The History of Russian Art

The fate of the Russian art and literature historian Viktor Alexandrovich Nikolsky (1875–1934) was not easy. The art historian immersed himself in the ancient Russian decorative world, the paintings of V.I. Surikov, the works of P.P. Konchalovsky and A.V. Kuprin. A two-volume work by V.A. Nikolsky on Russian art was planned to be published in one of the best printing houses of I.D. Sytin in 1915. But even if the author managed to finish his manuscript when the fire of the First World War was already raging across the world, Russian publishers could not release it in full. The revolution of 1917 set its priorities. V.N. Nikolsky did not become a supporter of the new authorities; he was imprisoned in Butyrki, then exiled to Siberia, and later settled in Saratov. In the preface to the Berlin edition of 1921, art historian P.P. Muratov wrote: "Russia, even this fourth one, born in agony, industrial Russia, is not America. And we, Russian people, are not people without a past. The age of our arts is immeasurable, and the spirit of very ancient creations hovers over our ancient land. The history of Russian art, unknown to Europe and still little known to us, depicts us as faithful heirs of Byzantium, guardians of the forever vanished features of Hellenism in the West, owners of fabulous treasures hidden in our land and revealing themselves throughout the centuries in folk art. Closing this small book, we exclaim with rightful pride: barbari non sumus!"