Russian Folk Art

408 Pages·1995·36.38 MB·English

by  Alison Hilton

RUSSIAN
Folk
Art
Alison
Hilton
RUSSIAN
Boston Public Library
Folk Art
describes
the traditions, styles, and functions of
a broad range of objects made by
Russian peasant artists for local use
and by specialized artisans tor trade.
Beginning with the settings in which
worked—the
folk artists traditionally
peasant household, the village, and
the local market—Alison Hilton dis-
cusses the principal media they em-
ployed (wood, textiles, birch bark,
bone, metal, and ceramics) and the
items they produced: kitchen utensils
such as bowls, goblets, dippers, and
molds; tools used in making clothing;
embroidered linens, costumes,
lace,
and everyday clothing: toys: elaborate
window frames and house decora-
tions; and colorful broadsides called
lubki.
This remarkable survey empha-
sizes the cumulative originality inher-
ent in Russian folk art. the balance
betweentime-honoredformsandtech-
niques, andthecreativity ofindividual
showslum pervasiveimages
artists. It
anddesignse\<>lvedfn>mancientSlavic-
sources, absorbedelementsofchurch,
court, and urbanarts, reflected histori-
caleventsanddaily life, and helped to
form a Russian esthetic identity in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
examinesthe complex inter-
Finally, it
action between folk art and high cul-
ture: the role ofserfartists, the preser-
vation and reinterpretation of folk art
>y scholars and professional artists,
and the new roles of folk art in the
Soviet era.
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Russian Folk Art
Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian and East European Studies
Alexander Rabinowitch and William G. Rosenberg,
general editors
Advisory Board
Deming Brown Zvi Gitelman
Jane Burbank Hiroaki Kuromiya
Robert W. Campbell David Ransel
Henry Cooper Ronald Grigor Suny
Herbert Eagle William Zimmerman
Ben Eklof
m n
Russiain
Folk
Art
Alison Hiltoi1
Indiana University Pres;
Bloomington and IndianapolIS
M M
BR BR
Research forthisbookwassupportedinpartbyagrantfrom theInter-
NK975 national Research and Exchanges Board JIREX), with funds provided by
.H55 the National Endowment forthe Humanities, the UnitedStates Informa-
1995 tion Agency, and the US Department of State, which administers the
SovietandEast EuropeanTrainingActof 1983 (Title VIII).
© 1995 byAlison Hilton
All rightsreserved
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyany
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
orbyany informationstorageandretrieval system, withoutpermissionin
writing from the publisher The Association of American University
Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the onlyexception to this
prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum—requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of
Paperfor Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United StatesofAmerica
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
Hilton, Alison.
Russian folkar—t/Alison Hilton.
p cm. (Indiana-Michiganseries in Russian andEast
European studies)
Includes bibliographical references (p. - ) and index.
ISBN0-253—-32753-9 (cl : alk. paper) —
1 Folkart Russia (Federation) 2. Decorativearts Russia
(Federation) I. Title. II. Series.
NK975.H55 1995
745'.0947—dc20 94-30901
1 2 3 4 5 00 99 98 97 96 95
List ofIllustrations
Preface xiii
Note on Transliteration
Abbreviations xxiv
PART
I
THE ARTS
1 Tradition and Discovery 3
IN 2. Village and Izba 18
PEASANT 3. Domestic Tasks and Tools 29
4. Specialization and Originality:
LIFE
Some Peasant Artists 42
PART
II
MATERIALS
5. Wood and Carved Ornament 63
AND 6. Painting on Wood 75
FORMS 7. Textile Arts and Costume 86
8. Beyond the Village: Specialized
Crafts and Urban Folk Art 98
9. Toys in All Media 123
PART
111
DESIGNS
lp. Amulet, Ornament, and
AND THEIR Ritual 135
MEANINGS 11. Transformation of the Slavic
Legacy 155
12. Heraldic Beasts and Guardian
Figures: The Evolution of
Motifs 168
13. Scenes from Life and Forms from
the Past 186
PART IV
PRESERVATION
14. Serf Artists, Peasant Painters, and
AND REVIVAL the Rise of Genre 197
OF RUSSIAN 15. National Art and Folk Art 215
FOLK ART 16. Artistic Renewal 227
17. Folk Art and New Languages of
Art 245
18. Reshaping Folk Art in the Soviet
Era 257
Glossary 285
Notes 289
Selected Bibliography 337
Index 347