The ideological
unity of the symbolist aesthetic had already begun to show strains by 1906
(we will discuss these in our
examination of Alexander Blok's play "The Fairground Booth"). In symbolism's
wake came a dizzying series of ephemeral
avant-garde movements, most of which defined themselves by overt opposition
to the precepts of the symbolists. Nevertheless,
all of these movements grew out of symbolism and, whatever they may
have claimed, they owed a great deal to it. In painting,
by around 1907 the soft aestheticism of symbolist art gave way to a
primitivist school headed by Mikhail Larionov
(1881-1964), and his wife, Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962). Both were
well aware of post-impressionist tendencies in
France, and were particularly impressed with the later work of Paul
Gauguin and the Fauves. This they combined with an
appreciation of Russian folk, popular, and religious art--including
the "lubok" (popular woodcuts) and traditional peasant crafts
including carving and embroidery--to produce a highly provocative and
original aesthetic.
Larionov's service in the Russian army provided the inspiration for
a whole series of soldier paintings, including this one of 1909. Note Larionov's
deliberate distortion of perspective and his use of words on the
canvas to create a miniature dramatic scene.
The talented Natalia Goncharova captures the atmosphere of the Russian
peasant milieu beautifully in her
"Peasants Dancing" (1911). Even more than Larionov, Goncharova was
heavily indebted to the techniques of
Russian icon painting, from which she borrowed the heavy drapery covering
her figures, their stylized facial
expressions, as well as their monumentality. This work is said to have
had an important influence on Malevich's
primitivist work