The Organic School of the Russian Avant-Garde: Nature's Creative Principles

Description

The artists of the Organic School of the Russian avant-garde found inspiration as well as a model for artistic growth in the creative principles of nature. Isabel Wünsche analyzes the artistic influences, intellectual foundations, and scientific publications that shaped the formation of these artists, the majority of whom were based in St. Petersburg. Particular emphasis is given to the holistic worldviews and organic approaches prevalent among artists of the pre-revolutionary avant-garde, specifically Jan Ciągliński, Nikolai Kulbin, and Elena Guro, as well as the emergence of the concept of Organic Culture as developed by Mikhail Matiushin, practiced at the State Institute of Artistic Culture, and taught at the reformed Art Academy in the 1920s. Discussions of faktura and creative intuition explore the biocentric approaches that dominated the work of Pavel Filonov, Kazimir Malevich, Voldemar Matvejs, Olga Rozanova, and Vladimir Tatlin. The artistic approaches of the Organic School of the Russian avant-garde were further promoted and developed by Vladimir Sterligov and his followers between 1960 and 1990. The study examines the cultural potential as well as the utopian dimension of the artists’ approaches to creativity and their ambitious visions for the role of art in promoting human psychophysiological development and shaping post-revolutionary culture. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Preface Notes Introduction The Russian Avant-Garde Biocentrism, Organicism, and the Modernist Discourse Research on the Organic School St. Petersburg and the Union of Youth Notes 1 Nature as the Artist’s Model Organic Principles as the Foundation for a New Art The Nature-Centric Worldviews of the St. Petersburg Avant-Garde From Nature Philosophy to Psychophysiological Parallelism Evolutionary Thought as a Model for Artistic Development Cosmic Consciousness and the Language of the Future Notes 2 The Pioneers of the Organic School Jan Ciaglinski: Integrative Seeing in Impressionism Nikolai Kulbin: Artistic Creation and Psychophysics Elena Guro: From Anti-Urbanism to Organicism Notes 3 Mikhail Matiushin and the Emergence of the Organic School Impressionist Approaches to Art and Music Root Sculptures and Crystal Paintings Matiushin’s Concept of Universal Space Extended Viewing and the Studio of Spatial Realism ZORVED and the Department of Organic Culture Organic Culture in Architecture and Design Notes 4 Further Organic Principles in the Russian Avant-Garde Faktura: The Living Fabric of Nature Voldemārs Matvejs: From “Free Creation” to Faktura Pavel Filonov: Faktura and “Madeness” in Analytical Art Vladimir Tatlin: Toward Organic Constructivism Creative Intuition: Organic Perception of the World From Henri Bergson’s L’Evolution créatice to Nikolai Lossky’s Intuitivism Olga Rozanova: From the Intuitive Principle to Abstract Creation Later that month, he related to Matiushin: Notes 5 The Heritage of the Organic School—Vladimir Sterligov and the Leningrad Art Scene of 1960–90 From the Square to the Cup and Cupola Painting as a Spiritual experience and Moral Purification The Communal Spirit of the “Invisible Institute” Notes Conclusion Nature’s Creative Principles The Artist’s Calling The Utopian Stance of the Organic School Notes Selected Bibliography Index