Editorial

Михаил Шишин Mikhail Shishin


Dear Readers!

The work on the publication of 20th issue of “The Art of Eurasia” journal has been completed. It turned out to be large and diverse in topics and geography. We are glad that we have good cooperation with many authors, many interesting ideas are suggested by them, as happened, for example, with the topic of the section “Eurasian Heritage”. When our editorial office received an article on naive art in India, we felt that this was not only a new topic for us, but a really big and worthy topic. It is extremely interesting not only for its artistic search, but also for the sincere joy with which people create, and which is felt in every detail of the works. We decided to support this topic with materials from Russia — Buryatia and Altai — and this, in our opinion, helped to understand how great the variety of forms, creative ideas, plastic solutions used by masters of naive art.

In the section “Art of the XX–XXI centuries” we present three artists, outwardly very dissimilar. F. Ruszczyc, classmate of N. Roerich and A. Rylov in the workshop of A.I. Kuindzhi, was a subtle painter, landscape painter, with a philosophical view of the world. The artist from Moldova S. Galben is a sensitive observer who soulfully tells in his paintings simple, touching stories about the inhabitants of Moldovan villages, ingenuous and sometimes eccentric. It is well felt that they are spiritually close to the artist and he does not paint them with an impassive brush. And S. Kalmykov for a long time was out of the field of attention of art critics, and only the exhibition in the State Russian Museum actually brings back from oblivion this interesting artist-thinker, with a cosmic vision, which is clearly manifested in his work “On the island of Patmos”.

The “Forum” section continues the theme of collections and collectors, which we started in previous issues thanks to colleagues from the Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts. Our authors have done a great and extremely important work on the study of the archives of I.A. Morozov, M.P. Botkin, A.M. Golitsyn, S.P. Vinogradov. The most valuable testimonies from the life of outstanding collectors are introduced into scientific circulation. We are sure that these articles will help many researchers in their work. The formation of any museum, regardless of the country and its scale, is an interesting process, and it is clearly visible how persons always appear who play a leading role in it, form collections with great inspiration, cherish and study works. On the pages of our journal you can learn about such world-famous museums as Peggy Guggenheim Collection or about a museum that has experienced a lot during its existence in Syria, in the ancient center of civilization Damascus.

The “Vernissage” section tells about two exhibitions, which were successfully held in wonderful centers where the traditions of folk art are preserved — Khanty-Mansiysk and Ulan-Ude. Getting acquainted with the unique art of tapestry in Buryatia, we admire the subtle tonal transitions, expressive composition, complexity and painstaking work of the masters.

In the “Ex Libris” section we present new and interesting publications. This is, firstly, the “Collection in collection: materials and reports of the 4th All-Russian scientific conference” (Kemerovo, 2020), the articles of which are very accordant with the theme of the “Forum”. The second edition belongs to a member of our editorial board, Professor O.C. Handa. This is one of the largest researchers of the art of the Himalayan region. And we are sure that his book “The Divine Wood: Woodcarvings in Western Himalayas — Temples, Monasteries and Sculptures” (New Delhi, 2021) will be of interest not only to Indologists, but also to numerous art critics.

“Academy News” presents various exhibitions that, after the regime of self-restraint, were held with great success in the halls of the Russian Academy of Arts.

I would like to add one thought to this brief review of the new issue of the journal. When you read articles, immersing in the world of art so deeply that you not only catch the central idea of the artwork, feel admiration for the composition, color scheme, but sometimes, it seems, you hear the voice of the artist himself— then there is a clear understanding that the world is not one-line, but multi-level, layered. There is a world of currency quotes, profits, violence, treachery, wars, and there is a world of high creativity. It is just as real, and maybe, more real. And in this world, in a dialogue with an intelligent, gifted interlocutor-artist, it becomes obvious that all the vicissitudes and crises of the world are temporary, but art is eternal.

Mikhail Shishin

Chief Editor