Иконология иллюстраций к книгам Г.В. Голохвастова: Авинов и Добужинский)

Abstract

Russian New York poet Georgy Golokhvastov was one of the key figures in Russian artistic America, specifically of its part focused on the achievements of esoterically colored symbolism. The artistic design of his books was an integral part of the concept of adapting world culture for prestigious consumption. The study for the first time reconstructs the iconological program of illustrations for the poem The ruin of Atlantis (1938), made by Andrey Avinoff, and for the poetic arrangement of The Tale of Igor’s Campaign (1950), belonging to Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (Dobujinsky). The author analyzes in detail the place of these illustrations in the work of artists of the émigré period. The paper proves that Golokhvastov waged an artistic polemic with radical futurism, understanding its technocratic projects as a continuation of symbolist lifebuilding, which deserves a response using esoteric concepts, and that the translation of The Tale of Igor’s Campaign confirmed the symbolist program of the author-demiurge. The research provides an analysis of Avinoff’s artistic legacy, including his promotion of the aesthetics of Russian icons in the United States and his reinterpretation of the heritage of Western symbolism in terms of the twin myth and vertical montage of timeplans. The author argues that both Dobuzhinsky and Avinoff approved of Golokhvastov’s ambition to find a new synthesis of epic and lyric, and consciously placed the culture of opera and ballet scenery at the service of these ambitions.