Abstract: The subject of the study is the features of the architectural style known as "Stalinist Empire" as part of the cultural landscape of Crimea. The article examines the concept of "cultural landscape" and its significance in the multi-ethnic territory of Russia in general and Crimea in particular, the concept of architectural style, the influence of ethnic cultures and shifting state formations on the development of styles in Crimea, the formation of a local "Crimean style" during the modern period, and its impact on the subsequent development of postmodernism. The Empire style spread during the reign of Napoleon in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in Russia, is analyzed. The reasons for the perception of the main features of the Empire style during the USSR under the rule of I. V. Stalin are explained using examples of several architectural objects in Crimea. The article employs an ontological method regarding the history of the Empire style, a comparative method to compare the features of European and Stalinist Empire, a synthesis method to identify their common traits, and an analytical method to study individual architectural examples. The main conclusions of the research are : 1. Architectural styles are an integral part of the cultural landscape of Crimea, as they reflect the socio-ethnic and religious components, as well as the state formations that followed one another in Crimean history. 2. The basic Empire style became the embodiment of the imperial rule of Napoleon Bonaparte and spread in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Russian Empire in the first third of the 19th century. It is based on the ancient order system in its ancient Roman interpretation, with the introduction of features of the palace style of the 18th century – Rococo. 3. The term Stalinist Empire refers to the style of public architecture in the USSR during the rule of I. V. Stalin, in which, as in Ancient Rome and France during the Directory period, the ideas of uniting numerous territories under a single government were embodied. The Stalinist Empire in Crimea has a number of features related to the influence of regional characteristics of Crimean modernism, making it one of the recognizable markers of the Crimean cultural landscape.

Keywords: postmodern, Stalin's Empire Style, Empire style, architecture, style, Crimea, cultural landscape, rotunda, The spire, gallery

Abstract: The legacy of Crimean painting from the late nineteenth to the first half of the twentieth centuries requires a deep scientific approach in cultural studies, as a result of which the relevance of our research is determined by the analysis of the evolution of the visual code of the great marine painter I. K. Aivazovsky, reflected in the works of Crimean artists of subsequent generations. The application of the cultural approach together with the art historical analysis made it possible to address the problem of the synthesis of traditions and innovation, to trace the transformation of the methods of depicting the Crimean nature of I. K. Aivazovsky in the works of painters during the period under study. The cultural code, in the semiotic interpretation of Yu. M. Lotman, is identified with a communicative function and is a text in the form of a special form of message transmission. Based on this provision, we have named the term "Aivazovsky code" as a pictorial text, that is, a method of depicting the Crimea used and transformed in the works of Crimean painters and masters of the Cimmerian school, whose work is the object of our research. The subject of the study is the evolution of the Aivazovsky code, integrated into the art of the Crimean school of the first half of the twentieth century, in the context of creating an artistic image of Crimea. The research methodology includes the use of a cultural approach in conjunction with art historical analysis and the method of comparison, which makes it possible to address the problem of synthesizing traditions and innovation, to trace the integration and transformation of methods of depicting the Crimean nature of I. K. Aivazovsky in the works of painters during the period under study. A special contribution to the study of the stated topic is the characterization of Aivazovsky's visual code and the identification of its features transformed in the process of integration into the artistic space of the Crimean painters of the first half of the twentieth century. The novelty of the research lies in explanation of the term "Aivazovsky code" and conducting a cultural analysis of this phenomenon. It is established that Aivazovsky's visual code, as a carrier of information, in the process of integration determines the possibility of dialogue and communication between cultural spaces of artists. Throughout the twentieth century, the process of evolution of Crimean painting has been taking place based on the use of a synthesis of traditions and innovation, thanks to the introduction of new visual texts by artists into the cultural memory embedded in the Aivazovsky code. A feature of his evolution is the transition from romanticism and realism to the transformation of the artistic image.

Keywords: Crimean painting, artists, dialogue, Evolution, integration, visual text, The Cimmerian School of Painting, the Aivazovsky code, synthetism, artistic image

Abstract: The article examines the work of the Soviet artist Pavel Leonov, one of the most famous naive artists of the 20th century, in the context of the nostalgic perception of his works by today’s audience. The nostalgic perception of Leonov's works is associated not only with the plots and themes (i.e. idealized, utopian Soviet reality), but also with the author's artistic method itself, based on the idea of invention and construction. This "constructivist" approach of Leonov correlates with the widespread DIY practices in Soviet culture, which today are also part of nostalgic imagery. A similar nostalgic effect characterizes a number of other artistic projects in contemporary Russian art. In order to study Leonov’s artworks, it is proposed to consider naive art, to which they are usually attributed, as a discursive phenomenon, rather than as an artistic style or movement, and to study individual artistic phenomena not through the identification of their "naivety", but by focusing on a specific artistic strategy as a manifestation of the historical and cultural context. Such an approach is effective, since the diversity of stylistic features of the works of various naive artists makes it difficult to single out naive art as a proper stylistic phenomenon. The formation of the discourse of the "naive" in art and culture has a long history traced back to the aesthetics of Romanticism, which allows us to confidently point out the ideological and axiological nature of this discourse in Soviet and post-Soviet art criticism, and how it was constructed, inheriting romantic ideas about naivety as simplicity and naturalness. The scientific novelty of the study lies in identification of "construction" as an important principle of Pavel Leonov’s artistic strategy and as the driving force behind the nostalgic effect of his works, noted by contemporary viewers.

Keywords: Soviet art, Soviet culture, design, DIY-culture, nostalgia, naive, naive art, Pavel Leonov, modern art, aesthetics

Abstract: After the October Revolution of 1917, the Russian avant-garde established close relations with the German left wing. Vkhutemas, as the center of the Russian avant-garde, also had an important influence on the development of the Bauhaus. This study examines the specific path and results of the influence of Vkhutemas on the Bauhaus in terms of concept, structural transformation and production strategy in order to clarify the relationship between them. In this work, Vkhutemas is taken as the center, based on the analysis of conceptual principles, structural transformations and production strategies, specific ways and manifestations of the influence of the Russian avant-garde on the Bauhaus in various periods of the 1920s are explored. This comprehensive and multidimensional Russian influence not only develops the modern system of design education and finally consolidates the historical status of the Bauhaus, but also lays the foundation for its final fate. Firstly, on an ideological level, the goals of Russian production are directly related to the construction of socialism, to the creation of a system of proletarian culture, which Avartov calls proletarian, which largely coincides with the left-wing ideals of Gropius. Secondly, at the level of artistic thought, productivism and constructivism, as new ideas of the early 20th century, represented the contribution of the Russian avant-garde to modernist design. Finally, at the level of educational practice, thanks to the introduction of Russian constructivism by Moholy Nagy, the Bauhaus created a prototype of the three main components of modern design education, taking lessons from teaching composition by Vkhutemas, and opened the transition from expressionism to function. This was a new stage in the transformation of socialism, and thus formed the classic image of the Bauhaus for the outside world.

Keywords: artistic paradigm, art education, art, avant-garde, design, Constructivism, Production art, Modernism, Bauhaus, Vkhutemas

Abstract: This article is devoted to the study of the manifestations of the artistic language of archaic art in such a direction of modern art as land art. The purpose of the article is to identify some of the prerequisites and goals of the appeal of land art artists to the discourse of archaic art through the visual language of archaic art and to reveal the features, motives and mechanisms of this language on the basis of cultural and art criticism analysis of land art art projects. The subject of the research is the artistic language of archaic art; the object is the artistic works and land art projects of British and American artists: A. Goldsworthy, R. Long, R. Smithson. The scientific novelty is due to the lack of research on land art as an example of the manifestations of the actualization of the archaic discourse in the modern world. As a result of the research, the prerequisites for the relevance of archaic artistic forms in land art are determined in the form of a general actualization of the archaic discourse in culture and the need to develop a new artistic language of interaction between man and nature. Using the example of land art projects, archaic forms are considered as a tool for constructing an artistic space that allows expanding the viewer's emotional interaction with nature. Examples of the use of characteristic archaic archetypal signs and symbols by land art artists in order to create an intuitively readable image of a mythological space are analyzed. The absence of a context of direct appeal to real archaic beliefs and sacred practices is revealed. A parallel is drawn between the method of direct interaction with nature when creating works of art by British land art authors with a minimal presence of a transformative aspect in economic activity in the archaic.

Keywords: nature, sacred, myth, sign, megalithic monuments, symbol, archaic, contemporary art, archaic art, land art

Abstract: The object of research is Italian neorealism of the 1940-1950s. The subject of research is the work of neorealist directors Roberto Rossellini, Cesare Zavattini, Giuseppe de Santis, Vittorio de Sica, Alberto Latuada. Features of neorealism are also inherent in the early work of directors Luchino Visconti («Obsession» 1943, «Earth Trembles» 1948), Federico Fellini («The Road» 1954, «Nights of Cabiria» 1957), Piero Paolo Pasolini («Accatone» 1961, «Mama Roma» 1962), Michelangelo Antonioni «People from the Po River» 1947). Neorealism develops under the influence of French poetic realism, as well as, under the influence of verism, especially, the work of L. Pirandello. The focus of the neorealists was a person in interaction with society, the environment. The purpose of this study is to consider the features of realism and neorealism, to consider the space created by directors. This study uses various research methods - phenomenological, intertextual, comparative, hermeneutic, content analysis in their combination and complementarity. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the opposition of mythological and real space in the films of Italian directors, as well as in the application of an integrated approach. The main conclusion of this study is the thesis that myth and reality in the work of Italian neorealists interact with each other. Despite the documentary approach to filming, neorealists create their own, special reality, turn to history and myth. The concept of "neorealism" is quite complex, many of its representatives called themselves realists. The focus of neorealism becomes a person in interaction with society, with the environment. As the principles of neorealism, one can single out chorality, that is, the interaction of people. A separate feature of neorealism is the appeal to fantasy. F. Fellini and M. Antonioni open a new chapter in the history of Italian cinema.

Keywords: neo-realism, myth, Cesare Zavattini, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Pierre Paolo Pasolini, Roberto Rossellini, cinema, reality

Abstract: The activity of modern art associations, creative unions and art groups of professional artists of St. Petersburg is currently a little-studied and debatable issue. The specifics of St. Petersburg communities of this kind are closely connected with the traditions of the local art school and at the same time innovative, and sometimes are radical creative searches of their representatives. Such a combination leads to the formation of a diverse, but heterogeneous and mobile cultural space of the city on St. Petersburg. To understand its specifics, it is necessary to analyze the structure, composition and content of the work of the artistic associations of St. Petersburg, relevant for the beginning of the XXI century. In modern St. Petersburg, the process of forming art associations of various formations continues, which contributes to the development of fine art and the approval of its main forms, themes and genres. The main contribution of this research is to identify the main reasons for the creation of "young" creative associations whose activities are not related to the work of the Union of Artists of Russia, as well as to highlight the processes of their involvement in the cultural life of the city. It has been established that the "young" creative associations are characterized by unity of ideological and stylistic views and concepts, as well as a very flexible nature that allows them to be actively involved in the artistic life of St. Petersburg and the whole of Russia, to participate in the most diverse projects.

Keywords: educational activities, exhibition and commercial practice, Saint-Petersburg, artistic life, art group, exhibition, union of artists, art association, creative union, unofficial association

Abstract: The subject of the study is to identify the peculiarities in solving the plots of church painting of individual representatives of the religious-national trend of the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. The purpose is to show the development of national trends of Russian monumental church art by the founders of the religious-national trend on the examples of the work of V. M.Vasnetsov, M. V. Nesterov, M.A. Vrubel and artists M. M. Vasiliev, A. P. Blaznov, L. A. Pyanovsky, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, F. R. Raylian, to identify similarities and differences in the manner and in the transmission of images and compositions, as well as to substantiate the significance of these differences for art history. The basis of art criticism research is the formal stylistic method of G. Velflin, the iconographic method of N. P. Kondakov, the iconological method of E. Panofsky; the method of phenomenological analysis of the aesthetic perception of the artistic work of V. V. Bychkov and G. K. Wagner. Comparative analysis of murals by artists M. M. Vasiliev, A. P. Blaznov, L. A. Pyanovsky, F. R. Raylian, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin in comparison with the work of representatives of the "Vasnetsov school" allowed us to see the development of the national style in art, from an abstract-figurative understanding to a conscious spiritual-symbolic interpretation of church painting of the Middle Ages and pre-Petrine Russia as an integral artistic phenomenon of the religious-national trend. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the example of the artists of the "Vasiliev circle" revealed a kind of overcoming of one of the main problems of the iconographic image, which consists in maintaining a delicate balance of life-likeness and ideality. In their works, in the context of interpretation, the measure of realism of the image is traced, in which the spiritual content can be embodied in a material form without losing its sacred content, which is a valuable example for modern artists who set themselves the task of creating images without copying, but remaining in the canon.

Keywords: epoch style, symbolism of the content, the problem of figurativeness, academic realism, temple painting, vasnetsovskaya school, national style, monumental church art, religious and national direction, symbolic realism

Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of various aspects of the activities and influence of Soviet musicians on the musical culture and education of Shanghai. The author comes to the conclusion that Russian musicians played an important role in the formation of the musical life of Shanghai and in general of the whole of China. Russian and European cultural and performing traditions were promoted by them, works of Russian and European authors were distributed, and their students were introduced to the masterpieces of world musical art. The traditions laid down by Russian musical figures at the beginning of the twentieth century were continued and strengthened by Soviet specialists who brought up a whole galaxy of outstanding musicians in China. The strengthening of Russian-Chinese relations after 1949 played a special role. Many Soviet musicians were sent to China by agreement of the countries. Among them were outstanding teachers and musicians: D. M. Serov, K.N. Dmitrevskaya, S. G. Delitsiev, N. N. Delitsieva, F. G. Arzamanov, I. G. Beridze, etc. They helped to develop curricula and programs, gave lectures, reports, held consultations and conducted teaching and organizational activities. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time it provides information about the work of the listed Soviet musicians and analyzes their influence on education at the Shanghai Conservatory.

Keywords: Deliciev, Dmitrevskaya, Serov, Shanghai Conservatory, chinese musical art, Shanghai, chinese music education, emigration, China, soviet musicians

Abstract: The subject of the research is the influence of an English architect and publicist of the first half of the 19th century Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852). The object of the research is the theoretical views of Pugin as these are presented in his published works, and the degree of their correspondence of the architectural practice to the period of Pugin's activity. The author of the article examines such aspects of the topic as the views of Pugin and his contemporaries concerning the ideological component of architecture as well as differences in their views on the ethical component of Gothic architecture. The methodological basis of the research implies an integral approach that combines art history, historical and culturological methods of research. To analyze the historical and cultural environment that defined the existence and perception of Gothic architecture the author has used interdisciplinary methods.  The main conclusions of the research are as follows. In the cultural environment of his times, Pugin was marginalized because he presented the style of thinking attributable for the preceding era. Consequently, Pugin's affect on the architecture of those times was that of an oucast whose intentions coincided with the architectural trends at some point. The author's special contribution to the topic is that he discovers the relationship between Pugin's antiquarian tradition and mentality of the preceding era. 

Keywords: ethics, Catholicism, function, revivalism, 19th century, architecture, Augustus Welby Pugin, The Gothic Revival, Middle Ages, England

Abstract: In his article Tokmachev discusses the painting manner of a Netherlandish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. According to the author of the article, his style represents the shift in the consciousness of some Europeans from religious world view to the humanistic perception of the world. The present article was written as a preface of the author to the article on Bruegel's creative work published by an Italian art critic A. Bovey and translated by the author of the present article into the Russian language. The translation of A. Bovey's article is also included. The emphasis is made on the relationship between philosophy of neoplatonism which, according to the author, is similar to the Medieval and Renaissance worldview and painting styles and rationalism that replaced those in the Modern Period. The shift from neoplatonism to rationalism is viewed as the projection of the worldview from the multi-layer 'iconic space' of Chora (expression by A. Lidova and Jacques Derrida) to the empiric sensual diversity. Humanism is viewed as a post  apocalyptic stage of religious consciousness. According to the author, Bruegel's painting symbolizes the break from the traditional Catholic aesthetics and discovery of new Protestant aesthetics. Humanism and experimental natural sciences replaced mythology and metaphysics. However, such technological approach to art without metaphysics turns painting into photography and human into homunculus. 

Keywords: Renaissance, neoplatonism, iconic space, painting, Modern Period, epistrophe, apokatastasis, Last Judgment, Middle Ages, photography

Abstract: The article gives us an insight into one of the first Baroque concepts in Latin American cultural and literary studies introduced by a famous Peruvian modernistic poet Marin Adan. The author tries to analyze this understudied point in the history of Latin American humanities and relates Adan’s ideas to famous Baroque concepts in Latin America of the second half of the 20th century. The author also tries to describe the most important discoveries made by Adan that played an important role in cultural self-identification of Latin America. In the course of his research the author proceeds from particulars to generals and tries to describe the influence of Martin Adan’s work ‘De lo Barocco en el Peru’ (‘Concerning the Baroque in Peru) on the development of Baroque concepts in Latin America. Martin Adam’s ideas are being analyzed in comparison wit other Baroque concepts. Considering the increased interest of modern cultural studies towards the phenomena of Baroque and Neobaroque Adam’s work is growing very important because he was the first one to try to view the key stage of Latin American culture in terms of Baroque esthetics. The author of the present article tries to show the importance of Adan’s ideas for future Baroque concepts in Latin America and demonstrates that Adam’s ideas can be related to the theories of Jose Lezama Lima, Alejo Carpentier and Irlimar Kyampi.

Keywords: Concept, cultural research, Baroque, Latin America, Martin Adan, classification, modernism, avant-gardism, phenomenon.

Abstract: One of the most important indicators of a society ready for war is the appearance of scenarios of a future war in literature. Before the Great Patriotic War the Soviet leadership actively used the genre of the ‘military utopian novel’ to prepare the public conscience to the war but when the war was over, the genre of military utopia was prohibited by the public conscience. However, today there are a great number of books about a forthcoming war being published. This allows to analyze and classify scenarios of future wars. The majority of typical scenarios is balancing on the ‘to be or not to be’ edge. Some scenarios can be called pessimistic because they describe the loss of Russia in the future war. Other scenarios are rather optimistic and propagandize the revival of nation through winning the war. Generally speaking, except for unrealizable or alternative history scenarios, modern scenarios of a future war outline the following courses of events: 1) Russia can be involved into a war with the third countries or alliances as a result of the Ukrainian or Caucasian conflict. The Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk are also mentioned as the starting point of a future war but less frequently. 2) Most writers see it as the war between Russia and the United States and their NATO allies although some authors also suspect the war between Russia and Japan or China. 3) The war is most likely to turn into a series of interweaved local conflicts. Otherwise a limited or even full-scale exchange of nuclear attacks may occur. Noteworthy that the Second World War was also meant to be a series of local lightning wars but turned into a global massacre two years after it had started. 4) Most modern writers see the victory of Russia as a miracle. Writers either describe a desired future that has very little to do with the reality or use all kinds of ‘magical’ inventions. However, it is better than the decadent’s moods typical for the same genre of science fiction in the late USSR. 5) Some writers doubt that the modern Russian leadership is able to firmly and adequately defend the country’s interests using the military force. 6) The majority of writers express the opinion that if Russia loses the war, it will not be only occupied but also subject to prolonged genocide. Generally speaking, modern scenarios of future wars perform their main function which is to prepare the public conscience to fighting ‘their own’ war and to mobilize the public conscience during the ‘period of threat’.

Keywords: future war, military utopian novel, predictive capabilities, alternative history, alarmism, mobilization of the public conscience, anti-utopia, military alert, literary series, post-apocalypse.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the description of structural components of the Silver Age styles expressed in works created by Adnrei Bely, Marina Tsvetaeva, Vasily Rozanov and some futurists. The researcher refers them to representatives of the ‘poetics of insolvabilities’ as he calls it. Based on the author, poetics of insolvabilities reflect the features that were typical not only for the art of writing but for the culture of that epoch in general. In mimetic creative strategies the most important role was plaid by the concept of the ‘beyond the border’ creativity that was beyond the verbal context and at the same time inseparable from it. The concepts of ukon, meon, linguistic morphability and insubstantiality in esthetic representations and style were significant, too. The present article summarizes and develop the ideas expressed by the author in his previous articles.

Keywords: semantic spirality, semantic uncertainty, figures of style, calligraphy of style, unexplorable, art history, rhetoric culture, choreography of text, open form.

Abstract: There are the following two tendencies in artwork devoted to the Russian Avant-Garde at the turn of XX – XXI centuries: 1) breaking with cultural-historical tradition and formation of a new system of values; 2) ideological connection between Avant-Garde and Modernism. One way or another, these artworks reflect particular features of the process of production of different Avant-Garde tendencies: new language, new style of art and etc. The present article is focused on the description of the Russian Avant-Garde from the point of view of its potential in formation of cultural environment. The main conclusion is that the production of different forms in Russian Avant-Garde is a necessary empirical model. The ontological role is to create a unique cultural environment with all the values and standards and their management model. The author’s conclusions are illustrated by quotes of the masters of Russian Avant-Garde as well as ideologists of culture and art during that period.

Keywords: cultural research, Russian Avant-Garde, modernism, values of Avant-Gardue, silver age, manifesto and motto, cultural life, forms of culture, cultural relativism, traditions and innovations.

Abstract: the author of the article offers and proves the hypothesis about a special art trend in XX century which has its roots in art culture of the second half of XIX century. Most clearly these trends were formulated by German Neoidealists who based on their own creative practice. However, art history viewed Neoidealism as a local phenomenon of German culture while the author of this article describes it as one of the fundamental art tendencies during the last century and a half in Germany and Europe as well as in Russia where it was developed, first of all, in Favorsky’s and his students’ art work as well as work by a number of sculptors and artists. Noteworthy that Neoidealism was not an independently developing phenomenon and interacted with such phenomena as Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Modern, Neoclassicism and Avant-garde. Despite all that, Neoidealism managed to retain its own essence and peculiarity.

Keywords: neoidealism, neoclassicism, neoromanticism, official school of art history, main art trends, fine arts, sculpture, relief principle, monumental art, art theory.

Abstract: Odessa has a special place in cultural and geographical space of the Ukraine. Being a major Black Sea port, it functions as the connecting link between Russia, Ukraine and Europe. It is still far from the central part of the Ukraine which makes it a good place of living for writers and artists who are not liked by the offi cial government. Close connection with Western European art centres and opposition in art created conditions for formation of the original school of painting. Odessa Art School played an important role in formation of the artistic life in the region, too. Graduates from this School continued their education in major educational and art centres in Russia and Europe. At the beginning of XX century different art styles in Avant-Garde painting were created by international activity of V. Kandinsky, D. Burlyuk, V. Izdebsky, T. Fraerman, A. Nurenberg, M. Boychuk, M. Zhuk, N. Shelyuto who studied in Odessa and then continued their education in Paris, Munich, Krakow and Vienna.

Keywords: art history, avant-garde, art, Odessa, V. Kandinsky, V. Izdebsky, M. Gershenfeld, A. Nurenberg, Société des Artistes Indépendants (Society of Independent Artists), Spring Exhibitions.

Abstract: Traditional attempts to defi ne the Russian Avant-Garde of early 20th century through classifying it as a particular movement in arts cannot fully reveal the nature of this phenomenon. The author of this article proves the need in another approach to defi ning the borders of the Russian Avant-Garde based on the assumption that turning away from strictly artistic approaches to the analysis of Avant- Garde and addressing to Avant-Garde discourse from the position of overall cultural development would allow to describe peculiarities of the phenomenon. The author suggests to complete a traditional position conceptualizing the Russian Avant-Garde as an opposition to classical tradition in art and culture with a new approach allowing to look at the Avant-Garde as a new reality – a system of values, world outlook, defl ection of the epoch values and standards into an absolute of a new human, new world and new culture.

Keywords: cultural studies, avant-garde, modernism, reflexion, culture, art, values, movement, world outlook, artistic.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the peculiarities of development of eclecticism as a particular architecture style at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries. Special attention is paid at demonstrations of eclectic architecture in a Russian province, most of all, determination of regional differences in manifestations of this style. The author shows general trends of this style and quite exact differences between different provinces which mostly depends on situation in the architecture of such regions in the middle of the 19th century. The author also describes how these differences show themselves in the architecture of different types of buildings and constructions.

Keywords: art history, eclecticism, architecture, province, Russia, historicism, urban construction, heritage, the 19th century, regions.

Abstract: The article analyzes the problem of Czech form of European secession. The author describes peculiarities of Czech art in architecture, literature, sculptor and fi ne arts at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. The author also touches upon the social, historical and national factors contributing to distinctive character of Czech art and describes the main stages in development of the Manes Association of Fine Artists.

Keywords: Czech art, secession, Manes Association, Prague architecture, literature, monumental sculpture, modern.

Abstract: The author offers a summary of scientifi c experie n ce in correlating complex category systems of modernism and Rus sian avant-garde of the 20th century. A new vision of the author allows to view modernism as a general cultural phenomenon crea ted by the Western civilization and being spread everywhere while avantgarde is described as a mainly Russian creation. Actualization of the latter played an important role for Russian art and culture because it formed a culturally centered epoch called the Silver Age.

Keywords: avant-garde, modernism, art, categories, esthetics, culture, art, destruction, world outlook.