting to analyze in detail the narrowly personal and base motives of the last article, I will henceforth consider it below my dignity not only to object to something on the merits (it is very desirable for “Libra”!) To the works of pseudonymous and badly corresponding to their own the purpose of the masks from Libra, but also to somehow understand them in general.
An embittered scolding, where the sense of decency and proportion is lost, is a sign of clearly conscious impotence, and the one who hides his face at the same time shows caution close to the quality whose name is cowardice.
Indeed, it is difficult to deny the share of Libra's bias, and Bryusov in the first place, in relation to Sokolov, Scorpio's longtime competitor. However, in both of his answers to “Libra” - both in the published and sent editions of the journal - attention is drawn to the insensitivity to the very essence of the critical speeches of Bryusov and Gippius, the readiness to explain all conceptual arguments exclusively by external, even vile personal considerations. Sokolov was clearly unable to understand the literary, ideological and aesthetic orientation of the “weight” criticism, and therefore could not listen to it and make any efforts to get rid of the stereotype in the guise of the journal he led. “The Golden Fleece, it seems to me, is hopeless,” Bryusov summed up in April 1906 in a letter to Merezhkovsky. - No brilliant guest performers will save the theater without a director, without their own troupe, without a person who would know how to evaluate plays. But it is insulting, endlessly insulting that the big, even enormous money (a year will cost over 100,000 rubles), which would enable an absolutely exceptional publication to exist and exert its influence, results in such a mediocre, banal "monthly, art magazine “” . Almost in the same terms, reproaches to the "Golden Fleece" were expressed in the anonymous "weighty" note "Questions" written by Bryusov. Bryusov sees confirmation that Ryabushinsky’s journal is not an organ of like-minded artists, but “a storage place for poems, articles and drawings”, that there are no “literary and artistically educated leaders” in it, Bryusov sees both in the outdated ideological program of the Golden Fleece, and in the colorless appearance of the chronicle-bibliographic department, and in the poor quality of reproduction of paintings, and in the artisanal nature of French translations, representing Russian writers "devoid of any individuality of style, some kind of impersonal crowd, writing invariably correct and invariably boring language."
Inside the Golden Fleece, however, their own conflicts were also brewing. Sokolov and Ryabushinsky clashed in their intention to play a leading role in the journal. Sokolov complained more than once about Ryabushinsky's nit-picking, whims, and dictatorial habits, about his helpless attempts to carry out his own literary ideas. Sokolov's proposals to streamline the conduct of business (in particular, his desire to assign secretarial duties to V. Khodasevich) were met with hostility by the owner of the journal. It came to a scandalous break, to which Sokolov tried to give maximum publicity, exposing Ryabushinsky as an "impudent capitalist" and "semi-literate person", "absolutely ignorant in matters of literature." On July 4, 1906, he sent Ryabushinsky a lengthy statement announcing his departure from the Golden Fleece; essentially it was open letter, since Sokolov sent copies of it to many writers. ““Fleece” can have the right to further existence only on the condition,” Sokolov wrote to Ryabushinsky, “that by inviting a person with sufficient literary experience as my deputy, you will give him unlimited powers, and you yourself will become only a student, and, moreover, for a long time.
The gap between Sokolov and Ryabushinsky produced the effect of a “bomb” in the symbolist environment, in the words of the secretary of the Libra, M. F. Likiardopulo. Sokolov even counted on the fact that eminent employees would leave the Golden Fleece after him; this did not happen, but the magazine's reputation was badly damaged. Ryabushinsky announced that from now on he intended to personally edit the literary department, but in reality he was not able to do without outside help and first of all turned to Bryusov for her, the very next day after the break with Sokolov: “... I am writing to you, kindly asking you Your advice and opinion. Literature now I will conduct myself. The unrevealed direction in the journal really torments me<…>Don't Forget The Golden Fleece<…>Respond and give me, please, something of your things. Again about the "unrevealed direction" of the "Golden Fleece" was an indirect recognition of the correctness of Bryusov's criticism; the leader of the Libra had an opportunity to take control of another journal, and he did not fail to take advantage of it, especially since he regarded with satisfaction the loss of Sokolov's leading role. “In Sweden, I learned that S. A. Sokolov left the Golden Fleece,” Bryusov wrote in his diary, “and this gave me hope to enter this journal closer. Since autumn, I began to visit the editorial office often and “help with advice.”
In terms of such “advice”, it is worth considering attracting active work in the literary department of the "Golden Fleece" A. A. Kursinsky - a minor poet and prose writer from the circle of early symbolists, a friend of Bryusov from his youth. “Old comrade Bryusov helped Kursinsky get a job as an editor at the Golden Fleece,” recalled B. Sadovskoy. Kursinsky had been a member of the magazine even under Sokolov, and after his departure he became responsible for maintaining the literary department. Sokolov informed after the break with Ryabushinsky that "in fact, in some parts, acquired the influence of Kursinsky, but he has neither rights nor powers and in general is under Ryab<ушинском>almost without a voice", "on the<ении>"half lady". With the growth of Bryusov's influence, the role of Kursinsky increased accordingly. On October 8, 1906, Bryusov stated with satisfaction in a letter to Z. N. Gippius: “Our mutual friend A. A. Kursinsky occupies an increasingly decisive position in the Rune ...”.
In terms of editorial skills and talents, Kursinsky would hardly; more capable than Sokolov. A writer of more than modest and dependent talent, relying on "decadent" models in style and problematics, Kursinsky himself could not have a life-giving influence on the Golden Fleece and in in general terms remained quite similar to the former head of the literary department. However, through him, Bryusov opened up the prospect of influencing the Golden Fleece, without taking on his shoulders all the hardships of the editorial and publishing process. Kursinsky turned out to be a convenient intermediary between the Golden Fleece and Libra. At the end of 1906, S. Sokolov noted that these two journals are “now in the closest friendship,” and Bryusov subsequently specified the nature of this “friendship”: “We willingly attended various editorial meetings and more than once took part in editorial work, up to reading manuscripts and writing announcements.
However, this union did not give independence and novelty to the Golden Fleece. For a short time - a few months at the end of 1906 - beginning of 1907 - Ryabushinsky's journal became in fact a satellite, a branch of "Vesov". Notable and even outstanding works continued to appear in it - “Salting” by A. Remizov (1906. No. 7/9, 10), “Eleazar” by L. Andreev and “The Tale of Eleusippe” by M. Kuzmin (1906. No. 11/12) , “The Gift of the Wise Bees” by F. Sologub (1907, No. 2, 3), “The King in the Square” by A. Blok (1907. No. 4), poems by Bryusov, Andrei Bely, M. Voloshin, Vyach. Ivanov, the articles of Bely and Blok, etc. But as before, the Golden Fleece on a grand scale - and sometimes even with brilliance - propagated and crowned what had been achieved, and did not open up something new, and in this sense, Bryusov's reproaches remained effective even at that time when he himself was involved in logging. Moreover, Bryusov’s temporary “one-man management” was by no means the last reason that Ryabushinsky’s journal, actively contributing to the establishment of symbolism and the spread of the ideological and aesthetic principles of the “new” art, was unable to create a new, independent in relation to the “Scales” creative laboratory uniting literary forces.
The Golden Fleece initiatives were carried out only in the direction where generous funding could support them, and often had an advertising, propaganda character. It was decided to supplement the parade of major literary names with a gallery of portraits painted by the order of the Golden Fleece by the best artists; this is how famous portraits were born - Bryusov by M. Vrubel (1906. No. 7/9), Andrei Bely by L. Bakst (1907. No. 1), Vyach. Ivanov by K. Somov (1907. No. 3), A. Remizov (1907. No. 7/9) and F. Sologub (1907. No. 11/12) by B. Kustodiev, A. Blok by K. Somov (1908. No. 1). As if in compensation for the magazine program, it was decided to hold Golden Fleece competitions on a given topic. The first competition was announced on the topic "The Devil" in literature and fine arts, for its holding in December 1906 a representative jury was assembled (for the literary department A. Blok, V. Bryusov, Vyach. Ivanov, A. Kursinsky, N. Ryabushinsky ); the works awarded in the competition were published in the first issue of the Golden Fleece for 1907. Bryusov summed up the ironic result of the competition: “It turned out that neither the authors nor their judges (including myself) have any idea about the devil.” The second of the announced competitions (on the topic "Life and Art of the Future") did not take place at all. Following the example of Libra, which was published under the symbolist publishing house Scorpio, Ryabushinsky also tried to establish book publishing under the Golden Fleece, but this enterprise did not reach a solid scale: only a few books were published in the Golden Fleece.
The work of the art department of the "Golden Fleece" was carried out with greater originality. Its head N. Ya. Tarovaty died on October 6, 1906, and was replaced by the artist Vasily Milioti. Under the leadership of Milioti, the Golden Fleece has already decisively completed the reorientation from the masters of the World of Art to the latest artistic trends. With the support of Ryabushinsky, the Blue Rose exhibition was organized, its review with many reproductions appeared in The Golden Fleece (1907. No. 5). The artists of the "Blue Rose" (P. Kuznetsov, N. Milioti, N. Sapunov, S. Sudeikin, M. Saryan, A. Arapov, N. Krymov and others) then made up the assets of the exhibitions of the "Golden Fleece" in 1908 and 1909. , from issue to issue participated in the design of the magazine. The "Golden Fleece" also has the merit of familiarizing the Russian public with the latest aspirations of French painting: 94 pictures from the works of French artists were placed in No. 7/9 for 1908, a significant number of reproductions - in No. 2/3 for 1909, separate the issues of the magazine were specially devoted to the sculpture of P. Gauguin (1909. No. 1) and the painting of A. Matisse (1909. No. 6). All these publications were accompanied by articles interpreting the work of selected masters and the nature of the search for new art schools.
Already at the beginning of 1907, the fragility of the alliance between the Bryusov group and the Golden Fleece was revealed. Ryabushinsky's cooperation with Kursinsky developed in the same direction as earlier with Sokolov. In mid-March 1907, Kursinsky complained to S.A. Polyakov about "a very strange and hardly motivated relationship" with Ryabushinsky, about the insulting behavior of the magazine owner. Not wanting, according to Bryusov, to be "a submissive performer<…>absurd whims", Kursinsky brought the conflict to the press, announcing his break with the "Golden Fleece", and demanded from the editorial board of "Libra" an arbitration tribunal between him and Ryabushinsky. Formally, Ryabushinsky was forced to apologize, but then, with insulting frankness and cynicism, he spoke about both Kursinsky and Libra’s guardianship: “Can’t I refuse his cook, without Libra intervening in this matter?" - and: "I am quite convinced that writers are the same as prostitutes: they give themselves to the one who pays, and if you pay more, they allow you to do whatever you want with them." Andrei Bely (who was offered to edit the literary department of the Golden Fleece after Kursinsky) reports on what happened next: “... I wrote to Ryabushinsky with a challenge: it is enough honor for him to subsidize the magazine; he, a tyrant and mediocrity, should not participate in the magazine; consequence - my way out<…>". “Boris Nikolaevich “officially” left the Golden Fleece,” wrote Bryusov Z. N. Gippius in mid-April 1907. “After a rather bad“ story ”with Kursinsky, I would willingly do the same<…>But it seems to me that it is shameful to refuse when the abolition of the literary department has already been decided. Heroism is too cheap, they will say.
Rumors about the termination of the literary department in the "Golden Fleece" in the spring of 1907 were quite persistent. In fact, only some internal reorganization of the journal took place; it was decided to abandon the voluminous critical and bibliographic department, which required methodical and laborious organizational and editorial work; “Instead of the bibliographic department, which was abolished from No. 3, the editors of The Golden Fleece, from the next No., introduces critical reviews that give a systematic assessment of literary phenomena. The editors obtained the consent of their employee A. Blok to conduct these reviews.<…>"("From the editors" // 1907. No. 4. P. 74). Along with this report, Blok's statement was placed, outlining a thematic program for future "critical reviews of current literature."
The planned reform was definitely a consequence of the fact that his secretary Heinrich Edmundovich Tasteven, a “Moscow Frenchman”, a philologist by education, and an author of articles on philosophical and aesthetic issues, joined the direct management of the Golden Fleece. During the first months of the magazine's publication, Tastevin's duties were mainly to provide French translations of prose material. In 1907, his actual powers go beyond secretarial work, and editorial activity is essentially concentrated in the hands of Tasteven. G. I. Chulkov, who knew Tasteven well school years, characterized him: “An amateur in the good sense of the word, Tasteven responded with extraordinary sensitivity to all the cultural phenomena of our time: he knew Kant well and German philosophy in general, and this allowed him to freely navigate in all the latest ideological currents; he could also be a competent judge in the field of plastic arts and devoted a lot of time to organizing exhibitions of the "Golden Fleece"<…>". The influence of Tasteven largely explains the changes in the ideological and aesthetic position of the Golden Fleece, which were clearly marked by the middle of 1907: “The magazine, until then eclectic, takes on a certain face. A number of significant articles appear on its pages on issues of general aesthetics and the theory of symbolism, as well as a decisive and firm polemic against decadence.<…>» .
The "anti-decadent" pathos manifested itself already in the first major article by Tasteven, which appeared in the "Golden Fleece" - the "philosophical study" "Nichsche and the Modern Crisis." It pointed out the futility of "modern abstract individualism", which "turned the symbol from a living force, from the focus of our mental energies, into a dead mummy, a hieratic sign gravitating over life", and affirmed the need to overcome individualism, to establish a connection "between the" I " and “space”, the great element of life” (1907, no. 7/9, p. 115). The idea of “overcoming individualism” was for Tasteven, according to G. Chulkov, “not only a literary formula, but also a matter of life”, he sought to find internally united aspirations to translate it into reality in the most dissimilar cultural phenomena of our time and sought to change in the corresponding direction the former "decadent"-individualistic course of the "Golden Fleece". It is natural at the same time that in their new ideological inclinations, the editors of the Golden Fleece - in the person of Tasteven in the first place - approached "mystical anarchism" - a philosophical and aesthetic theory put forward in 1906 by Chulkov and supported by Vyach. Ivanov, who put at the forefront the striving for "catholicity" and overcoming the former, individualistic symbolism. Having received a resonance primarily in the circle of the St. Petersburg symbolists, "mystical anarchism" was sharply criticized by the "Balances", who defended the precepts of "classical" symbolism.
It is characteristic that earlier in his criticism of the activities of the "Golden Fleece" Bryusov called for new searches precisely along anti-individualistic paths. However, the path of the “mystical-anarchist” revision of symbolism and the direction of “overcoming individualism” associated with it, which the Golden Fleece chose, were considered unacceptable by the “Vesovites”. This rejection was not long in affecting the renewed printed polemic between the two journals, as a result of which their ideological and tactical demarcation was actually sanctioned.
The first polemical attacks were resumed by "Scales" immediately after the termination of Kursinsky's editorial activity. In two notes published in the March 1907 issue, Bryusov pointed to the editorial negligence and undemanding nature of The Golden Fleece, and even to an irrefutable example of plagiarism, noting that Ryabushinsky's journal "is again turning into some kind of barn for random materials." In response, the April issue of The Golden Fleece (which came out belatedly at the beginning of the summer) was followed by an article entitled "The Causes of a Literary Metamorphosis", in which the tactics were already used not of defense, but of attack. Its author was hidden behind the signature "Empiric", but in the critical arguments cited, the handwriting of Tasteven, who by that time had taken a leading position in the journal, was fully recognizable. The article stated that “the ideological physiognomy of Libra has become very dull”, that the journal has lost its former militant character and is becoming a conservative organ, “entrenched in the stronghold of aesthetic individualism”, that “now, when the moment comes to give an organic synthesis of the elements of a new world outlook, it is impossible engage in endless summing up” (1907, no. 4, pp. 79–80). The arguments with which the "Scales" had previously condemned the "Golden Fleece" were now directed to their own address. Bryusov, in a reply to The Golden Fleece, rejected the accusations that Libra supposedly “feeds on something else,” as obviously false.
The attacks were continued in Empiric's next article, "On Cultural Criticism," in which Libra's rejection of the latest ideological and literary trends was regarded as "monstrous self-satisfaction, ideological narrowness, a spirit of heaviness, and a desire to strengthen one's positions" (1907, no. 5, p. 75). Finally, a change in the ideological guidelines of the "Golden Fleece" was announced in a special notification "From the Editor" (1907. No. 6. P. 68). Following the recognition that “‘decadentism’, which was an integral and artistically complete worldview, has already been experienced by modern consciousness,” a new direction in the journal’s activity was announced: on the other hand, a revision of the theoretical and practical issues of the aesthetic worldview, on the other hand, perhaps an objective analysis of the art of recent years and new phenomena in painting and literature in order to clarify the prospects for the future. The editors attach particular importance to the consideration of questions about the national element in art and about the “new realism”. It was also reported about the planned change in the staff, caused by the "gradual involvement of a number of writers associated with new young searches in art."
It would seem that the "Golden Fleece" finally heeded the constant advice of the "Libra" to self-determine in relation to other symbolist associations. However, according to the planned program, such self-determination turned out to be emphatically “anti-Western”, including all specific points: “Libra” united for the most part the luminaries of symbolism - the “Golden Fleece” decided to rely on young forces, “Libra” defended the “classical”, “autonomous” symbolism - the "Golden Fleece" announced its inclination towards "new realism" and towards "synthetic" tendencies in general; finally, attention to the "national element" in art was to a large extent a counterargument to the Europeanism, the cosmopolitanism of Libra, which was even threatened by the reputation of the Franco-Russ magazine. But the main "anti-Western" point of the new program of the "Golden Fleece" was, of course, in solidarity with the ideas of renewal of symbolism on a "mystical-anarchist" basis. In a mocking polemical remark to the announcement of new program magazine - “We got together. New coup d’tat in the Golden Fleece” - Z. Gippius (“Comrade Herman”) noticed behind this installation one more eloquent evidence of the accessibility of the Golden Fleece “for all kinds of ignorance”. “... However, I cannot but rejoice,” Gippius concludes, “that the reproaches of the Golden Fleece are just, that the advice of the Empiricist is futile and that the Scales still adhere to its calm general cultural direction: they do not notice a bias towards catholicity ".
From the book "For some reason I have to tell about that ...": Selected author Gerschelman Karl Karlovich“It was not in vain that the gold caught fire…” It was not in vain that the golden caught fire, the Golden that we call life: These pines, refreshed by the dawn, This is a cloud with a pink edge. These buckets at the well, with a slight splash, Spilling water with a soft splash, The rumble of a tram behind the next
From the book Russian Symbolists: Studies and Researches author Lavrov Alexander Vasilievich"GOLDEN Fleece" Immediately after the termination of the "World of Art", from January 1905 in Moscow began to appear "art and art-critical magazine" - "Iskusstvo". Its editor-publisher was a young artist N. Ya. Tarovaty. Although the new magazine diligently tried
From the book Universal reader. 3rd grade author Team of authorsAutumn promised the golden word: "I will make it golden." And Winter said: "As I want." And Spring said: "Well, well, Winter." And Spring has come. Everywhere is a mess. The sun is golden. Buttercup is golden. The river is silvery and naughty with water. Born in the wild, flooded the meadows, Flooded the field, erased the banks. There,
Poems. Vitaly Grigorov. "To Moscow. Symphony”, “Someday my son will become a grandfather”, “My blue-eyed Tajik”, “At the Bolshoi on the Theater”. Literary almanac "Golden Fleece". No. 3, M., 2016. P. 212-216.
TO MOSCOW
Symphony.
At your crossroads, like I'm on the stage
And people read poetry!
And with an Uzbek woman I boldly manage skillfully,
And I whisper her name - Zulhi!
Let them pass lonely aside and far away
Hundreds and hundreds of centuries more,
Pour into glasses and walk through the ditches
And in the stomach - paternal pilaf!
Along your alleys, like a pilgrim for a long time,
I go and breathe deeply!
So old age wanders side by side gloomy,
Soon with a wand, apparently, I will!
I'm with you forever, I'm your man.
"Moscow gave bloom!" -
It's all romanticism, it's all communism
We read this to holes!
I go on the Internet, and I sit on the planet,
In general, I'm lying in bed:
I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere, even though the night star
My soul carries over the equator!
Each pebble is your eyewitness alive
Collisions, and troubles, and discord!
Along your avenues, along your boulevards
Both workers and thieves drink!
Hello tribe of bronze, you are alive like the sun,
We comprehend all your works:
And poetry, and science, your happiness and torment, -
All kinds of spirit fruits!
And crazy rains, and evil frosts
I am sheltered and healthy and saved;
There will still be victories, as our grandfathers prophesy,
And our two-headed eagle soars!
Glory, glory, worker, eager for constellations,
You built all our palaces:
And in the subway, in factories, on land and on waters
Everywhere glorious our specialists!
Glory, glory, peasant, Siberian and Tatar,
And Chuvash, and Mordvin, and Kalmyk!
I will throw a glorious cry - every Muscovite will be,
If the heart penetrated the capital!
I love you city! Your peace and parade!
The majesty of your bell towers!
I glorify in a thousand epochs, I glorify our Russian God,
I glorify the first throne will! ..
Someday my son will become a grandfather,
And there will be grandchildren and, perhaps, great-grandchildren.
Well, in the meantime, I myself am going to the subway,
Sipping beer on holidays.
Well, for now, I'm not a grandfather at all,
I do not bend like grass in the wind in the field.
I sit and eat myself a rye bread,
Buying a plane ticket to Peru.
My blue-eyed Tajik,
You are an excellent Russian man.
Sweep the Moscow courtyard.
We're both like that Yorick.
Your eyes are like ripples in a river.
And smile with longing.
I love you like a brother
Similar to our stories.
Where is the blue of your eyes
Let me guess, barmaley.
Really Macedonian
Left a trace of his horse.
Human incest.
Adultery of kings.
And later you realize
What you don't know...
You do not know the wildness of the grass,
You do not know the herbalism of fate.
And here: gloves, boots,
And there are people give-help.
I love you, blue eyed
As a girl, I give rhinestones,
And I'm waiting for the reciprocity of the hand,
We are both from the same torment.
Wonderful action of the times:
There are sparks all around.
I bow a hundred times
Azat history!..*
* Free (Eastern).
AT THE BOLSHOY ON THE THEATER
Neon Fountain!
Neon Fountain!
You replaced the living, but I'm in love and drunk!
The old year is gone!
And it will burst New Year!
Chocolate, cognac and a sandwich on the bench!
Four horses!
Quadriga, what's up, hey!
From the theater you fly to the square as soon as possible!
Let's rush forward!
Let's rush forward!
Farewell, Old Year! Let there be a New Year!
Girlfriend, spill it!
Girlfriend, drink up!
And sing a song from the heart about life!
Short skirt!
Short skirt!
And the legs are so soft, and the lips are fragrant!
We are happy together!
We are both sunshine!
And again, pour the glasses to the brim!
And push for love!
And swoop for love!
I will smooth your dashing eyebrow with my finger ...
Quadriga, what's up, hey!
Four horses!
Don't fly to us, please - kill it!
Let's get on the subway!
To the house on the subway!
The boulevards and the avenue are covered with snow!
Neon Fountain!
Neon Fountain!
With water in the spring you will be drunk again!
And with a song from the heart
And with a song for the soul
They will find shelter in you - native drunks! ..
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In we talked about the literary and journalistic "thick magazines" of the 19th century presented at the exhibition in ours. And today's post we will devote to such an interesting phenomenon as magazines about the art of the beginning of the 20th century, which are also stored in the collections of the library. Krupskaya.
The beginning of the 20th century is commonly called the Silver Age. Russian culture. Residents of the entire vast country, including the Orenburg province, learned about the novelties of poetry and prose, painting and graphics, music and theater from numerous magazines. Often, magazines had not only a thematic (musical, poetic, theatrical), but also a stylistic orientation, representing one of the many areas of art in those years, be it symbolism, acmeism or futurism. Therefore, readers of that time had the opportunity to choose an edition to their liking, or to read several at once, in order to create for themselves a complete picture of cultural life.
The magazine "Golden Fleece" attracts attention with its artsy cover, which betrays its belonging to the symbolist direction. The Golden Fleece published the works of K. Balmont, F. Sologub, L. Andreev, M. Voloshin and many other poets, who mainly belonged to the Symbolists and considered creativity as a religious and mystical action.
The forerunner and sometimes opponent of The Golden Fleece was another Symbolist magazine called Scales. Bryusov was its actual leader, and among the authors we can see the names of A. Blok, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, V. Rozanov.
The magazine "World of Art" consisted of two "departments" - artistic and literary. The art department presented the works of the best Russian artists, including I. Repin, V. Vasnetsov, I. Levitan and many others. The literary department of the World of Art was the domain of the Symbolists. All the same V. Balmont, D. Merezhkovsky, V. Rozanov and other representatives of this direction were published in it.
Fine art in all its manifestations was devoted to the monthly illustrated magazine Art and Art Industry, published in St. Petersburg from 1898 to 1902.
The magazine "Artist", despite the quite unambiguous name, was not only theatrical - it also published stories, articles on music and visual arts. At the moment, it is the magazine "Artist" that is the main source for studying theatrical art of Russia at the end of the 19th century.
From 1892 to 1915, the directorate of the imperial theaters published the Yearbook, which was a kind of theatrical reference book in which all art lovers could find out the list of plays going on in the imperial theaters, complete information about the productions and the actors involved in them. Due to the incomparable role played then in the life of society by the art of the theater, theater magazines were very popular.
Musical Contemporary, headed by Rimsky-Korsakov, was one of the leading music magazines of the early 20th century. He gave paramount importance to the work of domestic composers. Separate issues of the magazine were published entirely dedicated to Scriabin, Taneyev, Mussorgsky and other famous composers.
Of course, at the beginning of the 20th century, not everyone was a refined aesthete and read only poetry, theater and music magazines. There were publications designed for a wider audience. Among such publications, the Niva magazine is especially noteworthy.
Niva is the most popular magazine of the beginning of the 20th century among the philistine and bourgeois public. It was positioned as a "magazine of literature, politics and modern life." Its circulation reached unimaginable sizes for that time - up to 275 thousand copies, while until the end of the 19th century even 1000 copies were considered a decent magazine circulation. The key to its popularity was a wide coverage of topics (literature, history, popular science essays, politics) and an abundance of illustrations, which in those years not every magazine could afford. Socio-political materials were given in a "well-intentioned" spirit, which allowed radical supporters of progress to accuse the magazine of inertia and philistinism. However, at the same time, such authors as A.K. Tolstoy, L.N. Tolstoy, F.I. Tyutchev, A.P. Chekhov and many other great writers.
Finally, we note that any publications at all times could not live without advertising:
In the next publication, the most interesting awaits you - Orenburg satirical magazines of the early 20th century, don't switch :))
Ida Hoffman
"Golden Fleece" 1906-1909. At the origins of the Russian avant-garde
In the history of European culture short period when an art magazine became more than just a printed publication in its significance and role, but turned into a vibrant cultural phenomenon that determined the era and shaped its artistic consciousness, its aesthetic ideal. This period was the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Starting from the mid-1890s, such magazines appeared one after another in Paris, London, Berlin, and Munich. They contributed to the creation of a certain emotional atmosphere of the time. Munich "Jugend" even gave the name to the artistic direction in the European culture of that time - Jugendstil.
In Russia, such phenomena include the magazines "World of Art" and "Golden Fleece". The latter was inextricably linked with the history of the community of young Moscow symbolist artists, headed by P. Kuznetsov. The journal became the material base of this group, which received complete freedom of action with its help, was a printed organ and an ideological center that united and rallied the community and contributed to the establishment of the aesthetic principles of symbolism. It was the Golden Fleece that in 1907 organized the famous Moscow exhibition Blue Rose, which gave its name to Russian symbolism in the fine arts of the 1900s. Through the efforts of the “Golden Fleece”, “Blueberryism” turned into an epoch-making artistic phenomenon that set the tone and determined the style of the time.
Following the "Blue Rose", as a continuation of its activities, the magazine organized joint performances by Russian and French artists of new and latest trends - in Moscow in 1908-1909, three exhibitions, unique in scale and composition of participants, called "Golden Fleece", played a fateful role in the history of Russian art of the twentieth century and gave a powerful impetus to the development of the Russian avant-garde movement.
However, the "Golden Fleece" not only did not receive due appreciation in Soviet art history, but, like everything connected with symbolism in general and the "Blue Rose", in particular, it was branded as a harmful phenomenon and alien to the new ideology. The magazine was declared "bourgeois", decadent, due to which it ended up in the "dump of history" and was classified as one of the publications banned in the Soviet years.
Today, no one has any doubts about the historical regularity of this phenomenon, about the importance and significance of its role in the Russian culture of the twentieth century, and, naturally, there was a need to study and study it. In 2007, the first large monograph devoted to this topic was published (see: Hoffman I. Golden Fleece. Journal. Exhibitions 1906–1909. M., 2007).
The exhibition, organized by the Tretyakov Gallery in the spring of 2008, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first joint Russian-French exhibition "Salon of the Golden Fleece", for the first time presented this phenomenon in its diverse manifestation to a wide audience.
The magazine "Golden Fleece" began to appear in Moscow in January 1906. Its editor-publisher was Nikolai Ryabushinsky. The new edition was conceived and formed as a continuation of the St. Petersburg "World of Art", which in 1904 had already ended its activity. The need for an art journal that would take on the role of an ideological center in the struggle between the rapidly emerging new and the inertia that was still firmly defending its positions was especially acute at that moment. Moscow then actively began to emerge as an artistic center of Russian art.
Unlike the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, which by that time had become a musty conservative institution, the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where Valentin Serov came as the head of the natural class in 1897, followed by Isaac Levitan, Konstantin Korovin, Paolo Trubetskoy, experienced a real renewal. The spirit of freedom brought up here contributed to the activation of the creative forces of Moscow artists, their bold innovation, while maintaining among Muscovites a heightened sense of "soil", deep intercom with national traditions.
When designing a new magazine, Ryabushinsky was guided by the activities of Sergei Diaghilev and the tasks that he set when organizing the World of Art, formulated by him in a letter of 1897 to A. Benois. Diaghilev wrote: “.... I am designing a magazine - in which I think to unite our entire artistic life, i.e. put true painting in illustrations, speak frankly what I think in articles, then organize a series of annual exhibitions on behalf of the magazine ... ”(A. Benois. The emergence of the World of Art. L., 1928. P. 27). The World of Art began to appear in 1899. In the article "Complicated Questions", which preceded the first two books of the magazine, new aesthetic principles were set forth. They proclaimed the autonomy of art and the freedom of creativity, affirmed the priority of the personality of the creator. The purpose of art criticism was formulated as the "chanting" of any new manifestation of talent. One of the most important tasks of the journal was the education of broad knowledge.
The Golden Fleece entered the arena of struggle for new aesthetic principles seven years after the release of the first issues of the World of Art. It was the peak of the Russian revolution. Right before the appearance of the magazine in Moscow, in December 1905, the authorities brutally suppressed the Moscow armed uprising. The Golden Fleece, unlike the World of Art, set out its principles in the spirit of the revolutionary time - in the form of a manifesto printed in gold letters on the pages of the first issue. It said: “In a terrible time, we set out on the road. All around boils with a frantic whirlpool of renewing life<…>We sympathize with all who work for the renewal of life, we do not deny any of the tasks of our time, but we firmly believe that it is impossible to live without Beauty, together with free institutions, we must win free, bright, sun-lit creativity for our descendants.<…>And in the name of the same new life to come, we, the seekers of the golden fleece, unfurl our banner: Art is forever<…>, Art is one<…>, Art - symbolic<…>, Art - free<…>».
The name of the new magazine was chosen with meaning. Not long before that, his idea had been set forth by the then young poet and symbolist theorist Andrei Bely in his story The Argonauts, where the search for freedom of young Russian idealists, vague in the spirit of Symbolist imagery, found expression. Bely called on Mankind, “loving freedom”, to leave the Earth that had become unbearable for free people and fly “into the blue ether”, to the Sun. The story even contained a specific departure plan. The protagonist of the story, “a great writer who went after the Sun, like an argonaut for a fleece,” says: “I will publish the Golden Fleece magazine. The Argonauts will be my co-workers, and the Sun will be my banner. With a popular exposition of the principles of sunshine, I will kindle hearts. I will gild the whole world. We will choke in the liquid sun ”(Bely A. Argonauts // Bely A. Symphonies. L., 1991. P. 450-455).
The dream of creating such a light magazine was tempting and beautiful. But the publisher of the new journal that really came into being, Nikolai Ryabushinsky, turned out to be not a "great writer", but came from a wealthy Moscow merchant class. He was the son of the famous millionaire Pavel Mikhailovich Ryabushinsky, among whose thirteen children there were many bright personalities involved in Russian culture and science. Young Nikolai was considered among them the most unlucky and reckless. Feeling no inclination to trade and industry, he, having received his share of the inheritance, plunged headlong into art. Nicholas did not have a systematic art and no other education, but he actively and successfully educated himself - he was engaged in drawing and painting, wrote poetry, novels and articles on art, traveled to various exotic countries, collected works of art. The attitude towards him among Russian intellectuals was very skeptical. His personality did not inspire confidence that he would take up his business and be able to translate the lofty symbolist dream into reality. This circumstance informed the situation around the "Golden Fleece" sharpness and tension.
The decision of the still very young, then 29-year-old, Ryabushinsky to become the editor-publisher of a serious and much-needed edition of Russian culture at that time was perceived by many as another whim of a rich merchant, a “golden bag”, littering with money, who also wanted the laurels of Sergei Diaghilev. Around him and his activities in the magazine there was a mood of complete distrust. The artist I. Ostroukhov reported in January 1906 in a letter to the daughter of P.M. Tretyakov A.P. Botkina in St. Petersburg: “We have a new magazine - “Golden Fleece” - all fragments from the “World of Art”. I think that nothing good will come of it…” (OR GTG. F. 48/441. L. 1ob.).
The appearance of the first issues of the "Golden Fleece" was accompanied by critical attacks, ironic remarks, banter, and sometimes rude abuse. Articles of this kind signed "Comrade Herman" were published in the second and fifth issues of Libra in 1906. A truly "stuffy" atmosphere was created around the new magazine, and by people from the closest circle, the participants in the new edition themselves.
Now it is even difficult to imagine how, despite all this, it was possible to create the Golden Fleece and make the magazine what it became, in full, turning it into a bright phenomenon of Russian culture. This could only be done by a large personality who possessed many positive qualities- organizational and diplomatic gift, strong will, understanding of tasks, and, most importantly, knowledge of the matter and confidence in the importance of the undertaking for the fate of national culture.
Ryabushinsky quite consciously took this patriotic step - the results obtained allow us to draw such a conclusion. He was undoubtedly an outstanding person, perhaps complex, confused, but for all that noted by God. This was understood even by ill-wishers, who, among a long series of his negative qualities, no, no, and even found something worthy in him and remembered him with a kind word.
So, the poet Vladislav Khodasevich, who did not spare unflattering words to characterize Nikolai Ryabushinsky, nevertheless noted that he “was far from stupid” and “attracted him with some kind of natural talent” (Khodasevich V.F. About patrons // Khodasevich V F. Collected works in 4 vols. T. 4. P. 330). And another well-known contemporary, Prince Sergei Shcherbatov, confidently stated that Ryabushinsky had “some kind of chaotic, but undoubted talent” (Shcherbatov S. Artist in the Bygone Russia. New York, 1955. P. 41).
To all appearances, Nikolay really was a mess and was not without the manners inherent in the Russian merchant class, which so shocked the intellectuals. However, fortunately for Russian culture, the energy of the "naughty" Ryabushinsky was directed in the right direction at the right time. In 1906, he joined a group of innovative youth and became a member of the creative community of Moscow Symbolist artists, headed by Pavel Kuznetsov, to a group that by that time had already fully developed creatively and was in dire need of material and ideological support. And she appeared together with Ryabushinsky. If he had not appeared at that moment, probably, neither the Blue Rose nor what followed in Russian art after that would have taken place.
The first issue of the Golden Fleece, published in January 1906, was large, beautiful, shining with gold, as if filled with sunlight, was supposed to amaze, please, uplift the spirit, inspire hope. The birth of the magazine under the flag of the Sun symbolized the Rise of a new Life. The sun rose to dispel the twilight of the Night into which Russia was then plunged. The new edition was intended to unite all artistic life on its pages, focusing on the most striking and noteworthy phenomena, and, accordingly, the idea of A. Bely, "a popular presentation of the foundations of sunshine", which meant the idea of symbolism as a new and most advanced trend in the culture of the twentieth century "ignite the hearts" of readers.
The life of the "Golden Fleece" began with the presentation of the founder of Russian artistic symbolism, Mikhail Vrubel. The first January issue of 1906 opened with a display of his works. The artist for a long time remained misunderstood by his contemporaries. But for the young Moscow symbolists, he was an idol, their era, the embodiment of the symbolist idea itself, a kind of spiritual guide. Vrubel became a kind of tuning fork for the Golden Fleece, that high note to which the magazine tuned itself. The personality of this celestial artist determined the course taken by the "Golden Fleece" and overshadowed his entire subsequent path to the very end.
In each issue, the magazine introduced readers to the most significant phenomena of the modern artistic life of the country, in its view, often not yet understood and not appreciated until that time. So, the third issue was dedicated to Viktor Borisov-Musatov, another, along with Vrubel, founder of Russian pictorial symbolism, who was for Moscow innovators not only a guiding star, beautiful, but distant, like Vrubel, but a living reality - their friend, mentor, Teacher . This publication of The Golden Fleece played an important role in shaping the correct historical assessment of the creative personality of Borisov-Musatov and in understanding his role in the history of art of the twentieth century.
The possibility of a personal display on the pages of the "Golden Fleece" was also given to many leading masters of the "World of Art" - K. Somov, L. Bakst, A. Benois, E. Lansere. A large number of their works were published here and their portraits and self-portraits specially commissioned by Ryabushinsky for the magazine were placed - this is how the large portrait gallery of the Golden Fleece arose. The show was accompanied by articles about the artist or dedications to him. M. Nesterov, N. Roerich, K. Bogaevsky are represented in the Golden Fleece just as worthily and with the same reverence. Of the young Moscow innovators, only P. Kuznetsov received such attention.
At the same time, the magazine sought not only to develop broad knowledge in the reader, but set itself the task of educating artistic taste in a wide environment of the reading public, and not only Russian - for the first six months, the Golden Fleece was published in two languages - Russian and French, and was oriented to eleven largest cities in Russia, Europe and America. Importance acquires in the new journal not only what is published, but also how it is done.
The illustrations in the "Golden Fleece" are mostly large-format, on the entire page of a sheet of excellent quality paper, are not interrupted by text and are placed with a certain meaning. Thus, the comparison of Vrubel's self-portraits with the faces of his "Prophets", "Seraphim", "Demons" emphasizes the divine nature of Vrubel's gift, his chosenness. Sheets depicting the works of Borisov-Musatov give rise to a feeling of gentle lyrical melody. Big role light backgrounds play in them, against which the melodious smooth lines of Musatov's compositions and the gentle intonations of his color harmonies are clearly revealed. In the material about Roerich, on the contrary, white serves to enhance the depth of the gloomy black tones that dominated in many works of the artist of that time.
The journal directs readers' attention to the fact that different types fine arts require a different approach to their perception and consideration. For example, two sculptural groups of Somov are presented on the pages of "Runa" in four and six projections, from different sides, on different backgrounds. There is a special interest of the magazine in the specifics of graphics, the most organic in nature printed edition. The elegance and subtlety of the line and the beauty of the black spot of silhouette Som graphics are brilliantly shown here; one can appreciate the beauty and rationality of Lansere's drawings, the classical clarity of Bakst's graphic style, or the charm and freedom of his natural sketches from reproductions of the magazine. The decorative design of the magazine itself is magnificent - numerous headlines, endings, title pages of sections, made mainly by the largest masters of the "World of Art" and "Blue Rose".
A new initiative of the "Golden Fleece" was the organization of a publishing house at the magazine, which published books by authors close to his circle. It appeared in the middle of 1906. The first sign was Balmont's poetry collection "Evil Spells", which was immediately banned by censorship. During its existence, the publishing house "Golden Fleece" published a book of stories by A. Remizov, collections of poems by F. Sologub and A. Blok, a novel by the Polish writer S. Pshibyshevsky, a story by the editor-publisher of the magazine called "Confession". But the most significant and valuable edition of the "Golden Fleece" was the illustrated "Essays on the History of Russian Art" by Professor A. Uspensky. The publishing house, undoubtedly, contributed to the expansion of the circle of the ideological influence of the journal on the reading Russian society. Its organization was a well-organized and well-organized affair, giving a certain weight to the activities of the "Golden Fleece".
The new magazine picked up and successfully continued another very important undertaking of the "World of Art" - the popularization of the national artistic heritage. Every year he dedicated a large, built-in number to this. The theme of the first publication of this kind was ancient Russian art. This publication contains about 70 illustrations, the material is grouped into five sections, covering in different aspects different types and forms of ancient Russian art. The titles of the sections are as follows: Icon-painting in Russia until the second half of the 17th century; Frescoes in the porch of the Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow; The influence of foreign artists on Russian art in the second half of the 17th century; Painter Vasily Poznansky; Russian genre of the 17th century. Each of the sections is preceded by an article by Professor A.I. Uspensky, the largest researcher of ancient Russian art of that time.
This was the first experience of scientific popularization of ancient Russian art. The value of this publication cannot be overestimated. For the first time, an unknown layer of Russian artistic culture, a new world of highly spiritual national creativity. And, of course, the significance of this action for the artistic youth of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is invaluable. The discovery of ancient Russian art as a powerful source of aesthetic and spiritual influence played a huge role in guiding the search for young Russian artists and shaping the principles of the Russian avant-garde.
In the next year, 1907, the most significant in the section of heritage was the material on the topic "A.G. Venetsianov and his school", in 1908 - the work of the artist Nikolai Ge as the best representative of the highly moral tradition of wandering. The Golden Fleece celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Ivanov with a remarkable publication of the artist's drawings and watercolors, which are inaccessible to the general public, accompanied by an article by V. Rozanov.
Over the four years of its activity, the magazine has introduced the reader to a mass of materials on the heritage section. Among them: a collection of antique furniture of Count A.V. Olsufiev, exhibits of Polish art from the Vilna collection of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow, a collection of miniatures of the Imperial Hermitage; Persian painting of the 16th century; a collection of bone carvings of the Kholmogory and Yakut work of the 18th and 19th centuries; materials of the Facial Apocalypse of the Pomor writing of the 18th century, the work of artists Fyodor Tolstoy, Yakov Kapkov, A. Monticelli and others.
But with all the attention to the art of the past, the new magazine was primarily aimed at the future. Considering itself responsible for the fate of Russian culture, the Golden Fleece joined the struggle for its restructuring. On the pages of the magazine, issues of improving art education are hotly discussed, state organization and leadership of art, while the role of the artist in the life of a renewed free society was seen as a leading one. Referred to as "apolitical" by Soviet critics, the journal, upon closer examination, turns out to be a living embodiment of its time. This luxurious, shining gold magazine, like no other publication, now allows you to really feel the complexity of that tragic moment in Russian history. On the pages of The Golden Fleece, both the emotional social upsurge of these years and the harsh truth of reality have found a vivid expression; inspiring utopian hopes and a heavy feeling of hopelessness and complete despair. At the same time, it is impossible not to notice the frank pro-revolutionary mood of the journal.
From the second year of publication, continuing to remain literary and critical, expanding the musical department, the Golden Fleece increasingly concentrated attention on the visual arts, defining itself as an art magazine and in every possible way contributing to the development of the principles of symbolism in it and the popularization of these principles as the most progressive in the general consciousness. .
Art exhibitions from the very beginning were the subject of close attention of the "Golden Fleece". Reviews of exhibition displays in the magazine always contained an extensive display of exhibits and were usually accompanied by a serious analysis of the processes taking place in contemporary art. So, in several issues, the exhibition "The World of Art" organized by Diaghilev in 1906, which became epoch-making in its significance, was subjected to rigorous discussion. It openly laid bare the contradictions that had already been outlined and were growing more and more over time between the group of Moscow Symbolists and the St. Petersburg retrospectivists. After this exhibition, there was no longer any doubt that these artistic groups by no means fellow travelers in their search for new ways in art. Own exhibition activity became a necessity for the Golden Fleece. And it began brilliantly with the organization in 1907 in Moscow of the Blue Rose exhibition.
The artist Sergei Vinogradov recalled: “The first Blue Rose exhibition was a sensation in the Moscow art world. And it was arranged with such exceptional sophistication and beauty that nothing like it had ever been seen "(Vinogradov S. About the Blue Rose exhibition, the talent of N.P. Ryabushinsky and the Feast of Roses in his Kuchin // Vinogradov S. Former Moscow. Riga , 2001. P. 143).
A special issue of the Golden Fleece, designed by the participants of the exposition in their own style, was devoted to the presentation of the Blue Rose and the analysis of the problems associated with its activities. The magazine convincingly, seriously and with great taste presented the exhibition to its readers and, what is especially valuable and important, managed at the same time in the article by Sergei Makovsky to give a correct historical assessment of the phenomenon, which from that moment finally acquired its name and status. "Blue Rose" embodied and expressed the aesthetic principles of symbolism in the visual arts. Freed from the task of directly displaying the surrounding world, art in the works of these masters came to the expression of non-material categories - images of the subconscious: emotions, feelings, sensations - and approached the principles of musical creativity. At the heart of Goluborozov's painting, as in music, are rhythm, emotional expressiveness of the line, subtle color intonation. But, having become the pinnacle of Russian symbolism in the 1900s, the Blue Rose also exposed the big problems that this artistic movement faced. There was nowhere to follow this path further, plastic art, material in nature, faced the problem of dissolution, disappearance. It was necessary to find means to return to him his nature, while not changing the main aesthetic principles of symbolism. The new tasks that confronted Russian art in a certain way clarified the new course of the journal in this regard. The direction of the search for the "Golden Fleece" in 1908-1909 was quite clearly formulated by one of the members of the Goluborozov community, the artist V. Milioti, and published in the journal.
“And if Russian art wants to become necessary for Russian culture,” this publication said, “it must partake of that great spiritual depth, vigor and faith that the first teachers of the Wanderers left us as a testament, and absorb the conquests of the great picturesque West, seeking new forms for renewed inner experiences” (Milioti V. Forgotten Testaments // Golden Fleece. 1909. No. 4. P. V).
The task of "absorbing the conquests of the great picturesque West" became decisive in the activities of the "Golden Fleece" for the next two years. Diaghilev understood very well the importance of creative contacts between contemporary Russian and European artists. He considered such contact the key to the successful development of Russian art. “We need to crush with that gigantic power that is so inherent in Russian talent,” he said, “<…>we must become not accidental, but permanent participants in the course of universal art. This solidarity is essential. It should be expressed both in the form of active participation in the life of Europe, and in the form of bringing this European art to us; we cannot do without it - this is the only guarantee of progress and the only rebuff to the routine that has fettered our painting for so long ”(Diaghilev S. European Exhibitions and Russian Artists // Sergey Diaghilev and Russian Art. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. M., 1982 pp. 56, 57).
Diaghilev's activities have always been an example for Ryabushinsky, which he followed, trying to put into practice many of his plans. The idea of Russian-French creative contacts was at that moment historically determined and logical, and for Russian art it was simply saving. And if Diaghilev took the first big step in this direction, then Ryabushinsky, remembering that this is “the only guarantee of progress and the only rebuff to routine”, brought Diaghilev’s idea itself to its logical conclusion - it was he who “cut through” the desired “window” for Russian fine art to Europe".
The magazine planned to organize in Moscow a joint performance of Russian and French contemporary artists at an exhibition called the Salon of the Golden Fleece, the opening of which was supposed to coincide with the anniversary of the Blue Rose - March 18, 1908. In theory, the Goluborozovites were supposed to unite with the best Russian artists, primarily with a group of masters of the World of Art, in order to demonstrate, in comparison with the French, the achievements of the new Russian school of painting. The goals and objectives of the idea were detailed in the introductory article to the catalog (but already the second exhibition of the "Golden Fleece", because due to organizational troubles they did not have time to do it in time, the catalog of the first exhibition came out without an introductory article).
“By inviting French artists to participate in the exhibition,” the article says, “the Golden Fleece group pursued a twofold goal: on the one hand, by comparing Russian and Western searches, to better illuminate the features of the development of young Russian painting and its new tasks; on the other hand, to emphasize the features of development that are common to Russian and Western art, since for all the difference in national psychologies (the French are more sensualists, Russian artists have more spirituality), the new searches for young art have some common psychological foundations. Here - the overcoming of aestheticism and historicism, there - a reaction against neo-academism, into which impressionism has degenerated. If the founders of this movement in France were Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, then the first impetus in Russia was given by Vrubel and Borisov-Musatov” (Catalogue of the exhibition of paintings “Golden Fleece”. M., 1909).
Due to the negative attitude among Russian intellectuals towards Ryabushinsky and his grandiose plans, the exhibition was on the verge of collapse. However, despite all the seemingly intractable and, it seems, well-coordinated obstacles, he managed to carry out his plan, however, a little later than the planned date and not quite in the form that he had initially assumed. On April 5, 1908, in Moscow, in the Khludovs' house - on the corner of Rozhdestvenka and Teatralny proezd - an exhibition "Salon of the Golden Fleece", unprecedented in scope and significance in the history of Russian art of the 20th century, opened.
It was the first such representative display of new French art outside of France, which at that time did not yet have wide recognition even in Paris itself, not to mention other European cities. Only two years later, an exhibition of French impressionism was held in London. At the "Salon" it was supposed to acquaint the Russian audience with the entire spectrum of French artistic trends at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Over fifty major French masters were presented at an exhibition in Moscow. About 250 works of painting, sculpture and graphics were demonstrated. Among them are the Impressionists - Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, and post-impressionists - Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec; symbolists of the Nabis group: Denis, Bonnard, Vuillard, Roussel. Along with them, works by artists of the latest artistic movements that had just asserted themselves in France, such as Fauvism - Matisse, Derain, Van Dongen, Marquet, Rouault, were also selected for display; and even Cubism, which was barely emerging at that time, one of the brightest representatives of which was Georges Braque, who sent five of his works to Moscow. All this could not but make a stunning impression on the Moscow public. The exhibition had a huge resonance.
The magazine organized a complete and comprehensive presentation of the exhibition on its pages, carried out a broad campaign to popularize French art, paying great attention to the analysis of common problems that then confronted representatives of both art schools. Extensive visual material was accompanied by three detailed articles on French art: M. Voloshin "Aspirations of new French painting (Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin)", C. Maurice "New trends in French art" and G. Tasteven "Impressionism and new searches".
In January 1909, the second exhibition organized by the magazine opened, it was called "The Golden Fleece". This exhibition continued the tradition of joint creative meetings with the French, begun by the Salon, and to a large extent restored the prestige of Russian art, as if proving that there are quite real grounds for creative cooperation between these two national schools. The second exhibition was attended by 16 (according to the Goluborozov tradition) Russian artists and 10 French artists. This time the exposition and the catalog were not divided into national sections. It seems that this moment was undoubtedly taken into account. The ratio of exhibits by number was also thought out - Russian artists staged 111 works, the French - 44.
The Golden Fleece group included eight Blue Bears - P. Kuznetsov, Utkin, Matveev, V. Milioti, Saryan, Knabe, Ryabushinsky, Fonvizin, as well as N. Goncharova, M. Larionov, N. Ulyanov and K. Petrov-Vodkin. Among the French masters this time, the Impressionists were not represented at all. Preference was given to artists of the latest trends - J. Braque, A. Derain, K. Van Dongen, A. Marquet, G. Matisse, J. Rouault, M. Vlaminck and others took part in the exhibition.
The exhibition was even more successful than the first among collectors, art lovers and the general public. In a shorter period - it was shown for only one month, until February 15 - it was visited by two thousand more people. At the opening, as reported in the magazine, there were about 700 guests. 20 works of Russian masters and 3 French works were bought from the exhibition - two paintings by J. Rouault and one by Van Dongen. This testified to the beginning revival of the new Russian painting, to the emerging interest in it - direct contacts with the French and the active educational activities of the Rune in this direction were not in vain.
The exhibition is reviewed in a double issue of the magazine, which contains 44 reproductions of paintings by Russian and French artists and five photographs of the exhibition halls.
The accompanying article provides an analysis of the state of French and Russian art at that time and puts forward the primary tasks that are formulated as follows: “in the philosophical sphere - overcoming subjectivism through realistic symbolism; in the field of painting - the synthetic method<…>"(Empiricist. A few words about the exhibition of the Golden Fleece" // 1909. No. 2-3. P. 1-111).
The last exhibition of the magazine opened at the end of the same 1909 and continued throughout January of the next 1910, when the Golden Fleece officially ended its activities. In this regard, she was not reflected in the pages of the magazine. According to contemporaries, the third exhibition was quite successful and also of undoubted interest. It was already significantly different from the first two. Only Russian artists participated in it. Perhaps the reason for this was the material side. But the very need for contacts between Russian masters and the French had largely disappeared by that time. The role of the "Golden Fleece" was essentially played. The basis of the third exhibition, which determined its face, was the members of the Golden Fleece group, which had been established by that time, which included the Blue Bears - P. Kuznetsov, Utkin, Knabe, Saryan, Ryabushinsky, as well as Larionov and Goncharova. Almost each of them showed 10 or more works, Larionov was especially active - he staged 22 works. Among the exhibitors were also N. Ulyanov, N. Tarkhov, A. Karev. But what is especially important to note is that new young avant-garde artists joined the Golden Fleece group at the third exhibition - Ilya Mashkov, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Alexander Kuprin, Robert Falk. Soon - at the end of 1910 - the named artists, together with Larionov, Goncharova, Aristarkh Lentulov, Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, acted independently as a new avant-garde association, calling itself the "Jack of Diamonds". This group of Russian painters also experienced beneficial French influences at the Golden Fleece exhibitions. Unlike the Blue Bears, they were more attracted by the powerful "thingness" of Cezanne's art. Born in the bosom of Goluborozov's innovation, the Russian avant-garde from that time "broke away" from the "Blue Rose" and began its independent, unstoppable movement forward. "Blue Rose" and "Golden Fleece" were his breeding ground, gave him an impulse, a push. But at the same time, Rosa itself, seriously reorganized under the influence of the French, chose its own special path of development, which also turned out to be quite modern and artistically convincing in the work of its outstanding masters, taking its rightful place next to the Russian avant-garde movement.
The journal completed its activities, having honorably completed all the tasks set for itself and became a bright phenomenon of its time. He left with dignity. In the farewell address of the Editors, it was said: “Now parting with the readers, we do not feel tired at all. Neither the constant struggle that we have been waging for more than three years for the future of art dear to us, nor the enormous technical difficulties of printing the art department, nor the systematic confiscation of our numbers and publications by the censors, nor the indifference and campaigns of newspaper criticism have shaken our energy. But now we clearly feel that the currents that we defended both in the field of literature and in the field of painting have already become strong enough and expressed themselves to develop independently, and that the Golden Fleece has already fulfilled its mission in this respect ... Finishing our four-year work , we leave with calm confidence that nothing will be able to drown out and destroy those artistic principles for which the Golden Fleece fought (From the Editorial Board // No. 11-12. P. 107).
The editors left the right to sum up the activities of the journal to us, the descendants, believing that “an objective assessment of what has been achieved and not achieved<…>belongs only to the future” (ibid.). Indeed, in a hundred-year perspective, everything acquires its true value, clearing itself of the random and petty, which, in the heat of the struggle, sometimes came to the fore.
The phenomenon that entered the history of Russian culture of the twentieth century under the name "Golden Fleece" played a truly fateful role in it. At a time when Russian art was looking for opportunities to use the mighty forces that roamed in it and were about to break out, the Golden Fleece, having become the ideological center of Russian art, shaping the artistic consciousness of the era, having historically accurately comprehended and assessed what was happening, directed this energy into the right direction and rendered active comprehensive assistance to its free manifestation. The new generation of Russian artists, having gained confidence in their abilities, taking alignment with the great French innovators, rushed along this path with such Russian prowess and scope that they soon found themselves ahead of those who were initially overtaken, and, in turn, led them to new, even more daring discoveries. And indeed, nothing could then "muffle and destroy those artistic principles for which the Golden Fleece fought."
One can only marvel at the strategies and tactics unmistakably chosen by the journal, which reveal the subtle intuition and sense of deep historicism of its Editorial Board. A hundred years ago, the Golden Fleece contributed to the formation in the Russian cultural environment of such artistic thinking and understanding of the historical value of the most important phenomena of European and Russian art of the early twentieth century, which, in essence, has not changed to this day. Time has judged in favor of the Golden Fleece.
Having arisen on the basis of the experience of the World of Art, having adequately continued its cultural and educational mission, the new magazine managed to rise to the next, higher level of artistic vision. Unlike his predecessors, the “retrospective dreamers”, whose interests were directed towards the culture of past eras and who saw the salvation of Russian art from destruction in the appeal to the past, all the activities of “Run” were aimed at the Future. Even the issues of tradition and heritage, which also occupied a lot of space in the Golden Fleece, were comprehended by him in terms of the importance of this or that artistic phenomenon in the past for the formation of the principles of future art.
Naturally, the question arises, who specifically determined the strategy and tactics of the "Golden Fleece", which so accurately hit the very "bull's-eye" of the task set almost every time? Who directed the activities of the magazine, the soundness of which has now been confirmed by history itself? Who made decisions, one more important and riskier than the other, and brought them to a brilliant result?
Attempts to find the main "advisers" of Ryabushinsky were made repeatedly and are being made to this day, but they are all unconvincing and unsuccessful. Of course, the publisher's plans were widely discussed, and cultural figures associated with Run undoubtedly contributed to the implementation of the magazine's projects. However, there is no doubt that the activities of the "Golden Fleece" as the leading art magazine at this historical stage in general and its actions in this field in each individual case were determined and carried out by none other than Nikolai Ryabushinsky himself - he took all decisions on myself. Such was his nature, such was the extent of his personality. The facts themselves testify that it was he who invented, planned, organized, invited to participate, traveled everywhere and persuaded; selected for exhibitions the works of great and little-known, then not yet recognized, but promising, in his opinion, masters; it was he who ordered portraits of those figures whom he considered the most worthy, and, as time has shown, he never made a mistake in choosing a name; and he financed all this, not pursuing any material benefit for himself, but having only exorbitant expenses even with his wealth. It was truly his patriotic feat, and it was his victory.
Ryabushinsky, as already noted, built his life from Diaghilev, whose undertakings he successfully and worthily continued. He himself had a strong and bright talent as a creator and organizer. His energy was also irrepressible. He was able to carry out what Diaghilev planned in his stormy activities. Fortunately, he also possessed something that Diaghilev often lacked for the implementation of his bold plans - Ryabushinsky also had the means. And he absolutely disinterestedly gave everything he owned to the cause of his life - Art.
To characterize the personality of Nikolai Ryabushinsky, it is worth recalling another grandiose project of his. As reported in the News from Everywhere section of the first issue of the Golden Fleece for 1909, on his initiative, a draft charter for a joint-stock company began to be developed with the aim of building a building in Moscow intended for various exhibitions reflecting contemporary art in Russia. It was noted that “the building will be called the Palace of Arts; its total value will be divided into 500 shares of 1,000 rubles each, with NP Ryabushinsky already subscribed to 25 shares. The design of the building was entrusted to the architect V. Adamovich. The Palace building is supposed to be a permanent public museum embracing all branches of pure art” (No. 1, pp. 110-111). Unfortunately, the plan was not carried out.
Interspersed with creative activities - creating paintings, stories, poems, collecting works of art - while working on a magazine and organizing landmark exhibitions, coming up with plans similar to those described above, Ryabushinsky did not stop "playing pranks" and "naughty" - he changed women, played cards, rolled mind-blowing feasts and organized fantastic "rose holidays"; he made noise, presented himself as a lightweight reveler, squandering his father's capital, excited, teased respectable society and outraged refined intellectuals.
But it was all fluff. Time has shown that the grain in him was of the highest quality, that he is a real talent, a Russian nugget and a true patriot, a typical offspring of his complex, confused era full of deep internal contradictions, a true "Muscovite", a worthy representative of that enlightened merchant class, on which Russian culture of the 20th century has grown and received worldwide recognition.
He played his role in history and remained a bright star in it. The contribution of Nikolai Ryabushinsky, and above all this concerns the fate of Russian fine art, is no less, if not more significant, than the contribution of Sergei Diaghilev. Both of these figures deserve to stand side by side in the history of Russian culture of the 20th century, although their destinies turned out differently. Ryabushinsky's fortune turned out to be much more severe. He was not understood and accepted by his contemporaries and has not yet been adequately appreciated by his descendants. Rather, now no one doubts the significance of the historical role of the phenomenon called the "Golden Fleece", but so far they do not identify it with the personality of Nikolai Ryabushinsky himself. Meanwhile, the "Golden Fleece" is a worthy monument to his name.
And in conclusion, once again about the magazine itself. In addition to all of the above, the "Golden Fleece" is also a unique monument of graphic art of the early twentieth century, uniting around itself all the best forces of Russian graphics of that time. Among its main designers were the masters of the "World of Art" - Lansere, Dobuzhinsky, Bakst, Somov, Benois, and the "Blue Rose" - Kuznetsov, Utkin, V. Milioti, Krymov, Sapunov, Sudeikin, Arapov, Drittenpreis, Feofilaktov. The pages of the "Golden Fleece" have preserved for us in excellent quality reproduction the precious graphic creations of Vrubel, Serov, Borisov-Musatov and Russian masters of the 19th century - A. Ivanov, F. Tolstoy, A. Venetsianov, N. Ge, the most valuable examples of ancient Russian art and masterpieces of avant-garde French painting. With the decision to create in the magazine a gallery of graphic portraits of outstanding figures of Russian culture of the early twentieth century, the Golden Fleece contributed to the brilliant flowering of Russian portraiture.
"Golden Fleece" formulated the main principles of a "thick" art magazine, based primarily on the accurate selection of published materials and their high professional level, on the logic and beauty of their placement in the magazine and the rhythmic coherence of the components that make up the number, on the convenience of the reader. Here, a harmonic ratio of text and illustrations is found, the interaction of typographic font and a lively stroke of artistic drawing is thought out. Screensavers, endings, initial letters become an organic part of the text, and the text, in turn, turns into a work of graphic art.
The very appearance of the magazine has become a form of education of taste, culture of the eye, a sense of beauty in the general readership. And this undoubtedly played a beneficial role in popularizing this publication a hundred years ago and in attracting deep interest in the magazine and in that epoch-making phenomenon in general, which is called the Golden Fleece, in our days.
Nikolai Pavlovich Ryabushinsky
editor-publisher of the magazine "Golden Fleece", philanthropist, artist, writer, collector
Key dates of life and creativity
1877 born in Moscow
Descended from the merchant dynasty of the Ryabushinskys. The fifth son in the family of the largest Russian industrialist Pavel Mikhailovich Ryabushinsky.
He studied at the Moscow Practical Academy of Commercial Sciences and joined the study of factory business at his father's weaving factories. However, not having a penchant for commercial and industrial business, he left the Association of Manufactories P.M. Ryabushinsky with his sons.
He was fascinated by art, but he did not officially receive any special education. He used the professional advice of his friend, the artist S.A. Vinogradov, and often painted with him; worked a lot in the field of design magazine graphics; wrote poetry and prose, critical articles on art; was involved in music; paid serious attention to collecting works of art
Late 1890s. Traveled around the world - visited India, New Guinea, Mallorca and other exotic places
1906 Became a member of a group of young Moscow symbolist artists led by P. Kuznetsov
1906–1909 He was the editor-publisher of the magazine "Golden Fleece"
1907 Became the organizer of the Blue Rose exhibition, which gave its name to the Symbolist movement in Russian art of the 1900s
1908–1909 He organized exhibitions of Russian artists together with contemporary French masters: "Salon of the Golden Fleece" (1908), "Golden Fleece" (1909)
1909–1910 Arranged another exhibition of Russian artists in Moscow under the name "Golden Fleece", at which future Russian avant-garde artists performed for the first time. At the initiative of N. Ryabushinsky, a draft charter began to be developed joint-stock company with the aim of establishing a "Palace of Arts" in Moscow, where it was supposed to demonstrate exhibitions reflecting contemporary art, as well as the creation of a public museum in which "all areas of pure art" would be represented. At the same time, the initiator of the project himself acquired most of the shares. The project was not implemented.
He built the Black Swan villa in Moscow in Petrovsky Park, which amazed contemporaries with its luxury. It was decorated by P. Kuznetsov. It housed the art collection of N. Ryabushinsky, which included paintings by L. Cranach, P. Brueghel, N. Poussin. But the main part of his collection was the work of the Blue Rose artists.
In the fire that soon broke out in the villa, many of the works were lost.
1914 Went to Paris, where he opened an antique shop
1917–1922 Again he lived in Russia, in St. Petersburg, and worked as a consultant and appraiser of works of fine art. He continued painting and exhibited at the first Soviet exhibitions
1922 Emigrated to France
1924 Re-organized an antique salon in Paris
1926 Arranged in the Parisian gallery "Balzac" his personal art exhibition, which had a catalog with an introductory article by the famous French artist C. Van Dongen; owned an antique shop in Monte Carlo
1930s He organized an art gallery in Beaulieu-sur-Mer near Nice, calling it the "Blue Rose" in memory of the most important accomplishment in his life
1933 Arranged two more of his personal exhibitions in Paris.
He lived in emigration a bright, turbulent life, in which there were many ups and downs, transitions from a brilliant position in society and wide recognition to complete poverty and oblivion
Member of the creative community "Blue Rose" and participant in the exhibition of 1907
Participated in exhibitions:
"Salon of the Golden Fleece", 1908, Moscow;
"Golden Fleece", 1909, 1909/10;
Independent, 1910, M.;
MTH, 1911, M.;
Moscow Salon, 1911–1913, Moscow; "World of Art", 1912, Moscow;
1st State, 1919, Pg.;
8th State, 1919, M.
Personal exhibitions:
1926, Paris, gallery "Balzac";
1933, Paris, gallery "K. Granoff"; 1933, Paris, Avil Gallery
Literary works:
N.Shinsky. Confession (story).
Ed. magazine "Golden Fleece", 1907;
in the magazine "Golden Fleece"