Abstract: The author examines the art history problem of the influence of philosophical trends on the art that is relevant to them on the example of the work of the St. Petersburg ceramic artist Mikhail Yuryevich Kapustin and his philosophical reflections revealed in the plastic search for impressive images. His worldview was formed in a whirlwind of contemporary philosophical trends, scientific and technological discoveries, new trends in culture and contemporary art. The article reveals the regular change of one philosophical direction to the next, often alternative, and how artists reacted to this in their work, finding new ideals and expanding expressive possibilities in the visual arts. The purpose of the article is an attempt to decipher the in-depth meanings of the artist's works. The subject of research is philosophical reminiscences in the author's sculptural and graphic works of the ceramic artist. The main themes of his artwork are Man, Earth, and Time.
The study has a novelty, because its materials are original and are offered for publication for the first time. In domestic and foreign art criticism there was no scientific study of the work of M. Kapustin. The works of M. Kapustin are large-scale, peculiar ceramic (sculptural and graphic) compositions of epic imagery, represent a compressed formula of an idea in a tense volume of form. The logical chain of his creative process as a ceramic artist goes as follows: from the idea towards the artistic image, material, technology, and finally – work. The results and research methods in this article can be used in art criticism for contribution in writing monographic works about the work of other artists.