Articles

Last year, the collection of books on art studies in Russian was enriched by an important scientific research work: the monograph by Professor Alexander P. Lobodanov, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Lomonosov Moscow State University, titled "Leonardo da Vinci: Set Designer, Musician, Artifex".

This paper outlines this work, serving both as a detailed commentary and a personal reflection on the insights derived from the study. The author of the article intentionally avoids the term 'review', as the idea and intent of the paper is not to review and critique, but to respond to the significant research, which offers a fresh perspective on the image of the great Italian master, which remains largely unknown to the Russian-speaking audience.

The purpose of the paper is not to clarify or expand upon the ideas presented in the monograph, but rather to broaden the discussion of specific topics raised within it. Due to the limited scope of this paper, only a few key issues will be selected, those that seemed major to the author's viewpoint.

The album, titled “From Forest to Steppe: Russian Wooden Architecture,” is a fundamental work by William Brumfield, a recipient of the Order of Friendship and a professor of Slavic studies. It contains over 400 color photographs. The material is presented in two sections, with explanations provided in each chapter, covering wooden architecture from the Russian North to Siberia.

The article explores Xiangtun Xi, a traditional musical drama from the border region of Yunnan Province, China, preserved in Baoshan. The most complete surviving form of ancient local art and culture, Xiangtun Xi originated from primitive shamanistic rituals, combining early religious practices with unique local drama. Considering legends and the historical context, the article examines how regional language, customs, and traditions shaped the development of Xiangtun Xi drama into a distinctive musical genre. Furthermore, the author highlights the drama’s role in expressing ethnic identity and embodying humanistic values, underscoring its significance in the cultural heritage of the borderland communities.

The article focuses on studying the origin and existence of urban romance song melodies used by Igor Stravinsky in the musical score of his ballet “Petrushka” (1910–1911). It examines the most important events surrounding Stravinsky during the creation of the ballet score, which is considered one of the composer’s unsurpassed masterpieces. Various opinions about the ballet are presented, including a controversial statement by Stravinsky’s contemporary, Sergei Prokofiev. The article outlines how Stravinsky employed new artistic means to create a vivid and noisy sound palette of the Maslenitsa festivities in St. Petersburg of the 1830s, with street melodies taken from urban folklore serving as the centerpiece. Among such melodies was the song “Chudnїy mesyats” [“A Wondrous Moon”] written by the poet and songwriter M. I. Ozhegov (1860–1934) — which is specially highlighted. The author draws attention to the gap in musicological studies: though being part of the ballet “Petrushka” score, Ozhegov’s urban romance has lacked a musical analysis, as well as detailed information concerning its creation and authorship. The article fills this gap, clarifying and correcting the currently available information in the studies related to Stravinsky’s composition.

This article studies the way natural geography, regional cultural identity, socio- economic factors, historical continuity, and lyrical musical traditions contributed to the development and aesthetic character of Kunqu opera. The material is analysed through the lens of cultural and artistic geography. The authors argue that Kunqu’s emergence in its historical context and its continued relevance today were conditioned with markedly Chinese cultural elements. Being a foundational condition for human artistic creation and material culture, the natural environment has shaped unique aesthetic sensibilities over time. Specifically, the geographic conditions of Suzhou, where Kunqu opera appeared, have played a crucial role in the formation of its distinctive aesthetic style. Moreover, geography fosters a unique regional cultural ethos that underpins Kunqu’s artistic vitality. The socio-economic development of different historical periods is shown to have significantly impacted the evolution of Kunqu. The authors conclude that diverse musical forms and lyrical traditions occurred in various dynasties served as vital sources of its artistic life and continuity; they incorporated to shape Kunqu’s aesthetic temperament.

The article offers a comprehensive analysis of the artistic language typical of traditional Chinese painting, highlighting its unique semiotic and aesthetic characteristics. It explores how spiritual meaning is conveyed through the technique of free brushwork, the intentional use of empty space, and the profound symbolism of key motifs such as the lotus, peony, dragon, and phoenix. Particular attention is paid to the evolution of styles and techniques reflecting the transition from primitive forms to complex expressive compositions, as well as the role of traditional art in shaping national identity.

The article deals with children’s drawings considering them as a source of inspiration for artists. The study employs an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on characteristics of children’s drawings and their potential to contribute to professional artistic creativity from the viewpoints of art history and psychology. The position that children’s drawings might influence many artists is based on two sources. First, several studies provided by art historians address this impact. Second, documented oral and written testimonies of the artists themselves prove this influence. It is commonly accepted among art critics that children’s drawings may often serve as a reference in various artistic fields. However, this perspective tends to rely on an overly generalized and simplified, thus inaccurate, understanding of the nature of children’s drawings.

Artists frequently express opinions about their own work and often claim children’s drawings as a source of inspiration, emphasising the importance of maintaining a childlike perception of the world. Nevertheless, such statements should be taken with some skepticism. Artists’ remarks on this subject tend to be subjective and emotional, reflecting the nature of artistic creation and self-description, rather than providing reliable material for scientific analysis.

The author concludes that specific features of children’s drawings indicate that they cannot directly serve as source material for adult artists’ creativity. Children’s drawings are based on egocentric thinking inherent to children but alien to adults. Moreover, children’s drawings exhibit qualities absent in professional artworks. Therefore, the influence of children’s drawings on adult artists should be considered as distant and indirect.

The article aims to offer a detailed analysis of the artworks by the German artist Kate Diehn-Bitt. The performed analysis considers the broader context of the period — social and cultural changes unfolding in Europe — and focuses on the perception of female identity. The article examines the paradoxes of modernism, emphasizing the dual nature of artistic activity: the desire for self-expression, on the one hand, and the existence of certain aesthetic norms, on the other. The key objective was to study the artist’s portraits through the lens of gender, as well as examine their iconography and semantics within a complex socio-cultural context. Kate Diehn-Bitt’s works reflect the traditional social roles women played, such as mothers and wives, while considering them from the standpoint of a woman painter, which shapes their perception. The very fact of turning to figuration places her works (mainly portraits and considerably fewer genre compositions) among the masters of new materiality. However, she also significantly stands out due to an unusually lyrical tone of her works, encouraging the viewers approach seemingly familiar motifs from a different perspective. Many of her works show archetypal images; by addressing this theme, the artist questions the possibility of female self-expression in the 20th century society. The author concludes that without radicalising the topic, nor turning to resonant motives, Kate Diehn-Bitt managed to become one of the main exponents of the true self-awareness of women of her generation. Namely, of the mid-20th century European women who, were not deprived of their original essence after getting “freedom of speech”, but rather acquired further opportunities to do achieve their aims, play a significant role in political and social life, as well as to act as an equal partner.

For the first time in Russian art criticism, this article examines the history of the creation and exhibition activities of the association of Italian painters “Modern Artists of Reality” (1947–1949), identifies the most striking features of their painting practice, and defines the creative individuality and identity of each participant in this group. The article analyses the Manifesto of the “Modern Artists of Reality” movement and its basic provisions, which allow us to determine the goals and motivations behind the association’ formation. It traces individual trajectories of each group member in adhering to the principles of the Manifesto, as well as their subsequent artistic careers as ‘artists of Reality’. Both movement-related documents and their artworks were used as materials for the study. The author employs a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to outline the creative methods of the association’s participants. The conclusion addresses the reasons for the association’s dissolution and assesses the contribution of the ‘artists of Reality’ made to post-war Italian visual art. Moreover, the article discusses the contemporary demand for their artistic heritage and its actual reception in the early 21st-century art world.

The article analyses the aspects underlying the process of constructing a virtual personality within the situation of total digitalization brought to all spheres of human life, including social interactions, culture and art, and creative process. Using methods and tools of deep semiotic analysis and sociological research paradigms, the authors study key structural components of virtual personality (avatar, profile, digital footprint, virtual personality, digital identity, online persona), elaborate a typology of virtual personalities (alter ego, idealised self, experimental identity), and critically overview the mechanisms of constructing virtual personality (selective self-representation, narrative identity in digital environment, and virtual representation). The focus of interest in the analysis is the influence such factors as social context, platform specifics, and cultural paradigm produce on a virtual personality constructing and the preference of a self-presentation strategy. In conclusion, the authors highlight that an adequate study of virtual personality construction requires elaborating and implementing interdisciplinary approaches based on the integration of traditional and digital methods.

One of Winckelmann’s most enigmatic judgments about ancient painting is examined from the point of view of contemporary theories of auto-communication and the mask of silence. Winckelmann suspected the ancient painter Parrhasius of lacking painterly effects, which caused his grace not to manifest itself in everything, despite the impeccability of his talent. The authors argue that Winckelmann proceeded from different modes of considering ancient art, not only direct contemplation but also ecstatic peeping. For him, what was essential was not only what glitters with perfection, but also what catches the eye. We apply the method of contextualising Winckelmann’s legacy. Winckelmann, in describing antique sculpture, was at the same time equal to the practical ways of describing drawing (‘disegno’) and to the theoretical parameters of characterising the expressiveness that prevailed in the era of Mannerism. In doing so, he did not speak of Mannerism; Mannerism remained the null signifier or blind spot of his system. This allowed him to ideologise drawing as an expression of pre-established harmony. But as soon as he confronted the obscure points of ancient art theory, he introduced dynamics, the interactive spinning of plastic choices, which makes him a forerunner of contemporary art with interactive space installations and the poly-screen. Winckelmann’s mimetic theory included an ecstatic element comparable to later theories of ecstatic or affective experience. This allowed him to characterize ancient painting in a consistent way, discovering its pathetic character. Nowadays, his ideas are essential for understanding the switching of modes in the contemplation of painting, from mere fascination to enhanced performative communication.

The article is devoted to the study of Merce Cunningham's one-act ballets as unique examples of postmodern choreography in which traditional ideas about dance are reinterpreted. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the key characteristics of his work: the autonomy of movement from music, the rejection of narrative and linear drama, as well as the use of the method of chance. Cunningham overcame classical ideas about the synchronicity of music and dance, creating ballets where each of the expressive means (movement, sound, set design) existed independently, but interacted within the framework of a common artistic idea. One-act ballets such as "RainForest" (1968) and "BIPED" (1999) are considered in the article as important examples of Cunningham's innovative approach to the organization of space and time, as well as to interaction with technology, including the use of video projections and computer simulation of movements. The article highlights the importance of Cunningham's one-act ballets as a phenomenon that not only changed the way people viewed dance in the 20th century, but also influenced modern choreographic practices. The work is of interest to dance researchers, scholars focused on cultural studies, and anyone investigating postmodern art.

The article studies the cases of a choreographer's appealing to the topics of the 18th century. This issue rarely becomes the subject of scientific research to cover the features of Petipa's work with the material that was widely recognizable and had its stage representation typical of the second half of the 19th century. These ballet performances included all the inherent features, such as the structure of the action, operating with complex choreographic forms, large diversity in the part of the main performer. Later the choreographer's activity resulted in elaborating the traditional 'canonical' representation. The analysis of Petipa's contribution to ballet theater led to proposing a hypothesis that the choreographer was one of the creators of the 18th-century theatrical myth and developed the very principle of aesthetic perception of history among the audience: the stage image he shaped later became generally accepted. The article studies the notion of recognition, which is especially relevant for the ballet theater. It allows the viewers to perceive what they see and to correlate the received impressions with the well-established images of the past typically evoked in a representative of the second half of the 19th century, i.e., isolated from the epoch by a sufficient temporal distance. For the choreographer brought up in the French tradition, as well as for their Russian audience, a sense of historical authenticity is combined in one production with 'variations on a rococo theme'. The authors analyse Petipa's performances created over four decades, which inevitably rely on historical materials of the 18th century, from the early one-act ballet "The Parisian Market" (1859) to one of the last creations, the pantomime "The Heart of the Marquise" (1902).

The article considers tradition as a fundamental factor in the formation and development of the national theater school. The history of theater education is outlined in order to show the theater school as one of the brightest phenomena of the national cultural heritage. This allowed the author to justifiably state the insufficient study of the theater school in the aspect of indivisibility of specific creative methodology, aesthetic and moral values. The significance of the theater school in preserving a certain cultural tradition of theatrical thinking and creativity is considered. The most important principle of the acting school formulated by K. S. Stanislavsky is emphasized. Namely, it is the transfer of the living tradition of the actor's art from the teacher to the student during a pedagogical workshop. The history of the Russian theater school uncovers a unique way of theater schools emerging and developing in a number of regions in Russian provinces. As an important prerequisite for the birth of professional theater schools in the province, the role of theater technical schools is considered. In order to analyse the role of tradition in the formation and development of provincial theatrical school, the author turns to the history and creative methodology of the Yaroslavl theatrical school, one of the leaders in Russian theatrical education. The key role F. E. Shishigin, the founder director and a teacher of the theater, played in the formation of the school is outlined. Having appealed to the Yaroslavl theater school's experience in preserving traditions, the author highlights the necessity of a careful attitude to the tradition and the importance of searching for modern approaches to work with it in the acting school. The study of the historical and topical aspects of the traditional foundations of the Yaroslavl theater school contributes to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of the Russian theater school.

The article is based on the comparison of stage images created Russian and Soviet actress O.L. Knipper-Chekhov in the play "The Cherry Orchard" and the Chinese actor Mei Lanfang in the play "A Dream in the Garden". The article explores the principles of creating a female image in the Russian and Chinese stage tradition of the mid-20th century, as well as the peculiarities of theatrical and stage culture of China and the USSR of this period. The study reveals the differences in the ways the actors approach to their roles and create images according to the Russian and Chinese stage traditions. Knipper-Chekhov's principle of a 'Secret marriage to an image' and Mei Lanfang's method of 'Moving without changing shape' reflect different aspirations for 'reality' and 'beauty'. This comparative study is based on the creative potential of theatrical art images of the mid-20th century. The article focuses on the way the theatrical directions represented by the two actors understand the universal issues of theatrical art differently, as well as the way the intersection of the key principles of Russian and Chinese (more broadly, Eastern and Western) theatrical traditions leads to mutual penetration and resonance.

One of the most grandiose Buddhist festivals in China is annually celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar, when the Birthday of Buddha Shakyamuni or the Day of the Ablution of Buddha is celebrated. On this day, believers wash the statue of Buddha in scented water as a sign of respect. The article describes the Ablution Ceremony, which consists of six parts: monks gathering to greet the Buddha, greeting the statue, washing, blessing and circumambulating it, returning and concluding the rite. The ceremony is examined using the example of the festival in Kaifeng (Henan Province, China), the ancient capital of the Seven Dynasties, Daxiangguo Buddhist Temple was consecrated as a royal temple during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). It is emphasized that during large-scale festivals Daxiangguo Temple also invites more than 800 famous monk-musicians from all over the world to play together on a grand and spectacular stage a special programme called "Offering to Buddha". The article analyses the components of the programme in question and its musical poetics. Namely, it focuses on the function that music performs in the Ablution Ceremony and studies the means of musical expression delivering the emotional atmosphere that corresponds to the traditional prayerful arrangement of the ceremony. The focus is on the role of the Buddhist orchestra of Daxiangguo Temple and the performance of a special piece "Victory Festival" by Hao Yuqi and Liu Yaoting, based on a tune for the suona of Henan Province, which gives the music a bright local flavour. The culture-forming role of Daxiangguo Temple, whose ceremonies are included in the national cultural heritage of China, is emphasized.

The article discusses the activities of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the teacher standing at the origins of modern music education. Attention is also paid to the composer's contribution to Russian concert life in the last decades of the 19th century. The present review aims to evaluate the role of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov – his personality, creative and educational activities – in Russian culture.

The author concludes that the issues touched upon in the article deserve further research to be comprehensively described and comprehensively analysed.

The article deals with a bookplate or ex libris, a special type of fine and decorative applied art. Relying on the categories of art semiotics the authors outline the properties of the genre using such concepts as individuality and human personality. The article analyses the role individuality and personality play in producing the idea of a bookplate, in performing its artistic solution and delivering the information about its owner. Another aspect to be investigated is the influence that verbal arts produce on the composition and design of bookplates, namely the synthesis of the visual and the verbal functioning in accordance with the rules of sign ensembles combining signs from different systems. The principles of interaction between the visual and the verbal in a bookplate are considered using the samples from the library belonging to Irakly Andronikov, a scholar, writer and a master of oral storytelling. The samples of oral storytelling by Andronikov were compared to the generalized principles of featuring bookplates to reveal the common mechanisms underlying these materials. The description and attribution of the bookplates reflect the milestones of Andronikov's biography, as well as plots and heroes from the fiction by of Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.

Currently modern civilization is witnessing a unique process of the cultural paradigm transforming, caused by qualitative changes in cultural attitudes, worldviews and values. The traditional attitude to works of art views them as valuable items, which is currently shifting to focus on the «commercial» aspect of creativity processes. These new approaches call for studying the way values may be represented in the sphere of collecting, taking into account that the personal and the social are combined both in creativity process itself and the dynamics of changes in the field. Though mass collecting is a widespread phenomenon in modern Italy, the fashion for particular items of arts is hypothesized to be the key driver for this process, rather than the gist of collecting itself. Moreover, the issues of preserving cultural heritage have gone beyond the field in question. The author uses the method of interdisciplinary approach to study the essential characteristics of the phenomenon of collecting.

The article is devoted to the Museum of Decorative, Applied and Industrial Art of Stroganov Russian State Art University; founded in 1864 in Moscow, it became one of the oldest museums in Russia. Since 1899 till the revolution it used to be called the Museum of Emperor Alexander II. The main purpose of the museum was to collect and study works of Russian art, which was in line with the Stroganov School, whose original intention was to preserve and develop national artistic traditions. Many outstanding representatives of Russian culture, art and science, including graduates from Moscow University, contributed to the history of the Stroganov School Museum. Since its foundation the Museum has been closely connected to art education and industrial education in this country.

The article is first to consider the influence that G. De Chirico's works of the early period (1910s-1920s) and his 'metaphysical painting' produced on Italian artist Antonio Bueno. The author highlights that the impact produced on young Bueno, searching for his own artistic manner, by the stylistics of this well-recognized leader of the avant-garde 'metaphysical painting' trend was ambiguous. The author exploits a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to evaluate the way De Chirico's works contributed to Bueno's search for a 'modern style' of painting. The materials of the research are Bueno's diary-memoirs and the studies devoted to his works. It is concluded that only some features typical of early works by De Chirico and his 'metaphysical painting' manner were acquired by Bueno. However, they are concluded to contribute significantly to the development of Bueno's individual stylistic manner. Moreover, these 'borrowed' features are considered most distinguished and stably occurring. In fact, these are the features that shaped his works, in particular those having earned him national and international recognition.

This article outlines the way such a genre of Russian photography as photo series was formed and developed. It also the role it played in the system of mass communications and journalism in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as considers modern interpretations of this phenomenon in the history of Russian and world photography. The characteristics of certain types of photo series (photo essay, reportage photo, photo series) are featured depending on their visual content and fiction material they relied upon. The authors analyse several professional photographic, cinematographic and literary-artistic journals and magazines such as "Kino-fot", "LEF", "Noviy LEF", "Sovetskoie kino" ('Soviet cinema'), "Proletarskoie foto" ('proletarian photo') and "Sovetskoie foto" ('Soviet photo') to evaluate creative tasks of the photographers, theoretical issues critical reviews. The authors consider several strategies of visual storytelling, on which both the photography program and the materials arrangement on the page are based: production sketch or reportage, the principle of photo observation in space, monitoring and the biographical principle. It is emphasized that the genre of photo series in mass communication is close to design, where issues of visual scenario and publication timing come to the fore and enter the realm of graphic design and photo design. It is a well-known fact that photographers A.M. Rodchenko and B.V. Ignatovich mastered these fields themselves in order to maximize the subject by selecting, arranging and accenting the details.

The article is devoted to the study of the activities of the State Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAKHN) in 1921‒1931. The analysis proceeds from the assumption that the structure of the Academy, which is based on three large departments (Physico-psychological, Social, Philosophical), was designed to promote the implementation of a generalizing synthesis in the understanding of art, in fact, implementing the principle of interdisciplinary research. The analysis of the dynamics of scientific life indicates that the structural units designed to implement a synthetic strategy for creating a new science competed with each other, which was minimizing methodological convergence. The example of work on the “Dictionary of Artistic Terms” clearly illustrates this fact.

The study was carried out on the basis of archival documents from the funds of Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, on the basis of Reports from three Departments of the GAKHN for 1921‒1927, as well as with the involvement of research literature on the history of the GAKHN.

The author concludes that the studies performed by the Academy, laid the foundations of a new science: methodological approaches to the study of art were developed. However, the lack of fundamental unity led to the incompleteness of the formation of a system of aesthetic concepts.

The article is devoted to the formation of artistic and figurative perspectives in early Christian art. To accomplish this task, the authors of the article analyze the very concept of «early Christian art», clarify its boundaries and formulate a working classification of the periods of early Christian art. Based on the leading Russian-language and foreign literature, a detailed analysis of the factors of the genesis of the main artistic images is carried out, among which are: the formation of the canon of the Old and New Testaments, secular (pagan) artistic symbolism, ancient philosophy, dogmatic-theological polemics and a number of other, less significant reasons. In conclusion, the hypothesis is expressed about the possibility of constructing a classification of the early Christian symbolic system based on the factors of origin of a particular symbol in the canon, and also outlines the field for further research of the field.

As an important intangible cultural heritage of China, Mongolian dance showcases the unique cultural identity and humanistic artistic connotations of the Mongolian people. This article explores how to achieve the clever integration of traditional and modern elements in Mongolian dance creation, as well as the impact of this integration on cultural identity and artistic innovation. The cultural identity and artistic innovation in Mongolian dance creation are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Under the clever fusion of traditional and modern elements, Mongolian dance not only maintains its uniqueness, but also showcases the charm and charm of the times.

This creative approach provides a feasible path for the inheritance and development of Mongolian culture, and also serves as a reference for other ethnic dance creations in cross-cultural exchanges. As an indispensable part of China's cultural development, Mongolian dance art should be closely integrated with the expectations of the Party and the state for the literary and artistic cause. In the process of creating Mongolian dance, cultural identity should be fully reflected in form, content, theme, and spirit.

At the same time, by combining modern social development concepts and utilizing advanced artificial intelligence technology for comprehensive innovation, we can effectively promote the prosperity and development of Mongolian dance, and effectively inherit and protect the traditional culture of dance art.

This article outlines the development of metaphorical theater, where new artistic thinking, language, dramaturgy and fundamentally new models of stage art are being created. In literature, metaphor is understood as a word or expression used in a figurative meaning, which is based on the comparison of an object or phenomenon with some other on the basis of their common characteristic. Theatrical metaphor is a multimodal image that arises at the intersection of languages of different types of art to express the essence of meaning or create the generalization behind a specific story. At the same time, metaphor needs no explanation. Independent comparison (interaction) of the incomparable provokes the viewer to complete connections. Famous finales from "The Government Inspector" staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold, "A Month in the Village" by Anatoly Efros, and "Macbeth" by Eimuntas Nekrošius are one of the most remarkable works in in history of theatre and are commonly referred to as stage meta-backgrounds.

The director's theater, which appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and developed as an art of interpretation, sought to turn the theater into a temple of Art, drawing set designers, costume designers, composers, lighting designers, and choreographers into the orbit of co-creation. By the end of the 20th century, the most famous literary works began to be interpreted as a myth that could be retold in one's own words or even acted out on stage without words.

The author reveals the something particular and individual from the general and brings it out. The myth "sees" the universal behind the individual. Author's art belongs to a specific time, "speaks" about a specific person. Myth is about the eternal and universally significant. Performances of this direction are most often hybrid, cross-genre forms based on the interaction of different means of theatrical expression — drama, music, spectacle, circus, pantomime, ritual. Among them there are "The Street of Crocodiles" by Gerard McBurney, "Black on White", "Hashirigaki" by Heiner Goebbels, "Genesis" by Romeo Castellucci. In this country, the first examples of this kind of metaphorical theater are "Siddur-Mystery" and "Polyphony of the World" by composer Alexander Bakshi in collaboration with directors Valery Fokin and Kama Ginkas. In these performances, the initiatory role of the word is missing and the principles of drama are changing.

In contrast to the interpretative theater, the theater of the word appears, where literary storytelling dominates, and all other components are of little significance or are completely absent.

The article studies the AR-opera "Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" by Konstantin Komoltsev based on the novel by Victor Pelevin. The opera with an ironic title, which combines the names of the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and the one of Google, Sergey Brin, is an example of a renewal of the genre. Traditional means of live theater are combined here with new computer and visual systems, namely, augmented (AR) and virtual (VR) reality technologies, dynamic holograms, and computer-synthesized sound.

Born from the idea of creating a futuristic stage trilogy "Me, the robot" about the prohibitions of man and artificial intelligence, the opera became the first part of this trilogy; the second and third included the ballet "Bicentennial Man" based on the novel by Isaac Asimov and the computer drama "O-N-A" ('her') based on the film by Spike Jonze.

The method of musical theoretical analysis of the work showed that the language of the opera, dictated by its ideas, is eclectic and intertextual: the musical-stylistic mix is dominated by meditative, sonorous and concrete music, into which chorale and rap, spectralism and radio jingles penetrate.

The plot, unfolding in 11 films, consists of "pixels" of the familiar and computer worlds, between which it is almost impossible to draw a boundary. The stage language that became the console part of this work is extraordinary and technological. The version of transformed multidimensional reality, created by Georgy Isaakyan, connects single fragments of the linear history of individual people and fragments of the virtual world that has captured their consciousness, which can only be configured using special tablets. Episodes of this multiple reality are switched in clip mode, in which priests and mythological creatures, heroes of famous computer games and real people are created.

It is concluded that "Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" is the first experience in the AR-opera genre, in which real characters interact with virtual ones, and computer technology not only creates a stage image, but also penetrates into the essence of operatic dramaturgy.

The article analyzes the image of the newspaper in works of fine art as a socio-cultural and communication phenomenon. The paper provides an overview of the newspaper's representation in the foreign visual tradition, where it occupied an important place as a socio-cultural and art-critical phenomenon. The periodization of the stages of the newspaper's development is summarized and the connection of historical realities with its representation in Western painting of the XVII‒XXI centuries is revealed.

The analysis showed that it was newspapers that created the foundations for the formation of unifying social meanings and in the work of fine art they appear as a cultural and mental form reflecting and forming the national unconscious. The image of a newspaper in Western visual art reflects its dual character — it is presented both as a source of information involved in the process of communication with the viewer, and as a visual symbol understandable to a wide audience. However, in both cases, the use of a newspaper as an object always appeals to socio-political processes, as well as reflects key cultural codes. In portrait and genre painting, the newspaper becomes not only an indicator of belonging to a certain social class and evidence of the hero's political preferences, but also reflects the social processes that took place during the period under study. In the subject compositions, the newspaper becomes a visual symbol, used as a metaphor, into which the artist puts additional connotative meanings, within the framework of his characteristic way of reflecting reality.

The article examines the work of Lucy Voronova, focusing on her graphic art, paintings, and autobiographical prose drawn from her diary entries. Based on an analysis of her works and insights from leading Russian art historians, the article concludes that from the early 1980s to the mid-2010s, Lucy Voronova was associated with naïve art, later transitioning to decorative and applied art. The article suggests that the artist's "joyful phase", which followed a "depressive artistic phase", began in 2006 and coincided with her shift from paper/ground/oil or paper/acrylic graphic techniques to painting.

The author recounts the creation of the Lucy Voronova brand and the wide-ranging efforts to promote the naïve artist's name both in Russia and internationally. These efforts included collaborations with art historians and collectors, the publication of art albums, the organization of museum exhibitions, and auction sales in Moscow, London, and Zurich.

A separate section of the article is devoted to the artist's current creative phase — the "mosaic" period, which began in 2018, as well as an analysis of the activities of the Lucy Voronova Art Support Fund.

"The Pharaohs' Golden Parade" is a colorful large-scale performance organized in Cairo in 2021; its "plot" was the movement of the mummies of Egyptian rulers from the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the new building of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat district. This event is rightly regarded as a spectacular tourist attraction and another exploitation of the "image of Ancient Egypt" as a replicated cultural brand; but at the same time, the organizers made perhaps the most serious attempt to date to reconstruct an ancient funeral ritual, demonstrating respect for the memory of their ancestors. Despite all the "glossyness" of the festival, a number of elements of the performance turn out to be well thought out and originally designed in accordance with scientific knowledge about the fundamental foundations of Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Such a change in the axiological status of objects from "museum artifacts" to "an object of national pride", necessarily framed as a kind of initiation, is accompanied by a demonstration to the outside world of respect for one's cultural heritage, which is recognized and presented as part of contemporary cultural strategy and state ideology.

This same demonstration is perceived as an act of political rhetoric, proclaiming the continuity of modern Egypt in the chain of civilizations of the Nile Valley and the state's concern for the formation of cultural memory.

This article proposes an arc of development in the use of wood — a traditional, ubiquitous building material in Russia — within prevailing high cultural norms of architectural design. Adapted to neoclassical norms in the eighteenth century, the log structure was masked at estate mansions such as Kuskovo and Ostankino by plank siding or lathing with stucco to resemble a masonry structure. With changing cultural values toward historicism in architecture during the nineteenth century, the log structure was re-exposed as an expression of national authenticity. From the miniature architectural forms at Abramtsevo to the massive log structure at Pogorelovo, exposed wooden structures were seen by the cultural intelligentsia (another social elite) as an essential part of Russia's identity.

In the development of Russian art, the period of classicism (mid 18th — mid 19th century) preceded the era of Historicism of the 19th – early 20th century, and the period of neoclassicism (the first half of the 20th century) completed its history. The main source of the development of the historicism style was Russian history, and during the periods of its origin and completion, the images of M.V. Lomonosov were captured in bronze by outstanding sculptors I.P. Martos in 1826–1829. (in Arkhangelsk) and N.V. Tomsky in 1953 (in front of the Moscow University building on Vorobyovy Gory).

In the period of Neoclassicism or the «new Russian classicism» of the 1930s and 1950s, Moscow University became one of the main centers for the study of the art of the first Russian classicism. Professor N.N. Kovalenskaya (1892‒1969), the best expert on the history of this style, creates the most complete monograph to date on the life of I.P. Martos, the author of the first sculptural monument to M.V. Lomonosov in Russia. She considered the work of this sculptor to be the pinnacle of the development of Russian monumental sculpture. Moscow State University archive introduces Professor N.N. Kovalenskaya's personal materials into scientific use for the first time.

The development of the art of classicism and neoclassicism, the study of the history of both these periods was closely connected with the history of Lomonosov Moscow State University, as well as with the study of the work of sculptor I.P. Martos, the author of the first sculptural monument to the founder of the university.

This article provides a comparative review of “Russian Orientalism” in the visual arts, associated with the names of artists such as V.V. Vereshchagin and A. V. Nikolaev (Usto Mumin), who differently approached this movement. The article raises the question of the characteristics of “Russian Orientalism” and examines the historical context that shaped this phenomenon, which also manifested itself in the visual arts.

This work takes E. Said’s concept of “Orientalism” as its methodological basis, serving as the starting point for the scholarly analysis. In the case of V.V. Vereshchagin and his “Turkestan Series”, the perception of the East corresponds to E. Said’s well-known “Orientalist” theory. When it comes to Usto Mumin’s works, methodological situation appears more complex and contradictory. Life and work of A. V. Nikolaev do not fit into E. Said’s concept. The analysis draws on the works of several authors to explore “Russian Orientalism” within the context of cultural studies, including art history.

The author concludes that although both authors under consideration do formally comply with the “Orientalists” movement, they belong to different cultural and historical contexts. Their careers and personal life embody the contrasts in their understanding of their art – so as academic classics might be opposed to the “modern” avant-garde.

The article discusses the basic concepts associated with folk art and folk arts and crafts as an object of mass media. The dynamics (2001–2025) of representation of the concepts “folk art”, “folk crafts” and their types in various types of Russian-language media are analysed basing on the “Integrum” program. A significant increase in attention to folk crafts in recent years has been recorded in connection with the return of society to traditional values associated with the socio-cultural processes of identification among the Russian people. A direct dependence of the activity of the media in the coverage of folk art on the degree of attention to this area of official institutions, as well as on the degree of prevalence and popularity of certain types of folk crafts has been established. An increase in the share of attention to this area of regional publications in comparison with federal ones, a rapid increase in the activity of online publications, especially news aggregators and thematic Internet media, which leads to the priority of news content and poses the problem of strengthening the essay, analytical, problematic potential of journalism, which is able to analyze the difficulties and problems that folk crafts are experiencing today and help in solving them, is clearly visible. In general, the trend of expanding the range of objects of media attention to folk art is positive, but so far it is more quantitative than qualitative, and additional efforts and in-depth research are required in this direction.

This study examines a collection of stone retouched sculptures from the archaeological cultures of the Sea of Japan basin from the Final Paleolithic (17 000 BP) to the Late Neolithic (2 500 BP). Special attention is paid to the problems of distinguishing this type of artifacts into the category of primitive art, related both to the specifics of the material itself and the existing stereotypes in scientific practice. The methodological principles that make it possible to work with the controversial category of art are considered in detail, including theoretical developments of practical iconics (D.A. Sevostyanov), theories of the history of things (G.Kubler) and primitive syncretism (V.R.Kabo). For the most objective assessment of the “figured stones” and the subsequent interpretation of the products, an up-to-date list of criteria has been developed within the framework of this study, and tested on the materials of the stone sculpture collection of the Sea of Japan basin. The analysis of the reviewed collection, which includes more than 64 items, allowed us to identify three groups of artifacts, according to the number of parameters corresponding to the criteria: sculptures, conventional images, and unlikely candidates.

The article examines the composition of healing idols and amulets of the Nivkhs, one of the peoples of the Amur and Sakhalin regions. The main source is the collection of the Russian Museum of Ethnography. To analyze the composition and semantics of the sculptural images, the author draws on the mythology and beliefs of the Nivkhs and uses a semiotic approach. The composition of the Nivkhs healing amulets was shown to often include the characters, acting as mediators between people and other spheres of the universe, such as the mountain taiga and the water element. These may include twins, the mother of twins, and others (in their zoomorphic forms, such as bears, toads, seals, and birds). The design of the amulets often includes connections like chain links, which represent a temporal connection between the mental and the physical, specifically between a mythological character and a human body. The original feature of the composition of the Nivkhs amulets is the dual mediation: along with the mediation between the spheres of the universe, it is also mediates between the body of the mythological character and the body of the sick person.

This article examines one of the ritual utensils from the Nivkhi «bear festival» — the «bear» ladle n’khyr. Russian ethnographers, art historians, and museologists have considered this item as just one of many ritual objects. The researchers have unanimously noted its uniqueness and distinctiveness among ritual utensils. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has examined this item comprehensively: its design features, the techniques used to apply ornamental and sculptural compositions with their profound sacred meaning, and its role as a unique example of decorative art. This article is an attempt to fill this gap. Another reason for examining this topic was the appearance of the n’khyr on the souvenir market. Since the mid-20th century, the «bear festival» has disappeared from the Nivkhi ritual practices, and the «bear» ladle has not been carved, but in the 21st century, attempts are being made to revive the production of this item. Despite the high level of skill of the carvers, the sacred meaning of the n’khyr is being lost, and ornamental compositions are being constructed arbitrarily, without regard for their symbolic significance. In this situation, there is a risk of the «bear» ladle becoming a utilitarian object. Therefore, it seems relevant to address the topic outlined in the title, providing a detailed description of the purpose of this object and the nuances of the ritual depicted on «bear» vessels. The author studied the «bear» ladles n’khyr from five museum collections across the country and analyzed their ornamental compositions. The study allowed the author to add a third type of imagery on the ladle to the two existing. It also highlights its significance as a sacred symbol of the ritual and as a unique example of decorative and applied art, which serves as a historical source for understanding religious rites practiced in the recent past.

The article focuses on the second series of porcelain sculptures “Peoples of Russia”, released by the F. Gardner factory near Moscow in the 1870s and 1890s, which relates to one of the main directions of Russian porcelain plastic. Its graphic basis was a fundamental publication prepared by T. Pauli mainly based on materials from the Russian Geographical Society (1862).

The methodological basis of the study was cultural and historical analysis, primary visual research, and the artistic and stylistic method.

The study shows that the Gardner series of porcelain sculptures “Peoples of Russia” is an outstanding phenomenon in Russian cultural history. It has not only artistic, but educational significance, since it played an important role in maintaining the traditional identity of Russia as a multi-people state. The material of this article actualizes the importance of this visual source, which occupies a worthy place in the cultural and historical memory of Russians. The author also indicates the task of searching for the social range of the existence of porcelain plastics from the series “Peoples of Russia”, produced by the former F. Gardner factory during the “Kuznetsov” period of its existence.

The article examines the role of art in shaping an image of the people, using the Bretons of France as an example. The interest of professional artists who chose Brittany in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century led to the creation of hundreds of images depicting this French region. Many creative innovations were also realized here (the school of P. Gauguin and his circle).

The methodological basis of the study was a cultural-historical analysis — the study of paintings in the context of their time and the characteristics of the cultural environment, as well as the public resonance they generated; an iconographic method for analyzing the main themes, subjects, and motifs, as well as the nature of the images chosen by the artists to reflect Breton culture.

The author concludes that the interested and sympathetic view of the masters of painting on the natural and historical uniqueness of Brittany and the distinctive culture of the Bretons greatly contributed to the formation of an attractive image of this region and its inhabitants in art during a difficult historical period for the Bretons. This also contributed to attracting public attention to Brittany and became an important stage in the development of the identity of the Bretons, the affirmation of the intrinsic value of Breton culture, and the development of new directions in the art of Brittany.

This article proposes an approach to identifying the artistic quality of traditional cultural artifacts, characteristic of ethnographic museology. Artistry is considered an additional characteristic of a folk culture object. The presence of artistry is determined by the task of conveying ethnographic information through symbolism incorporated into the design of the object, and by the desire, characteristic of the archaic world, to integrate the object into the expanded context of ritual and symbolic interactions. Ethnology’s attention to the entire spectrum of ethnic art reflects the main theme of this discipline: identifying the role of the archaic in various categories and states of culture. As a result, the primary goal of studying and processing the complex of artistic features in folk culture objects is the transformation of the artistic image into a semantic image. Deciphering the meanings of a semantic image allows for a deeper understanding of folk culture. The article concludes with examples of descriptions of artistic ethnographic artifacts, representing reconstructions of semantic images of the object environment of ethnic groups.

The significance of this research lies in the need to develop a new approach to the study of French furniture within the broader framework of the social history of art. Such an approach is particularly relevant in light of the distinctive socio-political conditions that shaped attitudes toward the material and spatial environment in France during the age of absolute monarchy. In this context, the creation of interior settings and furnishings was closely linked to the interests of the state and, above all, to those of the sovereign, whose patronage played a decisive role in artistic production.

Against this background, the present study examines the conceptual and visual dimensions of artistic practice in French furniture-making. Particular attention is given to the functional principles underlying form, ornament, and artistic design in the masterpieces of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French furniture. A key analytical framework is the role of individual agency in history, explored through the relationship between the sovereign as patron and the craftsman as creator.

Eighteenth-century French furniture exerted a profound influence on the development of furniture design across Europe, establishing stylistic models that shaped the evolution of the decorative arts well beyond the borders of France.

The article examines the formation and development of the iconographic image “Christ in Prison” (Midnight Saviour) within Western European and Russian provincial traditions of sacred sculpture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Drawing on a corpus of wooden sculptures from the collections of the Radishchev Museum and the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore, it analyses the specific modes of reception and visual interpretation of this motif in the parish churches of the Saratov Volga Region. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the Western types “Ecce Homo” and “Homo Dolorum” as they are adapted to the Orthodox theological perspective, and to the role of provincial workshops in shaping stable yet highly variable models of the Midnight Saviour. The article investigates the sculptural language, the treatment of the body and gesture, the symbolism of nakedness and vesture, and the practice of “dressing” the statues in actual liturgical textiles, documented in F. Kitavin’s watercolours. It is argued that the Saratov material reveals a complex dialogue between East and West, traces the mechanisms by which Baroque iconography was reinterpreted within Orthodox visual culture, and illuminates specific features of popular religiosity in the Russian provinces of the modern period.

In this issue of the journal “Theory and History of Art”, within the anthropology of art section the emphasis is placed on the theory of the issue and interdisciplinary approaches to research methodology. This direction was preceded by the testing of ideas within the framework of the scientific seminar “Anthropology of Art”, which was established in 2020, as well as the XVI and XVII Congresses of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia in 2023 and 2025. It was based on the interests of three institutions in this field, as the context of physical and social anthropology interested the founders of the “Anthropology of Art” direction: at the N. N. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences; at the Faculty of Arts of Lomonosov Moscow State University; at the S. G. Stroganov Russian State University of Art and Industry.

The article is devoted to the influence of the traditions of the Moscow Art Theater on the literary and critical-journalistic creativity of I.L. Andronikov.

The oral stories in which Andronikov creates images of prominent figures of Russian stage art — A.A. Ostuzhev, V.I. Kachalov, F.I. Chaliapin, — using the skill of getting used to the character of thought, plasticity of the hero, reproducing the syntax of his speech, the timbre of his voice, gestures, creating a portrait that can be recognized not only by those who knew the prototype personally, but also by those who recognize him only in the narrator's transmission.

In this regard, some aspects of the author's conception and embodiment of oral stories are highlighted in the light of the provisions of the Stanislavsky System, such as "the truth of experiences", "the film of the role", "the method of physical actions", perceived by Andronikov through direct observation of the art of the founders of the Moscow Art Theater in its heyday. The phenomenon of the synthesis of musical arts in the creation of artistic images is outlined.

E.V. Denisov entered the history of music as a bold innovator, generator of new ideas, theorist and researcher of art. The author of the article analyzes the piano miniatures written by E. Denisov in the 1960s–1980s in the context of the composer's innovative concept in the field of musical genre, style and compositional technique of the 20th century. Piano miniatures were for E.V. Denisov the deepest way to express the soul, thoughts and emotions, as well as a source of inspiration in his new creative searches.

The works of different years contain detailed, emotionally filled melodies and a special rhythmic system: asymmetric combinations, timed and non-timed rhythmic forms, rhythmic harmonic sequence, as well as "seriality". They have a combination of rich texture, a new sense of sonic geometry and a unique musical organizational space.

The article summarizes the considered features of E. Denisov's piano miniatures, which are full of contrasts, including the combination of traditional spiritual foundations with new techniques of composer's writing, allowing to embody new ideas for which traditions have become a source of inspiration and motivation.

The article is dedicated to the musical and poetic creativity of the talented Russian songwriter of the late XIX — early XX century M.I. Ozhegov. It is emphasized that, being a native of the peasants of the village of Mikhino in the Nolinsk district of the Vyatka province, Ozhegov knew the life of a poor peasant well and spoke about it with great sympathy in his beautiful poems and songs. M.I. Ozhegov did not have the opportunity to receive a systematic general and musical education and received all knowledge mainly through self-education.

The self-taught poet wrote more than a hundred "songs in the spirit of the people of his region", some of which, having high artistic merits, became popular songs and romances and were included in the repertoire of such outstanding Russian singers of the past as F.I. Chaliapin, S.Y. Lemeshev, N.A. Obukhova, A.V. Nezhdanova. They are still heard today in the concert programs of modern "romantics of romance".

The article discusses the most important milestones in the biography of Ozhegov, who went through a difficult life path from a peasant from the Vyatka hinterland to a famous Moscow poet-songwriter, author of several poetry books, compiler of popular collections of songs published in thousands of copies, an active participant in the Surikov literary and musical circle. The article highlights the history of the creation and song existence of the best works of Ozhegov's musical and poetic heritage, which received a second life as songs and romances, became almost folk. It is noted that the merits of M.I. Ozhegov in the field of poetic creativity was evaluated by the "Literaturnaya Gazeta" 1930, calling him "an original and probably the only song writer in Russian literature".

The article presents the main trends in the development of modern Russian opera remake, a concept and term introduced into musicological practice by the author of this study. The definition of an opera remake has been clarified. The author considers the philosophical concept of «possible worlds» to be the basic reason for the emergence of this type of opera.

Literary and film criticism works devoted to the remake are analyzed. Their study made it possible to extrapolate some positions of the theory of a literary remake into the field of musical stage genres, in particular, into opera. The conditions for the extensive development of the opera remake at the beginning of the 21st century are revealed. The analysis of the works of G. Korchmar («NIGENO YIENEGVE»), V. Kobekin («Hamlet»), I. Yusupova («Don Juan's List of Don Juan»), S. Levkovskaya («Carmen-perezagruzka») belonging to this genre is presented.

The typology of opera remakes of the named composers is given. The narrative, genre and plot transformations underlying the typology of the works under consideration are described. As a result of the analysis of modern Russian opera remakes of the early XX century. the author comes to the conclusion that they represent all types: pseudo-remake (remake-reinterpretation) and postmodern remake (remake-deconstruction and destructive remake).

The article is devoted to topical issues related to teaching Chinese students of fine arts. Due attention in the work is devoted to the general didactic principles of teaching students.

From year to year, there is a growing need for methods that contribute to the intensification of the educational process of preparation in the context of expanding intercultural communication. Russian-Chinese cooperation is of particular importance in this regard.

The development of a conceptual framework for arts education should be carried out taking into account the details of each of the three areas: academic, traditional and innovative. Because these differences are of a qualitative nature and cannot be carried out on a single philosophical, didactic and technical basis.

The purpose of this article is to reveal the world of Chinese nephrite miniature, to give an insight into the art of carving on semi-precious stone as one of the oldest artistic practices of benevolent culture in China.

Traditional themes, types, carriers of well-wishes and specificity of approaches to their interpretation in the lower segment of sculpture size range are shown, taking into account the unique pictorial and textural possibilities of each piece of nephrite. The work of the symbolic sense-making mechanisms in the construction of subjects, the benevolent symbolism plot synthesis logic with the help of the configurations of speech expression is traced. The specific forms of spatial implementation question of this synthesis is considered.

On the example of the collection created by the masters of modern jade crafts in the Xuyan region, the whole variety tythe whole arietypology of jade miniatures as single and complex plastic metaphors is established. In turn, with the help of cultural-historical, semiotic, formal-compositional analysis the types of complex metaphors as compositional solutions of greater or lesser spatial development, static or dynamic character, with the participation of one or more dominants are identified.

The article discusses the scientific grounds for studying the artistic and figurative originality of the Ugra costume ensemble, the features of the aesthetic understanding of the world of the inhabitants of the region, the reflection of artistic objects in things of the world, the uniqueness of their compositional structure.

The preservation of a special attitude to the costume and jewelry among the Khanty and Mansi is due to the figurative meanings invested in them over the millennia, which were born in the process of understanding by a person himself and the world around him, and determining his place in this world. In assessing the potential of a costume as an object of art, scientific, cultural, and technological aspects matter. The general regularity of the costume of the Ob Ugrians can be clearly traced from the Bronze Age. It was a world-historical process of widespread distribution of agriculture, animal husbandry and metallurgy.

The ancient authentic basis of the material things of the Khanty and Mansi is a very important factor for considering the art-figurative archetype in the culture of the two peoples by means of art.

The article is devoted to the study of jewelry from the point of view of the use of material in the chronological framework of epochs and styles in order to identify preferences in the trends of material selection, some methods of its processing, partly the stylistic relationship of materials in one work. The epochs proposed for consideration are from primitive art to the general characteristics of the twentieth century.

The choice of epochs and territories is based on the bright stages in which the characteristic features of the style in jewelry, trends of change or the importance of preserving the use of the material began to manifest. The article also presents the characteristics of the main forms of jewelry of each era under consideration and the functional load of these products, which largely determined the material.

The socio-cultural justification of some phenomena in the creation of jewelry is also touched upon, but this study shows one of the angles in the study of jewelry, which implies further research of forms, technology development, and their interrelations in the object under study.

The article deals with the phenomenon of the perception by the artists of the Weimar Republic of the classical heritage of the masters of previous centures. The reader is offered an attempt to comprehend the semiotic properties of the concept of "classical" and the attitude towards it on the part of German painters of the interwar era. The author substantiates the relevance of this issue from the perspective of state policy and the specifics of modern scientific interests.

The article considers the works of artists of different directions within the realist art of the 1920–1930s, verists (O. Dix, G. Gross, K. Hubbuch, G. Scholz, R. Schlichter, M. Beckmann) and neoclassicists (K. Schad, W. Peiner, E. Rüter-Rabinovitsch), taking into account their avant-garde past and "degenerate" future. In the course of reviewing the artistic material, several levels of appeal to the heritage of old masters were revealed, from imitation of the form of a medieval altar painting — a triptych, a complex semantic interpretation of meanings, to direct quotation, from sharp satire on modern society to exquisite humor directed at ourselves.

In conclusion, the author notes the paradox that, studying the works of artists of the new objectivity and those samples, the interpretation of which was the basis of many of the iconic works of the era, it turns out that in her eyes the concept of exemplary is related mainly to those periods of world art (Northern Renaissance, Romanticism, impressionism), which classical art history interprets as non-classical.

The purpose of this article is the manifestation of the influence of V.V. Kandinsky on the artistic processes in China in the 20th century. There is a resonance between Eastern aesthetic and philosophical conservatism, the centuries-old Chinese traditions of the symbolic expression of worldview meanings and individual experiences in landscape, still life, animalistic, plot and everyday compositions, and the revolutionary innovations of the generally recognized pioneer of Western non-objective art.

The phenomenon of this paradoxical resonance explains the rapid spread in an extremely inert cultural environment of the methods of alien abstract expressionism as a self-sufficient system of abstract pictorial-spatial relations: color, light-tonal, linear-rhythmic.

Thanks to the charm of innovative painting in combination with a program of original theoretical provisions, the work of V.V. Kandinsky performed the function of a conductor of abstractionism and modernism. Moreover, it helped Chinese artists to return to the national foundations and show their value to the world, the prospects for the humane humanity of the 21st century.

Early Russian symbolism as, in general, the art of the last quarter of the 19th century, characterizes by the process of a kind of "modernization", during which the layers of culture of the beginning of the century, primarily romanticism, excluded from the semiotic space, are returning again to the art on new ontological grounds.

Due to the romantic heritage, the art of symbolism, as a "transitional" one, gets at its disposition symbolic tools that correspond to the mythological way of organizing socio-cultural space.

In the article, using the example of M.V. Nesterov's work, it is shown how the inner concept of symbolism expresses via romantic allegory, carried out as a conscious, intellectual activity of the artist.

The article is devoted to establishing and depicting the development of the scheme in the iconography of the Christian Saint Mary Magdalene, where she is depicted as a separate figure with her main attribute — an alabaster vessel. With the development of iconographic creativity in Christian art and the spread of the cult of this holy form, the plot composition is affected and independence is gained in cult art.

Particular attention is paid to the process of secularization in cult art, as a result of which the detached and "non-local" prayer images begin to form in realistic transformations that reveal a portrait resemblance to patterns. As a result, there is a change in artistic means, and with them the nature of the image, and its semantics. In this regard, the portraits of the masters of the Northern and Italian images of the Renaissance are studied, in which Mary Magdalene finally acquires a secular character and turns into an allegorical portrait, typologically comprehensive in such a close portrait genre as the "portrait of a beauty".

Through the analysis of the comparative composition, the composition between substances, types of images in accordance with their purpose, the manufacturer as a book miniature, an altar polyptych and an easel painting.

The article deals with the principles of the creative method in the art of Titian Vecellio, the gratest painter of Venetian Renaissance, investigated on the base of analysis of two his paintings, "Crowning with Thorns", created at different stages of his life. To understand it in proper way it is possible to use in this respect the terms of classical rhetoric, which could be useful to deny some processes and principles of his work. Such a method helps to study them in the context of aesthetical polemics of mid-XVIth century on the merits of the two main Italian Renaissance schools of painting, Central Italian and Venetian.

The article attempts to focus on the so-called "places of power" on the way of St. Andrew the First-Called through the territory of ancient Russia. The presence of various underground tunnels, wells and caves in the places of the Holy Apostle's stay is noted. The Valaam archipelago in Lake Ladoga, which has become the spiritual center of the Ladoga lands, is considered in more detail. The analysis of the peredvizhnichestvo of St. Arseny, the founder of the Konevetsky Orthodox monastery on Ladoga, is carried out. As a result, it can be assumed that Christian missionaries were sent precisely to the "places of power" of ancient civilizations living in the Northern regions of Eurasia. Thus, a kind of continuity was obtained in the location of Orthodox monasteries and religious centers of previous eras.

The article analyzes the intermediate components of S.N. Durylin's articles from the period of his work at the State Academy of Art Sciences: «Landscape in the works of Dostoevsky» (1926), «Cimmerian landscapes Max.Alex.Voloshina in verse» (1927). In these theoretical articles, the author shows how the problem of intersemiotic correlations can be solved by analyzing the language of literature with the language of painting. S.N. Durylin consciously avoids describing figurativeness by means of literary studies alone, when considering the ontological landscape of oblique rays in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky, he tries to attract the tools of painting and creates a landscape symbol.

Thus, the writer implements the idea of showing a dialogue between two arts, where the languages of the two arts, without merging, but synthesized in a special way, become a declaration of intermediality. S.N. Durylin demonstrates intermediate correlations at the level of projection of conceptual models of one art form into another (sound painting, landscape remark, landscape symbol, landscape frame, etc.).

The writer sought in the process of analysis to create such a specific language that would take into account the meanings of a multi-layered artistic statement. The appendix to the article for the first time publishes theses and debates on the report of S.N. Durylin «Landscape in the works of Dostoevsky» based on the materials of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art.

Canonical conventions are typological spiritual syntagmas of different epochs and presented in the form of "canon / canons", depending on the understanding / reading of the Image of the World by a person, in connections and relations with which he and humanity are, and part of which he and society are. In a generic sense, the Canon in art is characterized by the image of a referent or an object of worship. The canon is established with all the obviousness of the banner. This happens at the turn of great epochs and materializes in a special way in the trinity of factors of the "matrix of being": the social organization of society, the technological level of production, the idea of the spiritual, ideological content of life.

The canon-"morph" in the art of the Paleolithic is expressed mainly in the worship of objects of the biocenosis. In the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Metal Ages, "morph" replaces the canon "morpheme" in the form of a cultural archetype of the Image of the Universe, in which there is a person and an entity that created the world, with which a person is connected with the help of a sacrifice. Such an Image of the World has come down to us in the structure of language, myth, fairy tale. It is deployed vertically and horizontally in the levels of aboveground and underground space and is presented in various mythopoetic models of the created world. This structure persists into the Neolithic and Metal Ages, but is refined in the details of cultural lore. Ancient civilizations preserve the figurative mytho-morphological context of the Universe as a system, but within them a canon-"metamorpheme" is born, in particular, the Abrahamic monotheistic idea of the Image of the World, and in a number of regions and cultures its monastic model, recognizing the existence of only one substance or one type of substances.

In monotheism and monism, the idea of a plurality of mythological worlds is abolished, and the image of the referent changes accordingly - in one case it becomes the Personality of the Creator, and in the other, it becomes an extrapersonal, extra-spatial and timeless "substance", defined in Buddhism by the category "nirvana". The former canonical structures do not disappear, but they are subordinated to the new laws of the objective and subject content of the Image of the World. Since the New Age, a special modality of the medieval canon has arisen — the "anthropomorpheme" as the scientific center of the Picture of the World — a predicate in which a person is recognized as its intellectual center. This figurative line in the 20th century forms the basis of another predicative — the "subject"-canon, a marker of a daring attempt at the subconscious construction of the Image of the World, that is, in the paradigmatic model of its presentation. Today, all canonical forms are present in world culture.

The article continues the study of the little-known phenomenon of Leonardo da Vinci's creativity — his innovative works in the field of scenography. In the fourth part, Leonardo's handwritten and iconographic materials for the proposed Milan production of «La Fabula di Orfeo» on the text of the pastoral drama by A. Poliziano are analyzed in historical, textual and art criticism aspects. The author turns to the analysis of Leonardo's drawings, fragments of his notebooks related to the development of stage space, stage mechanisms and stage plasticity of this possible production.

The author is based on the methodology of complex textual, iconographic and art criticism analysis, which makes it possible to show more deeply the historical significance and place of Leonardo da Vinci's scenographic works in the culture of the High Renaissance, in the formation and development of complex scenography as an iconic ensemble.

The author comes to the conclusion that the scenography of «Orfeo» is a key stage in the evolution of Leonardo's scenographic thinking. The constructive organization of the game space, embodied in the production of «Orfeo», transformed not only all the previous types of constructive and decorative design of the playground — aggregate and simultaneous, but also foreshadowed a new path of development of European scenography — the spatial and temporal perception of theatrical performance.

Over the three decades of the new Russian history, the science of folk art has experienced significant losses in the perspective of art history — along with the liquidation of the system of factories of art goods, the Ministries of local industry as management regulators, the technological resources of the folk arts and crafts industry have suffered, as well as the scientific environment — the Research Institute of Artistic industry and the museum was disbanded, created on the basis of the former Commercial and Industrial Museum of Handicrafts of the Moscow Provincial Zemstvo (1885), the purpose of which was to promote the development of handicrafts. In 1946, the museum was renamed the Museum of Folk Art NIIHP. At the same time, regions began to show interest in folk art, apparently in the search for what is called national and cultural identity, which was reflected in the initiatives of the Governments of a number of Republics to create network projects for the "revival" of folk arts and crafts in the regions, as well as educational methods of studying in systems education and school programs. Of great importance is the work in a number of regions on the formation of materials that include a description of the heritage and, which is very important, dictionaries and encyclopedias. The article describes the experience of creating the Encyclopedia "Udmurt Republic: Arts and Crafts" as one of the regional schools of the Russian Federation.

Chinese culture is the only cultural civilization in the world whose life has not been interrupted for millennia. 56 nationalities formed a single image of the country, but each of them formed its own language, its own customs and traditions, religion, culture. The fate of the peoples of the northern part of China, the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, was not simple. From generation to generation, they have built their civilization and do this to this day, being brilliant representatives of the diverse culture of not only China, but the whole world. For the Mongolian people, dancing to music is a concept inseparable from life. The article discusses the development of the Mongolian folk dance.

The following methods of scientific research were used in this article: Observation, which allowed to study this type of dance and its features, as well as deduction, because during the analysis, we looked at the dance as a whole, subsequently moving to the analysis of a specific genre, namely Mongolian folk dance.

Dance has always held significant place in the daily culture of the Mongols in northern China, originating from basic human needs for work, play, and hunting. It became an expressive medium to understand and connect with culture. In Chinese culture, dance is vital to public consciousness, reflecting the people's aesthetic aspirations and national spirit. The dance art of Inner Mongolia, China has a long history with unique genre, choreographic, and aesthetic features developing through each historical epoch. It assimilates elements of folk dance, acrobatics, and martial arts. Props like fans, swords, and sleeves are common, often used to express feelings and experiences. Mongolian dance in Inner Mongolia, known for its purity, fairness, and grace, fosters new cultural trends and creates a culture of purity, compassion, and beauty. Therefore, the choreographic culture of Inner Mongolia is a heritage of its people and holds value for the global community.

The article analyzes «Winter Dreams», a ballet in one act by K. MacMillan, based on Chekhov's play «Three Sisters», staged in 1991 in the UK, in the context of interpreting the literary source on the ballet stage. The idea of the ballet is revealed, the dramatic and musical foundations, the set design, the features of choreographic dramaturgy, and the artistic methods compared with the choreographer's personal style are analyzed. The research provides a brief overview of the theatrical productions of «Three Sisters» in London, in the context of the approval of Chekhov's works in the English classical repertoire of the XX century. The author explains how the internal structure of the ballet meets the compositional complexity of the original play and how Chekhov's psychology is remained in the conditions of the ballet genre. It is noted that the choreographic dramaturgy principles used by K. Macmillan hide the linear development of the action, and escape the interpretation excessive illustrativity. It is also specified that the musical score in the form of mixing piano pieces by P.I. Tchaikovsky and Russian folk music supports a «Chekhovian genre», characterizing personal states of mind, and reflecting the reality in its comical ordinariness; and the characters are presented through a life prism and are truthfully revealed by the choreoplastic nuances. In conclusion, the article's author notes that the choreographer's experience looks credible, characterizes the mutual influence of cultures in the ballet directing, and the interpretation itself marks the rejection of a direct recreation of the plot with the help of artistic methods and the transformation connected with the literary source rethinking and conceptualizing in European choreographic art.

The article deals with the nature of the choreographer's appeal to the themes of the 18th century, which rarely becomes the subject of scientific research, the features of his work with the material in the conditions of a recognizable (largely acquired the so-called "canonical" appearance in the course of his activity) stage embodiment of a ballet performance of the second half of the 19th century with its inherent features - the structure of the action, operating with complex choreographic forms, great diversity in the part of the main performer. In the course of studying the creative heritage of Petipa, a hypothesis is revealed about the choreographer as one of the creators of the theatrical myth of the 18th century, who shaped his stage image among the public, which later became generally accepted, develops the very principle of aesthetic perception of history in the auditorium. The problem of recognition, which is especially relevant for the ballet theater, is investigated, which allows the viewer to perceive what he sees, correlating the impression he received from the performance with the well-established image of the past era that exists in his mind, characteristic of a person in the second half of the 19th century, i.e. separated from the epoch under consideration by a sufficient temporal distance. For the choreographer, brought up in the French tradition, as well as for his Russian audience, a sense of historical authenticity is combined in one production with "variations on a rococo theme."

The author analyzes Petipa's productions, in one way or another correlated with the historical material of the 18th century, created over four decades from the early one-act ballet The Parisian Market (1859) to one of the last creations, the pantomime The Heart of the Marquise (1902).

The article is devoted to the problem of the methodology of analysis of new musical stage forms at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. During this period, such types of theater as immersive, participatory, walker, imagination theater, theater without an actor, theater of Sound, sound drama, theater of changing hierarchies and a number of others were born. Various mixed performances have become the norm, in which drama is combined with circus, dance, opera, instrumental theater, jazz, and video art. Often the relationship with the viewer changes. The fourth wall is destroyed, and the viewer becomes an accomplice of the performance. There are other principles of dramaturgy here. They are fundamentally different from those known in the director's interpretive theater of the twentieth century. Determining the directions of searches is at the center of the proposed work.

The analysis of these diverse phenomena is complicated by the fact that such a familiar factor as a play, a narrative, that is, a linear presentation, disappears. Dramaturgy often arises on the basis of a generally significant myth. Classical works, historical events, characters of history, heroes of popular works become myths, which gives directors and performers freedom of interpretation. Therefore, prequels and sequels based on famous works have spread in artistic practice and not only in the theater, but also in literature, cinema, computer games. This topic requires a separate study. At the present stage, the specifics of classical opera and ballet productions have been studied to a greater extent. Musical performances on the dramatic stage are an unexplored area. But they establish their own laws of organization of the whole, a dialogue of different arts arises. The traditional hierarchical vertical is replaced by a polyphonic horizontal. The principle of correspondence of all expressive means of the theater to the word is being replaced by the contrapuntal way of organizing the artistic resources used in this particular performance. As an example, let's highlight such areas as the Theater of Sound, the Theater of Imagination, Sound drama, the theater of changing hierarchies. The dramaturgy of counterpoint of heterogeneous means of expression is another problem that needs to be studied. A new polyphonic thinking is emerging before our very eyes. Established other relations with the public. Vivid images, not connected by a narrative, provoke the audience to complete their connection, awaken the fantasy. Changes in artistic thinking, understanding of the role of the composer and director at a new stage in the development of theatrical art were clearly manifested in their statements, which are given in this article.

Problems identified in the study: the rejection of the narrative, the turn to a generally significant myth (mythologems) as the basis of stage interpretation; the change of the principle of correspondence of all expressive means to the word by the counterpoint of the arts; the emergence of new non-genre formations and areas of creativity record a change in artistic thinking. And this is a global topic, It requires a comprehensive study and consolidation of the efforts of researchers from various fields of art.

The article discusses the features of the approach of Chinese composers of the 20th century, who created works for the violin, which reflected the general trends in the development of the Chinese musical culture of this period. The fundamentals of the method of composition, which consists in combining elements of traditional Chinese professional music, regional folklore and European composing technique, are outlined.

The study provides a brief overview of violin works, which reflect the historically formed traditions of Chinese instrumental music, the features of regional folklore and the new things that Chinese composers were able to learn when studying the European classical violin repertoire. The applied method, which includes the combination of national style with a variety of compositional and performing techniques typical of European music, is analyzed in detail on the example of the suite for violin and piano "Tibetan Poem" by Ma Sicong.

As a result of the study of works for violin by Chinese composers of the 20th century the author came to the conclusion about the significant influence on them of the folklore of various regions, court and opera music of China. Another important distinguishing feature of Chinese violin music is the combination of local traditions and the principles of European composition, which made it possible to form its unique national composing and performing styles.

The article examines the works of S. V. Rachmaninoff of major genres, created at the end of the XIX – beginning of the XX century. For the analysis, the works united by the idea of Retribution, which is relevant for the designated time, were selected. The author uses the method of comparative as well as complex analysis, identifying common and special features of the First Symphony, the cantata "Spring", the opera "Francesca da Rimini". The method of analysis used shows the commonality of the principles of organization of the musical fabric in the conditions of individuality of the poetics of musical genres.

The issues of improving legal regulation and updating the conceptual apparatus of the sphere of folk arts and crafts in the context of the development of creative industries in Russia and the implementation of state policy for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage are considered.

The current practical approach to folk art crafts as a predominantly sphere of economic activity is critically comprehended. The necessity of revising the content of the concept of "folk arts and crafts" in relation to the creative industries is substantiated. The author argues for the selection of species that are predominantly industrial in nature, and species based on artistic creativity itself in the creation of works of folk arts and crafts as carriers of traditional spiritual and moral values. It is proposed to apply to it the full scope of copyright legislation and measures of state support for the preservation, revival and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.

The article deals with the gestural system, which is an important component of the visual arts contributing to the creation of an artistic image. As painting and drawing developed, the aggregate of gestures evolved into a functional and transforming sign system. Depiction of gesture has served artists as an effective compositional tool since antiquity. Nevertheless, the theoretical research of this tool began only in the Renaissance, mainly within the framework of treatises written by some painters. The study of the gestural system structure, role and functions has been unsystematic and very limited for centuries. The process of researching issues related to the problem of gesture in art received a tangible impetus only in the second half of the 20th century. The article discusses several gestures used when creating a composition by the authors of paintings of a particular subject. An attempt is made to systematize the studied gestures in general, as well as to interpret their meanings.

Methodologically, the article is based on a comprehensive art analysis and textual analysis with a special emphasis on the examination of the visual representation of gesture.

The conclusion based on the results of the study of the selected materials contains two provisions. Firstly, the scale and depth of modern research in the field of the gesture system in the visual arts seem insufficient. Secondly, taking into account modern tasks and requirements of art studies, it is necessary to intensify the research of the system's sign nature.

This article examines an essay by the greatest Greek poet of the twentieth century, Odysseas Elytis, The Divisor K in Modern Painting. The essay refers to the type of imaginary museum accompanied by a curatorial text. Elytis highlights and justifies the metaphysical line in the development of art, which he draws from the hieratic art of ancient civilizations and contrasts it with the procedural line in art, to which he includes both representational and non-representational art of inner experience. Elytis does not use any special terminology, but only generates a phenomenology of affects that distinguishes the metaphysical art he likes from the procedural art.

A number of methodological tools are involved to reconstruct Elytis's position. First, his thought belongs to a specific post-Byzantine tradition in which the argument is constructed not as a constitution but as an arc of demonstrative persuasion, with elements of iconicity. Second, the movement of his thought largely reproduces the principles of Grounded theory in sociology, where the application of qualitative methods at all stages calls for the displacement of concepts with images. Third, Elytis, who was familiar with French speculative thought and psychoanalysis in the first half of the twentieth century, carries out operations comparable to those of Lacan and his followers as well as to the post-structuralist understanding of seduction.

The application of such tools has made clear the conception of Elytis's imaginary museum. First of all, Elytis combines the notion of the imaginary from French theory with a depiction of the museum as a house, a building, a structure, as opposed to a laboratory, that is, he applies an institutional critique. Further, Elytis treats the subjects of modernist art not as a deformation and transformation of reality in art, but as a search for equivalents, thereby bringing together the norm of Orthodox iconography as a direct representation of the otherness and the norm of the Paris studio (like Picasso's studio) as a constant fabrication in different techniques of equivalents of the artist's experience, the relentless production of correspondences to the artist's experience in different materials. Finally, Elytis applies a mathematical code that can construct the unity of the artistic process of the modernist era - and this version of unity may well be in demand by contemporary art history and art criticism as well.

The subject of this article is the Chinese-born American architect Yo Ming Pei's the creative programme. It is believed that in the unique objects of Pei, which were built in China in the 1980–2010s, a full-fledged synthesis of architectural forming authentic Chinese and Western modernist principles was carried out for the first time. The aim of this article is to reveal the problems of this synthesis in the Maestro work.

Pei's creative programme as an interplay of professional and attitudinal factors is reconstructed using examples of Chinese objects through cultural-historical, artistic-stylistic, semiotic and formal-stylistic analysis, as well as through the systematisation of professional criticism and scholarly research.

In the process of achieving the aim, the following conclusions were drawn. Firstly, the conclusion about the formation of a consolidated viewpoint on the compatibility of orientations and values of Western modernism and the Chinese architecture unshakable traditions, which, in turn, are elevated to the paradigms of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism. Secondly, the conclusion of the four main factors the interrelationship in Pei's creative programme. Thirdly, the conclusion about the stylistic synthesis of national and international traditions of formation as a neo-romantic adaptation of modernism in China in the XXI century.

This article investigates the evolution of the depiction of Annunciation in the works by Titian. It studies the evolution of this subject matter which occupied a large span of time in the course of fifty years. It was shown which concerns played a crucial role by the choice of the iconographical scheme in the pictorial treatment of this subject.

The method of the iconographical research as well as the one of the stylistic analyses were chosen as the basic methods of scientific investigation. They helped to find out which works of Italian Renaissance art were instrumental in the process of formation of Titian's ideas as the main sources of inspiration. Besides, the use of these methods contributes to consider the style of the artwork analyzed.

The main findings of this article consist in the fact that the new scientific data were obtained on what kind of artworks of the Renaissance artists influenced the treatment of religious iconography in Titian's paintings and in which way this influence was perceived and transformed by him.

Research on the history of the medieval theater has been quite intensive in recent years, as evidenced by a number of recent monographs. Spectacle culture, both ecclesiastical and secular, is of interest in relation to the origins of European professional theater and the study of the social life of that time.

The active participation in such productions of the character of Mary Magdalene, the interest in which also does not decrease, especially in European studies, makes it possible to understand many of the processes characteristic of the areal spectacle by the example of the embodiment of her stage image. The surviving comments on the scenarios of urban mysteries and liturgical dramas, as well as the features of such actions reflected in the works of fine art, shed light on the specifics of the medieval worldview.

The article establishes the relationship and mutual influence of the staging of a religious drama and the compositional organization of the altar image on the example of the character of Mary Magdalene.

The article presents an analysis of some aspects of the activities of the heroes of "Kalevala", the hero Väinämöinen and the "son of the glade" Sampsa Pellervoinen from the standpoint of assessing the plausibility of the events described in this epic. An analogy is drawn between the Karelian runes and Russian legends about Ilya Muromets, based on the identity of the archeological finds at the site of the destroyed Murom Monastery (Lake Onega) and the artifacts of the Volosovskaya and Panfilovskaya sites located in the vicinity of Murom. Materials are considered that testify to the residence of giants in the northwestern Ladoga and White Sea regions.

Historical descriptions of the "Valit Stone" and an analysis of the variants of the origin of the surname "Valit" are given, as well as excerpts from the diaries of Arab historians Akhmer Ibn-Faldan and Abu Hamid Andalusi, who visited Volga Bulgaria in the 11th century.

This text continues the previous article [3, 4, 5], which deals with the issue of typology of art and characterizes the circumstances of the canonical conventions of the Middle Ages in the form of a metamorpheme, the New Age — an anthropomorpheme, a number of phenomena of the twentieth century — the subject of the canon. Morph and morpheme, as previous models of the Image of the World, turn either into a folklore tradition, or become subordinate taxonomic elements of new artistic and figurative systems. The metamorpheme is established from the period of the Abrahamic idea of monotheism, also monism and the Image of the World, which is recognized as the One not in authentic numerous and independent models, but as a common foundation of being that unites all peoples. In monotheism and monism, the idea of a plurality of mythological worlds is abolished, and the image of the referent changes accordingly — in one case it becomes the Personality of the Creator, and in the other, it becomes an extra-personal, extra-spatial and timeless "substance", defined in Buddhism by the category "nirvana". The former canonical structures do not disappear, but they are subordinated to the new laws of the objective and subject content of the Image of the World. The definition of the metamorpheme of the Middle Ages since the New Age corresponds to the modality — "anthropomorpheme" as the scientic center of the World View - a predicate in which a person is recognized as its intellectual center. In the future, this figurative line in the 20th century forms the basis of another modality — the "subject-canon", as a result of a daring attempt at the subconscious construction of the Image of the World, which now corresponds to the paradigmatic model of its presentation. Today, all canonical forms are present in the world artistic culture.

The article raises the question of the place of art faculties in the system of modern education in the field of art in classical universities on the example of the Faculty of Arts of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The principles of modern art history education (integrativity, synthetics, interdisciplinarity, following traditions) are objectified and formulated; the role and importance of art education for preserving and strengthening the historical unity of society is substantiated.

The author is based on the methodology of historical analysis of the stylistic and creative aspirations of several generations of students, the influence of destructive forms and forms of vandalism, as well as on the methodology of art criticism analysis of modern forms of aesthetic extremism in various types of art, in particular, in fine art.

The author comes to the conclusion that classical universities translate the culture of society into the culture of the individual. The innovative model presented in the article, based on the idea of systematic knowledge about art, opens up a powerful potential for the development and improvement of education in the field of art and meets the modern needs of the younger generation.

This article deals with the most significant aesthetic concepts and theoretical research in the field of art sciences developed during the first half of the XIX century by graduates and professors of the Imperial Moscow University. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce to those representatives of Moscow university scientific environment whose research actually laid the foundations of the national art science and aesthetics. This article pays attention only to the most significant representatives in the scientific sense and significant in the context of subsequent research.

During the first half of the XIX century Russian aesthetic thought followed the line of Western European concepts and theories. First of all it is about French classicism and its main follower at the Moscow University A.F. Merzlyakov. Since the 10s, at Imperial Moscow University the romantic theory of art and the "philosophy of identity" by Friedrich Schelling, a representative of German idealism, have been gaining popularity. Russian Schellingianism and Russian Romanticism in the person of such representatives as D.V. Venevitinov, N.I. Nadezhdin, S.P. Shevyrev have become the main source of reasoning about the nature of art and the essence of creativity for several decades. It is within the boundaries of the Romantic-Schellingian tradition that the idea of the specificity of Russian aesthetics path begins to form. The main method on the basis of which the national science of art begins to form is proclaimed the "historical method" (S.P. Shevyrev), and at the same time a gradual rejection of the theoretical and speculative idealistic approach begins.

Immersive theatre is a genre that in recent years has been gaining more and more attention from both creative teams and the public. This innovative form of theatre challenges traditional views on performance, offering viewers a unique, vivid experience.

Based on historical and modern examples, in this article we consider various social, cultural and historical aspects and events that have shaped immersive theatre in its modern form. We also study the main provisions put forward by the ideologists of the direction to give an idea of the evolution of immersive theatre and identify the key factors that contributed to its success as a dynamic and innovative form of modern theatre.

The article also examines the trends of immersive theatre, including the integration of new technologies, interdisciplinary cooperation and the creation of performances affecting pressing social and political issues.

The purpose of this article is to analyze immersive theatre in the context of artistic culture, study its history, trace the stages of development and determine prospects.

The article analyzes «Jardin Infinito», a one-at ballet by Nacho Duato, staged in 2010 at the Compania National de danza in honor of Chekhov's 150th anniversary, in the context of the figurative connection with the primary source beyond the plot and expression of Russian culture features. The concept of the ballet is outlined the musical and set design foundations, the features of choreographic structures, and the artistic methods are analyzed under the influence of postmodern aesthetics and in relation to the сhoreographer's personal style. It is noted that Duato identifies Russian culture through the deconstruction of the artistic world of Chekhov, combining semantic, sound and visual allusions, regarding existential issues and the problem of creativity. Direct connection with Chekhov is realized in the musical design through the reference to his notebooks and diaries, using plastic metaphors associated with the sounding text, and more specific allusions to the images of Chekhov's plays, and with number of audio and visual techniques. It is also specified that Duato goes beyond the limits of the Chekhov universe, emphasizing the imagery of the Russian language through the symbolization of the text by staging techniques. In conclusion, the author notes that the problem of the relevance of the Russianness, highlighted by Duato both in the characters and verbal text, and in the ideological understanding of the play, remains controversial, and gives several arguments in support of his opinion.

The problem stated in the scientific article is an issue in the philosophy and psychology of art and is part of the general reasoning about creative thinking in the history of culture. Nevertheless, it reserves the obvious fact of its insufficient elaboration in the field of choreographic art, as well as in the system of dance activity at different stages of cultural and historical time.

The author believes that the task of the anthropological vector of the study of the language of physicality and thinking in dance is not similar to the traditional art criticism analysis. It is solved in completely different ways. The article is based on the methodology of cultural-historical and art criticism analysis of generally accepted scientific definitions and concepts of choreographic art, but builds a new vector in dealing with them.

The author comes to the conclusion that the basis for understanding the subject of choreography is thinking and its connection with the language of physicality in dance. In this regard, anthropological interpretations are another meaning of the quality of choreographic knowledge, which, firstly, allows us to reveal the methodological potential of the Russian school of art criticism from the perspective of modern multifunctional discourse. It is a kind of search for a balance between the physical, mental and sensual components in the language of physicality. Secondly, it allows us to bring to the identification of the specifics of the spatio-temporal organization of dance and to define this connection with thinking as an informative (polysemantic and architectonic) field of ability.

The article is aimed to reveal the cultural context of a key scene in one of the paintings of Vladimir Mayakovsky's play "The Bug" ("Klop"), written in 1928. As a result of analyze the text of this scene, which is a satirical stylization of one of the stanzas of M.I. Ozhegov's popular romance at that time, and the corresponding musical fragment from the music created by Dmitry Shostakovich for the play, it was revealed that not only the poet used the words of M.I. Ozhegov, but also the composer borrowed the melody of the romance of this peasant songwriter.

The article considers the sea theme as an integral part of the cultural core that defines the features of artistic images by Iraida R. Yusupova, one of the leading representatives of the Moscow school of composition at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. The relationship between the verbally expressed constant foundations of culture and various forms of their realization in the chamber-instrumental works by I. Yusupova (cantatas "And there is no sea anymore, or a new journey of sound" based on the poems of A. Vvedensky, 1998; "Stella Maris" for choir, organ, piano, string group, 2016; "Stella Maris. Prayer of the Sailors" for voice and ensemble, 2017). It is proven that in the cantata "There is no sea anymore, or a new journey of sound", the concept of the sea acquires new semantic shades due to the accentuation of the theme of time in the composition (the introduction of the sound of a working metronome, the voicing of a digital code). Based on the analysis of the cantatas "Stella Maris" and "Stella Maris. Prayer of the Sailors" it is concluded that the axiological significance of the sea theme in the musical texts of the compositions is enhanced by the conceptual convergence of natural and sacred images (the starfish and the Virgin Mary). The author defines compositional techniques that contribute to the creation of spatial sensations (the "echo" technique), the transmission of the dynamics of seascapes (sound-like undulating continuous swings and declines in the piano part, etc.). It is concluded that the range of images associated with marine themes should be attributed to the global concept of "Man-Nature", which is one of the leaders in Yusupova's work. It combines numerous semantic and figurative variants ("Earthly Nature – Heavenly", "Earthly World – Universe"), and also has a variable development in dichotomous images ("Bird in a cage – Bird at liberty", "Calm Sea – Sea storm".).

The article deals with new objectivity and the item world as viewed by artists. The reader is shown semiotic properties and role of things in the painting of the Weimar Republic created by the artists, whose belonging to new objectivity does speak for itself about the attitude towards the image of things and the interpretation of the physic world. The article consistently examines portraits and stilllifes by O. Dix, G. Gross, G. Scholz, M. Beckmann, K. Schad, A. Kanold and others. That is, paintings in which an inanimate object of the visible world is used as a means of realistic depiction of reality, an attribute or symbolic element, and also as a quotation that reveals the meaning of the image through an appeal to traditional images of the art of old masters. In the course of examining these painting the author identifies several basic principles of the attitude towards things throughout the history of its existence and their transformation in the works of the interwar era. In conclusion the author notes that after the revolutionary changes in depicting the visible world, perfected by avant-garde art, the new objectivity, returning things to their material essence, and regards this process to be its own new meanings, only emphasizing the metaphysical nature of a human's relationship with reality.

This article focuses on Productivism — a key point in the process of collision and convergence of different artistic styles in 1920s Russia — and examines how artistic styles participated in the formation of socialist artistic styles at different levels. Productivism dissolved the barrier between art and the system focuses on and allowed for avant-garde and Bolshevik visions of the future society as a whole, at the level of reality.

Within the theoretical framework of Total art, production became the highest common denominator, embodying the shared vision and modernizing imagination of a country or even an entire society with regard to the future. This approach allows us to observe the profound interplay of various forces and factors, while maintaining a sufficient distance and vigilance towards a developmental and teleological view of history.

The research conducted in this article shows that from a social perspective, the overall landscape of socialist art formation is not monopolized by politics, and that various heterogeneous elements meet and combine within a broader socialist culture.

The research object within the framework of this article is the works of easel and monumental painting by Minas Avetisyan. The subject of the research is the artistic construction regularities of plots, themes, images of this painting in specific spatial, linear-rhythmic and light-tonal peculiarities. The aim is to determine the formal and substantive essence of Avetisyan's style in the circumstances of its formation and impact on his contemporaries, which continues to this day. In the formation of the style, the influence of the medieval frescoes and manuscripts traditions and Martiros Saryan's personal innovations, in which the fascination with French Fauvism was sublimated, is emphasised. It follows the traditions traditions and the innovations that the artist's evolution is traced, as well as the expression metamorphosis of patriotic, religious and philosophical themes in Armenian painting in the 20th century.

The comparison of the images on differently dated paintings is carried out in the methodology of semantic and formal-compositional analysis. As a comparison result, it is concluded that Minas Avetisyan's style is characterised by the modelling of simplified, expressively stylised forms in sharp light-tonal contrasts, saturated with epic drama <...>. First and foremost, it demonstrates national world-understanding stable priorities; secondly, of the supranational humanistic world-understanding. It is shown that Avetisyan's exceptional aesthetic sensitivity and outstanding scale of personality allowed him to organically combine the former and the latter, to become a kind of guide-educator for a multitude of inquisitive, truth-seeking viewers, to contribute to the fact that the various arts of Armenia are recognised almost immediately all over the world, and are perceived as an integral iconographic and symbolic-associative phenomenon.

The article explores the history of the formation and development of the cultural heritage monument with regional significance known as "Fili-Kuntsevo Estate", as well as the adjacent formal and landscape garden territories and former homesteads. The publication touches upon the history of the owners of "Fili-Kuntsevo Estate", of the period from the late 17th century to up to 1917. The article also explores the history of the park and the main estate house in the Soviet period, as well as their modern-day condition. The material provides a description of the architectural and landscape and garden ensemble of the Naryshkin estate through different years. Today, the estate building, two outbuildings and the adjacent upper and lower parks with partially preserved staircases, alleys and ponds, are all part of the territory of Fili Park. The article also describes the history and current state of the Moscow city districts "Kuntsevo", "Fili-Davydkovo" and "Filyovsky Park".

Starting from 1689–1690, the territories of the former villages of Kuntsevo (Znamenskoye) and Fili (Pokrovskoye), mentioned in the article, came into possesion of the noble family of Naryshkins, relatives of Tsar Peter I. From the first half of the 18th century, the overall appearance of the Kuntsevo estate and the backyard park began to gradually take shape, its development continuing into the beginning of the 20th century. In 1960, the described territories became part of Moscow. Nowadays, a number of architectural monuments of particular historical importance for Moscow have been preserved in the central area of the park. The material presented in the article allows to study in more detail the history of the 18th century estate near Moscow, viewing it as an example of cultural, historical and architectural monuments, including examples of Russian classicism, Empire style, Naryshkin style (Naryshkin baroque) and Neo-Byzantine style.

The article analyzes the functions of fine art. A brief overview of such functions described in the works of various authors is presented. It is postulated that a historical approach is necessary in the study of the functions of art. It is impossible to make a list of art functions relevant for all times. The functions of art together constitute a complex hierarchical system. As in any such system, the action of system-wide patterns is manifested here. One of such regularities is that the development of systemic inversions is possible in this hierarchy. System inversion is a form of relations in a system in which some lower, subordinate element acquires a dominant value in it, while remaining in its former, lower hierarchical position. This is exactly what happens and has happened with the functions of art as historical development progresses. The resolution of system inversions leads to the fact that the previously subordinate function of art is able to really lead the hierarchy. It is also noted that the hierarchy of fine art functions is an open system that must be considered in a general cultural context. As historical development progressed, fine art gave its actual functions to other spheres of human activity, while still retaining these functions for itself. For example, the communicative and informational functions of fine art were transferred to writing, but they were preserved in their original version, however, only as auxiliary. The mimetic function (copying reality) has passed from fine art to photography, but it has also been preserved by fine art. Currently, the leading functions of fine art remain aesthetic and individualizing functions.

The article is devoted to the study of an outstanding example of the Russian artistic avant-garde, a two-sided painting, created by Ivan Kudryashov during his studies in the workshop of Kazimir Malevich in 2nd State Free Art Workshops. The circumstances of its creation are revealed. The entire process of the avant-garde artist's design work on a specific piece is traced, its dating is clarified. In various museum collections in Russia and abroad, blocks of drawings that are directly related to both compositions of a two-sided painting are identified and systematized. The features of Kazimir Malevich's pedagogy aimed at the experimental activity of apprentices are commented on.

Among the gospel stories, the episode with the appearance of the resurrected Christ to Mary Magdalene took a special place, first in the liturgy, and then, in a logical manner, in the complex of accompanying artistic phenomena, which could be groupped under the concept of "the Bible for the illiterate". This exciting scene is found in narrative cycles in the temple scenery, staged in productions of liturgical dramas and urban mysteries, and with the development of easel painting it stands out as a separate plot, which received the Latin name "Noli me tangere" (Don't touch me!).

In Northern Renaissance painting, the iconography of the subject was enriched by a number of features that were consolidated and developed in the art of the 16th–17th centuries. In some works these features were expressed in unexpected forms.

This article presents the characteristic features of the visual interpretation of the plot "Noli me tangere", in particular the interpretation, of the images of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ in Netherlandish painting of the 15th–17th centuries, based on the regional traditions of Germany and the Netherlands.

This article presents an overview of the most significant facts and factors in the life and work of Nikolai Vladimirovich Stankevich – a Russian writer, philosopher, researcher, who managed to impress his contemporaries with the spiritual strength of his personality, moral purity, integrity of worldview and creative energy. He left a rich epistolary legacy, which allows us to see the intellectual history of Russia in the first half of the nineteenth century. The article presents the concept of the atmosphere in the Moscow Stankevich circle, which included prominent people of Russian culture of the nineteenth century: Annenkov, Belinsky, Herzen, Granovsky, Dobrolyubov, Ogarev, etc., which became a kind of "clot of cultural and historical air, which formed the essence of the "people of the forties" (G.S. Knabe).

The article focuses on the main categories in considering Stankevich's reflections a connoisseur of art and the metaphysics of music in his work: inner voice, perception of music, sound, melodism, rhythm, intonation, opera, theater, musical enlightenment, etc. The creative atmosphere created by Stankevich in the circle, his worldview, his philosophizing about art, literature and music and today, in the 21st century, in Russia, when the process of comprehending the creative activity of Russian "visionaries" is underway, these are important semantic milestones in the study of Russian culture and art. The inclusion of this dynamic process of perception of art by "high–grade amateurs" in the 19th century is an important milestone in the overall picture, as the origins of the formation and development of Russian spiritual culture and science.

Stankevich's experience, which has become a unique practice of forming a specific person's consciousness, worldview, and perception of art, is a new, little–studied phenomenon that stimulates research interest and opens up the possibilities of comparative methodology. Awareness of such a phenomenon makes it possible to clarify and detail general patterns in the development of scientific understanding of the significance of his work in Russian humanitarian thought in history, philosophy, cultural studies and musicology.

The article focuses on the aesthetic category of the ugly in art and discusses its evolution. In particular, key issues concerning the category are being investigated: distinguishing between the concepts "disformed", "ugly" and "disgusting"; analysing the correlations between the category under discussion and the category of beauty; describing the existing category criteria. The review analyses the state of the category in every epoch successively, from the Ancient times to the current state. Moreover, it singles out the major features used to identify the category. The results of the analysis reveal the growing popularity of the category in modern and contemporary art. In conclusion, the authors propose several research issues for further investigation.

The article attempts to reconstruct Pushkin's understanding of the phenomenon of creativity. This phenomenon is analyzed using the method of culturalogical reconstruction. From this perspective, the phenomenon of creativity is seen through the prism of the coordinates of the poet's spiritual world, including: 1) the dichotomy of the profane and sacred principles; 2) the dichotomy of light and dark plans of life and destiny; 3) the ratio of domestic and borrowed narratives; 4) the dichotomy of earthly love and heavenly love. It is shown that A.S. Pushkin is aware that creativity has a certain onto-epistemological and ethical-aesthetic structure that is relevant to the original creative impulses. It is also concluded that the search for the "image of the Whole" crowns the entire creative process, which thematically extends from the relationship between God and man — to creativity itself.

The present paper means to highlight the charitable activitiy of an outstanding Russian singer of the early 19th–20th centuries activity of Leonida Sobinov, an outstanding Russian singerin the help of students of Imperial Moscow University. The article is based on archival documents from Foundation No. 864 of The Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Indeed, for many years the outstanding Russian singer give regular concerts to donate the money to low-income students, however this Sobinov's activity remains without due attention. The author is based on the methodology of historical analysis as well as on the methodology of art criticism analysis of the archival documents related to the charitable activity of Sobinov.

This article describes the transformation of modern culture under the influence of new technologies. Digitalization penetrates into absolutely all sectors of society. In this regard, the authors analyze the role of blockchain technology in the formation of modern culture, considering its use in the field of art. This technology allows not only to preserve and distribute works of traditional art, but also initiates the birth of new forms of artistic creativity (crypto art, NFT art), changing the artistic landscape and our perception of art. The article argues that with a huge variety of cultures, the exchange of cultural codes between peoples can be accessible and unbiased and serve to enrich common knowledge and experience through blockchain technology. It is able to make the activities of any cultural sector safe and transparent, since it excludes an intermediary between the participants. The authors show the possibilities of blockchain technology to contribute to the preservation of copyrights for all types of assets, including information objects of culture and works of art. Moreover, the blockchain works on the basis of the logic and rules inherent in it initially, which excludes human participation, therefore, the advantages of this technology are decentralization, transparency, security and anonymity. The real revolution in the creative industry was caused by the emergence of NFT (non-renewable token) technology, which offered a completely innovative approach to recognizing the value and ownership of a cultural object, since NFT can be almost any digital file recorded using smart contracts in blockchains. This provides the users with transparency, allows for studying the history of ownership of an art object and find out the real author. Thus, each author can confirm the authenticity and uniqueness of their work, be it a musical composition, digital painting or any other art object. In addition, NFT ensures the accessibility of art, as well as the opportunity to be a co-owner of creativity by buying only part of it. The authors conclude that today it is not necessary to determine the primacy of one of the colliding cultural worlds — traditional and NFT art. The actual problem of the art world of the 21st century is to realize and accept this new experience.

The article outlines scientific methods and approaches to studying traditional Chinese cabinet-making, as this sphere of knowledge is definitely lacking in well-grounded ways of interpreting, classifying, and restoring the pieces of furniture being part of cultural. Furniture from the Southwest region of China is selected to be the material for this research. The studies of this aspect are limited by the typological characteristics of the period when the subject-spatial environment was formed by co-natural factors. At the early stages of history the cabinet-maker's attempts at forming the subject-spatial environment were predetermined by natural conditions. These conditions were imposed by the actual state of technology and the existing manual equipment. At the same time, the world picture concerning the cosmic universe organization functioned as another limitation.

The peculiarity of Chinese art and its scientific presentation is bound by a unique historical periodization system, which differs from the one used in Western Europe. The Chinese periodical scale is based on dynastic distribution. In addition, Chinese art theory is greatly influenced by ancestral authentic roots of the culture, as well as history, philosophy and religious provisions of Buddhism. In this regard, a well-organised approach is required to further investigate the ideological grounds of the Chinese artistic and cultural paradigm. More specifically, the principles underlying form design are to be revealed and described, which are bound by the environmental conditions and related householding, on the one hand, and the paradigms of "traditional art" and "folk art", on the other. It is important to evaluate the level of their identity.

The aforementioned criteria persist today due to the stable cultural and archetypal mentality, which is supposed to contribute to studying the subject-spatial environment.

The article examines the problems of stage reality and acting skills as the main factors in the formation of theatrical aesthetics and the creation of conditions for a dialogue of cultures. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the dualism of the sacred and playful nature of theatrical art is considered the basis of the cultural dialogue between traditional and modern Japanese theatre. The paper analyses the features of stage reality and the techniques of acting.

Since the object of the study is acting within the framework of stage reality, special attention is paid to the technical aspects and techniques of Kabuki theater acting in comparison with the traditional Japanese Noh theatre. This leads us to the topic of dualism between two theatrical paradigms, namely: theatre as a sacred, ritual action and theatre as entertainment, show, performance.

The research is based on the methodology of complex textual and art criticism analysis, which allows for a deeper examination of the importance and place that tradition plays in the process of forming theatrical aesthetics of the Japanese theatre. The basis for the empirical material of this work was the practical experience of the author as an actor, director, teacher of acting and plastic arts in theaters in Russia and Japan.

This article deals with the issue of cross-cultural exchange in the field of theatrical art between the West and the East in the mid-20th century on the example of the theatrical dialogue between V.E. Meyerhold and Mei Lanfang. The author analyses the influence of traditional theatrical techniques of Chinese theatre on the Russian stage culture of the Silver Age.

The article is based on a comparative analysis of key aspects in theatrical art of the 20th century: the problem of conventional theatre and symbolism, Meyerhold's biomechanics and the "four skills and five methods" used in training Chinese actors, the typology of roles and the formation of the artistic image, pre-game techniques and other theatrical techniques that became part of the dramatic dialogue between W.E. Meyerhold and Mei Lanfang. These two personalities embodied two traditions; the starting point of their intercultural dialogue was Lanfang's visit to the USSR.

This article focuses on the processuality and incompleteness of this intercultural dialogue, on the interpenetration and co-action of key ideas of Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, embodied in the transformation and formation of Meyerhold's creative genius.

The article reveals the spatial cultural code of a collective theatrical festival — the Venetian carnival. Based on the analysis of carnival events, considered as the actualization of proxemic subcodes, three dominant spatial dimensions are identified: water (horizontal), celestial (vertical) and geographical with a predominant eastern vector. In the celestial subcode, the descending vector prevails, which is divided into three semiotic spheres: sacred, value-normative, institutional-historical. Thus, it is the celestial space that has a special potential to generate a spatial code and is the spatial dominant of the holiday.

Chinese oil painting is an interpretation of the Chinese concept of "mood" expressed using the Western style techniques. Visual means of Western art are exploited in Chinese oil painting to show the worldview of the Chinese people. In the paintings interpreting the role of Chinese traditional opera the artist strives to reflect the inner world of the characters and reveal the dramatic beauty of their image. In the article the author analyses the works of the following Chinese artists: Li Hongbin, Jiang Yingjiu, Liu Wenjin, Deng Mingli, Lin Fengmian and Liu Mengdi. As a result, the author reveals different approaches to depicting some of the main roles of the Beijing opera: male characters "sheng" and female characters 'dan". Although the artists' depictions of characters in theatrical productions normally presuppose depicting people, Chinese works do not follow this trend (as opposed to the Western ones). Chinese artists create an ideal image of a dramatic character rather than portraying a specific personality. Such an image is intended to demonstrate the canonical character; thus, the character's appearance has to be exaggerated. The researcher uses such scientific methods as formal stylistic analysis, iconographic analysis, and systematization. As a result of the research, the author identifies both general trends and individual features in representing the images of the characters of the Beijing opera in Chinese oil paintings. The aforementioned artists are presumed to be inspired by the canonical characters and images of the characters, but undertake different ways to create them in their works.

The article is devoted to the modern Chinese national opera "The Ballad of the Canal". This opera is recognized throughout the world as an outstanding sample of Chinese opera music, incorporating both the centuries-old heritage of traditional Chinese music and numerous achievements of Chinese opera of the 20th century. At the same time, during its creation many new techniques and elements were used, which has infrequently been exploited in Chinese opera before. The composers based the plot on an ancient Chinese legend, the action of which takes place on a ship sailing along the Grand Canal having connected several provinces of China for many centuries. This choice made it possible to show culture, traditions and life of people in ancient China, as well as to maintain an action consisting of several intertwining storylines filled with romantic feelings and vivid emotions. Moreover, it allows for presenting a modern interpretation of legends, folk tales and historical facts.

In this article, the opera "The Ballad of the Canal" is used to study the development of Chinese national opera. For this purpose the analysis of its musical characteristics has been carried out in four main aspects: musical language, theme, instrumentation and vocals. All the main elements of the opera — music, performance, drama, character and artistic features — have a pronounced national flavour and at the same time are novel. This is achieved by combining elements of traditional Chinese opera and Western music techniques.

Compared with earlier musical works, the opera "The Ballad of the Canal" has undergone significant changes and innovations in terms of music composition, choir arrangement and instrumental configuration, which contributes to the development of Chinese national opera in general.

The article examines Glinka's creative perception of the achievements of Italian romantic opera of the 1810–1830s. The significance of Glinka's stay in Italy and the perception of the operas of Bellini and Donizetti in communication with the authors and performers is noted.

Most of the operas of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti are analysed, the patterns of their dramaturgy and structure are noted. The most important for Glinka were introductions and finales, as well as the traditional form (solita forma) of solo numbers. The use of the canon-cantabile before the stretta in the finales of Act 1 is emphasised. The use of Italian principles is shown in Vanya's scene from "A Life for the Tsar" and in three arias of "Ruslan". Glinka found new opportunities in the use of reminiscences.

Italian traditions became an important support for Glinka, which helped the composer build the grandiose buildings of his two innovative operas.

The article attempts to assess the current state of the singing component of worship. Attention is focused on the centrifugal and centripetal tendencies of the dynamics of stylistic tendencies in composers’ creativity for the church, as well as the presence of a cyclical pattern. The events that initiated a significant increase in the number of authors writing chants for church choirs are indicated; a transition from the quantitative accumulation of the 2000s to a selective attitude to the liturgical repertoire and the quality of the created music, its stylistic correspondence to the church singing canon is observed. The relevance of the problem of mastering a special singing manner in the choir and performing interpretation in concelebration with the altar, discussed in the regent-singing environment and brought to the rostrum of international congresses held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, is noted. The article touches upon the technology of creating new repertoire units for a church choir by following certain musical-poetic, figurative-thematic, syntactic, constructive, textural, lexical, performing and other cliches, as well as choosing a certain stylistic model, following which composers do not risk going beyond the “style of direction” and avoid secularization.

The factors contributing to the renewal of the corpus of church hymns have been identified, among which the most important is the ongoing process of creating new liturgical texts in the post-Soviet era, as well as significant signs of the localization of tradition, when sometimes it turns out to be better preserved in the Orthodox diaspora of distant countries than in Russia. The destructive trends of the 2020s, observed during the lockdown and post-Covid period, which have not been overcome to this day, are outlined. The significance of the subjective factor in the formation of the musical component of the daily service and, as a result, its significant difference even within one region is not excluded.

The article is dedicated to Fyodor Ivanovich Bulaev (1818–1897), a professor at Moscow University, a man of extraordinary fortitude who devoted his whole life to the service of science and art.

The author of the Russian grammar textbooks and "Historical Essays on Russian Folk Literature and Art" (1861), F.I. Buslaev acted as a consistent representative of the mythological school in the Russian science. His works were of great importance for the development of comparative historical linguistics, which was repeatedly noted by the linguists in the twentieth century.

Buslaev was a man of the most diverse interests. In addition to philology, he studied ancient Russian iconography, miniatures of facial manuscripts, and ornament.

Being a well-educated man with encyclopedic knowledge in the field of humanities, F.I. Buslaev was one of the first to realize the need for an integrated approach to the study of folk culture, which he clearly demonstrated in his writings. His works combined studies of folklore, linguistics, ethnography, the science of Slavic antiquities, comparative mythology, and art history.

The article provides an overview of the life and scientific path of Moscow University professor Nikolai Ivanovich Nadezhdin, a literary and theatre critic. Special attention is paid to his activities at Moscow University.

In the study a cultural and historical approach is used, which allows for a critical assessment of the contribution made by N.I. Nadezhdin, including his literary and artistic-critical works. Nadezhdin in his literary and critical articles aimed to establish a hierarchy of literary genres. As a literary critic he initially had quite extremely critical views on contemporary literature, though not always was he objective in assessing his contemporaries' works. As a theater critic, Nadezhdin gave feedback to the Moscow staging of the play "Woe from Wit" in 1831. A series of articles concerning theatre was entitled "The Russian Theatre (Letters to St. Petersburg)" and published in 1833 in "Molva" ('rumor'). Four letters have not been signed, but there are serious arguments in favor of Nadezhdin's authorship. Nadezhdin supposed that the main task of contemporary art was to synthesize classicism and romanticism, and thus subjected the neoclassical and neo-romantic manner of acting to a close and rigorous analysis.

This article focuses on two aesthetic schools, which produced the most significant impact on the development of aesthetics in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. During this period in Russia aesthetics was being actively formed based on a national foundation; the tendency to be developed as a separate tradition, different from the Western European one. In this regard, it is usually noted that a heated discussion took place between the Slavophiles and Westerners, who were ideologically opposed. Among such issues were the attitude to national aesthetics and the viewpoint on art theory. Professors and graduates of Imperial Moscow University took an active part in this discussion.

This article proposes to look at the history of Russian aesthetic thought through the prism of two directions: positivism (positive aesthetics) and idealism. Within the framework of this task, an overview mainly of two representatives of both positions is given. On the one hand, the ideas of N.G. Chernyshevsky, set out in his dissertation "Aesthetic relations of art to reality", on the other — the views of V.S. Solovyov, a graduate and associate professor of Moscow University, expressed in several late texts on aesthetics of the late 80s — early 90s of the XIX century. The article used a historical and comparative method.

As a result, the article concludes that, despite a number of externally obvious fundamental ideological differences characterizing both directions, in Russian aesthetic thought one can find examples of their convergence on the basis of the goals and objectives that Russian philosophers set for art as a social practice. The same time, it is concluded that almost all aesthetic trends of the second half of the 19th century were generally critical towards German philosophy idealism, which used to be popular in Russia in the 1820s and 1830s.

This article is about graduates of Moscow University of different years who received a physics and mathematics education and devoted their lives to art.

The article seeks to analyse the contribution made by Moscow State University graduates to the "Italian text" as part of Russian culture. Concerning the concept of toponymic texts, the author argues that the "Italian text" in Russian culture is represented by a variety of connotative meanings that are perceived as a well-formed complex.

Several graduates of Moscow State University (S.P. Shevyrev, F.I. Buslaev, S.V. Flyorov, V.V. Rozanov) have visited Italy at different times and described their impressions in letters, essays, and books, which contributed greatly to the development of the "Italian text". The present study focuses on the experience of B.K. Zaitsev, a graduate from the Faculty of Law, Moscow State, a writer, translator, and public figure, to whom P.P. Muratov dedicated his famous book "Images of Italy".

The author exploits the method of cultural analysis to study the stylistic and creative value of the "texts" added by the Moscow State graduates to the "Italian text". The results of the investigation show that the Florentine essays by B.K. Zaitsev, along with the "Florentine images" by P.P. Muratov, appear to be the best sample of Russian literature devoted to Florence.

The article examines aspects of the development of the artistic and humanitarian direction, which in its scientific and educational basis is largely predetermined by the formation of humanitarian research and the development of historical art history as a fundamental trend at Moscow University, which significantly influenced the formation of educational and scientific traditions in other sectors of heritage, in particular, art and industrial education, the domestic representative of which is the Stroganov School. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that in 2025, two Russian universities, connected historically, mentally, and methodologically, will celebrate their anniversaries. 270 years will be celebrated by the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov (1755), where, along with the medical, philosophical, and legal faculties, art classes were opened in 1756. In them, students were taught drawing, singing, playing the violin and harp, architectural design, acting, and dancing. In 1758, the Academy of the Three Most Noble Arts (architecture, sculpture and painting) was founded on the basis of the art classes of Moscow University. It existed here until 1764, when it was transferred to St. Petersburg.

In 2025, the Stroganov School of Art and Industry will celebrate its 200th anniversary. It grew out of the first Drawing School in Russia, founded by Count S.G. Stroganov (1825) and went all the way to the Imperial Art School (1900); now it is the Russian State University of Art and Industry (2022). Moscow State University and Stroganov are largely connected by the traditions of art history and the humanities, which originate both in the achievements of Moscow University and in the theory of the subject-spatial environment, which was significantly supplemented by materials.

The article outlines the contribution of outstanding graduates of the Imperial Moscow University (IMU), who significantly improved Russian education. Being the intellectual elite, they formed musical and performing arts in Russia due to putting their effort, creativity and organizational skills to these spheres.

The author analyses scientific papers, archival materials and documents concerning the history of IMU of the second half of the 19th century, as well as biography of N.G. Rubinstein, a graduate of the Faculty of Law, IMU, the founder of the Moscow Conservatory and its first director, and biographies of two of his students — pianist K.N. Igumnov and stage director L.V. Baratov, each of whom were at the origins of piano performing and stage directing art in Russia.

The author concludes that N.G. Rubinstein, K.N. Igumnov and L.V. Baratov — graduates of IMU — played a really fundamental role in forming and developing professional music education in Russia, in particular in improving pianistic performing classes and stage directing schools.

The article is devoted to the study of the multifaceted activities of graduates of Imperial Moscow University: playwrights, writers, publishers, actors, singers, directors, who made an outstanding contribution to the development of Russian artistic culture and Russian theater in the middle and second half of the 18th century.

Based on archival data on the history of Moscow University, "Dramatic Dictionary" (1787) and "Dramatic Album" (1850), as well as several editions of the plays written in the second half of the 18th century, the author represents the wide range of roles that graduates of Moscow University played in the history of the Russian stage.

The author uses a complex approach to studying the materials and uses textual, iconographic and art criticism analysis. This allows for an in-depth studying and describing how significant and complex the contribution of university students and graduates was to the development of theatrical business in Russia. Not only playing, singing and staging were their main activities, but also writing and translating for their university theatre. Due to this the development of domestic theatrical art was enhanced; so was writing drama in the Russian language and translating drama into Russian.

The author concludes that outstanding graduates of Moscow University undertook an intense activity in running the university theatre, which contributed greatly to the formation of professional Russian theater, drama and music, and, generally, to Russian education.

The article studies the processes through which modernism was penetrating static Chinese architecture from the second half of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. The process is viewed as a phenomenon foreshadowing the unprecedented economic and cultural leap of the PRC observed in the late 20th century. The study examines two stages of the intensification of modernist trends, which acquired new qualities of development during the socialist period. The first stage (from the second half of the 19th to the early 20th century) is characterized by adopting historicism, eclecticism, and Art Nouveau. These styles were used, on the one hand, to address the urgent problems of early urbanization and, on the other, to synchronize China with the pace of world history. It turned out that images of bygone eras, embodied in the forms of foreign architecture, helped to make sense of China's own present and stimulated the modeling of a promising future.

The second step — the Republican stage (1913–1949) — corresponds to the advancement of the Chinese vector of Eastern Art Deco, driven by both local and foreign architects. Chinese society's conviction in the perfection and completeness of its own architectural art ensured the vital necessity of its systematic renewal. In academic circles, as well as among professionals and general public, the awareness grew of the advisability of introducing Western experience into architectural practice, and the possibility of synthesizing this experience with the unique legacy of authentic Chinese architecture.

In the article, the researcher identified and analyzed in detail the main strategies for working with black colour in St. Petersburg porcelain of the 20th–21st centuries. Porcelain artists actively worked with graphic compositions executed in black. In propaganda porcelain, black was used to write slogans and depict emblems, portraits and decorative elements. It occupied a special place in decorative and fairy-tale compositions.

Sergey Chekhonin created an original version of graphics in porcelain. It has become a source of inspiration for his contemporaries and artists of the following generations. Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Georgy Narbut also introduced the use of black silhouettes in porcelain. In the 1960s, graphics on porcelain and the traditions of the "World of Art" once again became relevant. In porcelain of the late 20th–21st centuries, graphics also took its place in author's items, mass products and "reproduction" works.

The conceptual use of black was characteristic of the avant-garde porcelain. The ideas of the avant-garde were developed in the porcelain of the "Thaw" and in contemporary designer porcelain. Porcelain artists of the 21st century — Inna Olevskaya, Mikhail Sorokin, Julia Zhukova, Sergey Rusakov — learned "suprematist lessons" and conducted a consistent "dialogue with the avant-garde".

The porcelain of the "Thaw" offered a decorative use of black (the use of covering, sgraffito technique, the creation of free pictorial compositions, imitation of the effects of drip glazes, the inclusion of black in landscape paintings). It was actively used to create minimalist paintings in the "modern style" and innovative interpretations of ornaments. Decorative use of black color would be continued in designer porcelain of the late 20th–21st centuries.

The author concluded that work with black in St. Petersburg porcelain was consistent and varied. The stylistic features of working with black were determined by the general character of the aesthetics of porcelain art in different periods, the creative individuality of the artists and technical capabilities.

The Image of The Savior Not Made by Hands has always been considered one of the most revered. The search for means of representation identical to the idea of the concept of not-made-by-hands image is a crucial problem from the perspective of semiotics and art history. It is central to forming approaches to the very topic of art, in order to distinguish the spiritual paths of fine art, the key to which is the phenomenon of the Image of The Savior Not Made by Hands.

Several artistic developments are evident in the iconography and pictorial-plastic tendencies of The Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Rus'. This is due to the complex process of developing canonical rules, historically linked to the development of the dogma surrounding The Image Not Made by Hands. Clarifying this connection is important for understanding the principles of figurativeness and expressiveness in relation to the stylistic distinctiveness of the Russian iconographic tradition as a whole.

An examination of the stylistic and geographical characteristics of several iconographic centers testifies to the artistic specificity and uniqueness of their figurative-plastic content, and opens up possibilities for interpreting the unity and diversity of the figurative-aesthetic features of sensory contemplation. One such center is Rostov, whose iconography is discussed in the present article.

This article continues its examination of the relationship between subject and object of research in art studies. Revisiting ideas about the object within the context of metaknowledge is particularly relevant given the debate about the crisis of art studies, the constant recourse of researchers to a limited number of works, and the creation of an entire “information field” around them, represented by several concentric “zones of distancing” determined by the quantity and quality of intermediate sources of inferential judgments. In “zone A” the primary source is the immediate object (the work), in “zone B” it is replaced by a judgment about the object, in “zone C” an interpretation of the interpretation occurs.

The situation becomes more complicated in comparative studies, when the subject deals with several objects and is forced to use sources located in different qualitative zones of several information fields that overlap each other.

Attention is drawn to the change in research optics as we distance ourselves from the primary source and replace direct study of the object with reliance on information obtained from indirect sources and often distorted.

As a result, the level of verifiability and reproducibility of research is declining to critical levels. Specific examples demonstrate the “loss of fact” and the emergence of pseudoscientific concepts unsupported by scientific knowledge.

The article approach musicology as a type of literature. Distinguishing between three types of basic contacts the word and music might establish, the author focuses on the historical analysis of the third type, which is the description of the semantics and style of musical works in musicological and critical publications. The article shows that the dictionary describing music uses the same concepts and terms as the ‘dictionary’ of visual arts. It is noted that the simultaneous emergence of stylistic movements in both art forms, which are referred to using the same terms, implies that the authors of the works and critics perceived the concepts of avant-garde and modernism, on the one hand, and neoclassicism, on the other, as the embodiment of the spirit of the epoch, which marked the early 20th century.

Acknowledging the difficulties that arise when describing works of musical art in terms of their content and style, the author illustrates the possibilities of developing the content of musical images using the language of science and criticism through the scientific and critical work of the outstanding composer, musicologist, art historian, and teacher Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (1884–1949).

The methodology implied in the analysis relies on the principles of integrative art history, considering the terminological interdisciplinary parallelism of the vocabulary of different types of art in the early 20th century through the lenses of social psychology, philosophy, and semiotics.

The author draws the conclusion that, firstly, the task of imagining the subject of musical content can be solved, apparently, on the basis of the principle of integrativity, which is ensured by the systematic nature of art criticism analysis. Secondly, the systematic approach may be achieved by combining the intersubjective semantic connections of a single object of study — art. Thirdly, the systematic nature of art criticism analysis allows for the identification of at least two main historical universals of art development.