2026.2

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.