Russia under the 'spell of anglomania' at the turn of the twentieth century

Abstract

This article, which is based on the evidence of Russian periodicals and exhibition catalogues, explores the Russian taste for English art at the turn of the twentieth century. The ‘spell of anglomania’ (the expression of the painter, art critic and art historian Alexander Benois) in Russia at this time can be seen as a clear manifestation of one of the most noteworthy and persistent features of the passion for all things English at different stages of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Russian history: namely, that various characteristics of English art were often used as a metaphor for problems in contemporary Russian artistic life. The article emphasizes the similar paths of development of English and Russian modernism, as well as the surprising parallels between British and Russian art of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Special attention is paid to the popularity of Whistler in Russia and to particular features of Russian and English Impressionism.