Art Periodical Culture in Late Imperial Russia (1898-1917)

Book excerpt: Art Periodical Culture in Late Imperial Russia (1898-1917). Print Modernism in Transition offers a detailed exploration of the major Modernist art periodicals in late imperial Russia, the World of Art (Mir Iskusstva, 1899-1904), The Golden Fleece (Zolotoe runo, 1906-1909) and Apollo (Apollon, 1909-1917). By exploring the role of art reproduction in the nineteenth century and the emergence of these innovative art journals in the turn of the century, Hanna Chuchvaha proves that these Modernist periodicals advanced the Russian graphic arts and reinforced the development of reproduction technologies and the art of printing. Offering a detailed examination of the “inaugural” issues, which included editorial positions expressed in words and images, Hanna Chuchvaha analyses the periodicals’ ideologies and explores journals as art objects appearing in their unique socio-historical context in imperial Russia.