My Reminiscences

92 hrs. 13 min.

Language Russian

Author Alexander Benois

Narrator Evgeny Ternovsky

Description

Vol. 1 — Book 1–3; Vol. 2 — Book 4–5, Memoirs of the Russian Ballet.

Introduction: Art. D. S. Likhachev
Conclusion: Art. Sternin

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich [21.4 (3.5) 1870, Petersburg, - 9.2.1960, Paris] — Russian artist, art historian, and art critic. Son of architect N. L. Benois. He studied art independently. Lived in Petersburg. In 1896–98 and 1905–07 he worked in France. One of the organizers and ideological leader of the “World of Art” association and the journal of the same name. In his book “History of Russian Painting in the 19th Century” (part 1–2, SPB, 1901–02) and articles from the early 1900s, Benois criticized academic art as well as, from idealistic positions, opposed N. G. Chernyshevsky’s aesthetics and the civic-mindedness of the Wanderers’ painting, proposing as the main criterion for evaluating works of art their “artistic quality.” He later renounced some sharply polemical assessments. A passionate propagandist of the classical heritage, including Russian art of the 18th century—the first quarter of the 19th century, Benois initiated the creation of a number of art-historical publications and museums (collections “Artistic Treasures of Russia,” he edited in 1901–03; the journal “Old Years”; the Museum of Old Petersburg, etc.). In the pre-revolutionary years he spoke against extreme formalist directions. From 1917, Benois actively participated in organizing the protection of works of art and in restructuring museum affairs (especially in the reorganization of the Hermitage, which he headed as the director of the picture gallery in 1918–26).

The sense of a crisis in bourgeois society and the inevitability of revolutionary upheavals led B. to search for “eternal,” “stable” spiritual and aesthetic ideals as an antithesis to the contradictions of modernity. Combined with enthusiasm for French art of the 17th–18th centuries and Russian art of the 18th—the first quarter of the 19th centuries, this gives his work a retrospective direction. B. created a special kind of historical painting typical of “World of Art,” i.e., reliable in the specificity of details, yet one-sided in the poetic reflection of that area of history which, in each era, consists of its everyday life and art. B. was drawn to the fragile beauty and grotesque capriciousness of a noble culture sliding into decline (series “The Last Walks of Louis XIV,” 1897–98; “Versailles series,” 1905–06). A sad irony permeates his paintings, in which stately or bustling little figures of people are set against the enduring, majestic beauty of perfected works of art. In the curls of old ornament, in the gestures and bearing of the people of the past, B. saw the material expression of the spirit and poetry of a bygone age. But B.’s work is not limited to skillful stylization; it is also connected to the general development of painting of his time.

B. is among the reformers of Russian theatrical and decorative painting at the turn of the 20th century (R. Wagner’s opera “The Twilight of the Gods,” 1903, and N. N. Cherepnin’s ballet “The Pavilion of Armida,” 1907—the Mariinsky Theatre in Petersburg). From 1908 he designed performances for S. P. Diaghilev’s touring troupe in Paris (I. F. Stravinsky’s ballet “Petrushka,” 1911, the Théâtre du Châtelet) and until 1911 was its artistic director. In 1913–15 he was head of the artistic department and director at the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhT) (“A Molière performance,” 1913; co-directors K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko). From 1919 he was director and artist at the Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (“The Queen of Spades” by P. I. Tchaikovsky, 1921) and at the Bolshoi Dramatic Theatre (“A Servant of Two Masters” by K. Goldoni, 1921) in Petrograd. Benois’s theater works are notable for their artistic integrity, careful planning of sets, costumes, and props, and a subtle sense of style. His illustrations, marked by graphic elegance—including illustrations for A. S. Pushkin’s “Bronze Horseman” (one of the variants was published in 1923)—are convincing, resonating both with the lyricism and with the dramatic pathos of Pushkin’s verse.

From 1926, Benois lived in Paris, working mainly on sketches of scenery and costumes for performances in theaters of France, Italy, and other countries.