Russian Genre Painting in the Nineteenth Century by Rosalind P. s> Gray (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 737 also finds time to suggest a correction to Formalistterminology (p. I6o). The connections between Russian intellectualsand Shostakovichare represented diagrammaticallyas quasi-graphs:the verticalcolumn being the years I9I7 to I936 and the horizontal consisting of Shklovskii, Eikhenbaum, Tynianov, Bakhtin,Sollertinskiiand Shostakovichhimself. PartFive, 'The Grotesque', is the longest. After an introductiondevoted to 'definition, structure and content of the grotesque', Sheinberg turns to the satiricalgrotesque where Bulgakovand, particularly,Gogol' are highlighted. This is followed by a review of the grotesqueat the beginning of the twentieth century,richlyillustratedwith (blackand white)picturesby Kustodiev (forhis influence on the opera LadyMacbeth ofMtsensk) and Chagall whose work the author thinksBakhtinand Sollertinskiimust have known (p. 269). Part Six is very brief, comprising one chapter, 'Compound messages'. The ending is slightlybizarre,a citation of the Waltzfromthe FirstJazz Suite(I 938). The heavily referenced introduction is matched by a very comprehensive bibliographyand the two indexes are extensive, though not entirelyaccurate. Other glitchesinclude severalin the Russiantexts (whichare set in a curiously homemade-looking font); in general, the specificallyRussian material seems less secure than the musical analysis. To give but one example of the latter, there is no ball scene in Gogol"s Revizor, as Sheinberg suggests (p. 28). The Picasso reproduction has no page reference on the contents page, and is not discussed on the page referredto with the picture;nor is it in colour, despite being in the 'colour section' where, incidentally,five illustrationsdemonstrate graphically with blocks of colour how 'four systems act simultaneously' in Shostakovich'sPiano Prelude op. 34, No. 2 (between pp. i8o and i8i). Such errors, though small in themselves, help to create an impression that the author has slightly over-stretched herself in some corners of her ambitious canvas. That, however, is not to take away from Dr Sheinberg'sachievement in bringing some order, as well as a rich theoretical and illustrative background,to the difficultand related concepts of irony, satire, parody and the grotesque as they are found, so manifestly,in the music of Shostakovich. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Gray, Rosalind P. RussianGenrePaintingin theNineteenth Centurg. Oxford Historical Monographs. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2000. xix + 216 pp. Illustrations.Notes. Bibliographicalreferences.Index. [50.00. INwhat is a woefully under-researchedarea of Russian art history Rosalind Gray's comprehensive and insightfulsurveyof Russian genre painting in the firstthree-quartersof the nineteenth century is a welcome and much-needed addition. Where the later realists of the Peredvizhnikihave been granted at least some degree of coverage in the West, and the Russian avant-gardehas been the subject of a vast range of academic activity, an extensive survey of the art scene preceding these momentous movements has been generally neglected. And yet, as Gray demonstratesin her thoroughly researched and meticulously argued work, this was an intriguing period of great creativity 738 SEER, 79, 4, 2001 that is not simply worthy of study in its own right, but which in terms of its values, practices and structures-creative, intellectual and social laid the foundations for, and indeed often preempted and seemingly perfected, a distinctly Russian school of art. In this respect Gray's study sheds insight beyond the period, topics and artistsunder specific examination and gives a series of additional perspectives on the evolution of Russian nineteenthcenturyvisualcultureand the roots of Russian modernism. Commencing with chapters that cover the roles of patronage, collections, the vital influence of the intelligentsia and the vibrant interventions of the Russian press, Gray sets the cultural context for a study of five important painters:AlekseiVenetsianov,KarlBryullov,AleksandrIvanov,PavelFedotov and Vasily Perov. Each is subjected to a rigorouslyinformativereassessment both of their individualoutput and more generally in the light of the broader culturalcontext. Whilstthese aspectsare intrinsicallyfascinatingand separate chapters may be read for the monographic informationthey shed on what is, by any standards,a selection of singulartalents, what makes Gray's study of exceptional interest is her stresson the international perspective, chiefly the connections between Russianand Europeanartat a time when genrepainting came of age both as an informative influence on social changes and as a vehicle for the exposition and debate of contemporary mores. Defying the stereotype of an insular, parochial and at times xenophobic art scene that precipitateda stridentlynationalistdiscourse,Graydrawsa much more subtle and well-rounded...