A.S. Pushkin’s Works in the Graphics of M.V. Dobuzhinsky

Abstract

The article introduces into scientific discourse, and examines a number of M.V. Dobuzhinsky’s works: it traces the process of working on them, identifies their sources (literary and visual), analyzes the stylistic features and the specifics of the graphic techniques. These tasks are performed within the context of interaction between literature and fine arts. This topic is relevant because M.V. Dobuzhinsky’s illustrations to the stories “Stationmaster” and “Squire’s Daughter”, the play “Covetous Knight”, and the poem “Magnificent City, Poor City...” by A.S. Pushkin are studied as works of fine art for the first time.The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that it introduces an experience of defining the stylistic affiliation of the said works, and reveals a number of their visual sources. The author uses the method of complex analysis, combining the source analysis of M. Dobuzhinsky’s memoirs and his letters, the works of the artist’s contemporaries devoted to the Russian art of the beginning of the 20th century, and the traditional formal analysis of his works in comparison with those of Rembrandt, A. Benois, A. Dürer, F. Tolstoy, Japanese engravings of the 18th — beginning of the 19th century. This allows a significant expansion of existing ideas about visual and literary sources of the artist’s works.The article reveals that Rembrandt’s etching “View of Amsterdam from the Northwest” influenced the artistic solution of the illustration “In the Carriage” for the story “Stationmaster”; Hiroshige’s sheets influenced the illustration “Vyrin at the Entrance of Minsky’s House” for the same story. A. Dürer’s woodcuts influenced the solution of the illustration “Scene 1” for the play “Covetous Knight”; F. Tolstoy’s silhouettes influenced the vignettes and the artistic solution of the illustrations and decorations for the story “Squire’s Daughter”. The article also finds that H.Ch. Andersen’s tales “The Old House” and “The Old Street Lamp” had predetermined M. Dobuzhinsky’s appeal to the story “Stationmaster”, and the graphic solution of St. Petersburg in the picture “View of the St. Petersburg House”. The author concludes that M. Dobuzhinsky’s illustrating of Pushkin’s works was in line with his intense creative experiments: searching for a new solution to the image of St. Petersburg in book graphics, rethinking and “quoting” the masters of the past.