PREFACE    

This book is the result of two scholarly projects, a lecture series and a symposium, which were held at the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1978 in connection with the exhibition “The Art of Russia 1800-1850” organized by the University of Minnesota Gallery with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture of the U.S.S.R. Indeed, the exhibition, which consisted of approximately 150 Russian works from several museums in the Soviet Union, was the occasion for a series of cultural events on nineteenth-century Russia that took place in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul from October 8 to December 6, 1978. These events included special features in the fields of theater, dance, music, and film and several courses on nineteenth-century Russian history and culture.

The public lecture series was made possible through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and consisted of ten presentations by prominent scholars on major topics of nineteenth-century Russian culture. The symposium focused on “Art and Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia,” and was cosponsored by the University of Minnesota, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. The original plan was that the proceedings from both the lecture series and the symposium would have been published in two separate volumes. For economic and other practical reasons it became necessary to merge the two projects into one volume consisting of all the symposium papers and half of the papers from the public lecture series. For their gracious understanding, I wish to express my appreciation to those colleagues whose essays are not included in this volume, despite their significance to the events at the University of Minnesota. These colleagues are: Professor Donald Treadgold, who offered the opening lecture, “The Russian Idea in the Nineteenth Century: Attempts at Definition”; Professor Paul Schmidt, who lectured on the “Russian Theater and the Ballet”; Professor James McClelland, who read a paper on “The Mystique of Nauka: Science and Scholarship in the Service of the People”; Professor Alan Ross, who spoke on Russian censorship; and Professor Alfred Senn, whose paper dealt with “Revolutionary Book Publishing as a Basis for a Counter-Culture.”

In addition to the main participants at the symposium, it was possible to invite a number of scholars from several universities as informal discussants and observers. The presence of these colleagues added significantly to the symposium atmosphere. They were: Rick Asher, Malcolm Brown, Rena Coen, Lyndel King, Birute Lanys, Gerald Mikkelson, Sidney Monas, J. Kim Munholland, Marion Nelson, Janet Rabinowitch, Bernice Rosenthal, Alfred Senn, Sidney Simon, and Mel Waldfogel.

Two special guests were present at the two-day symposium. The first was the distinguished Soviet art historian, Professor Dmitrii Sarabianov from Moscow State University, who was at the time visiting professor in the Department of Art History, University of Minnesota. The second guest was Dr. Joshua Taylor, Director, National Collection of fine Arts. It was clear throughout the symposium that all the participants deferred to Dr. Taylor’s judgment in matters of interpretation or on questions of comparative art history. He was a refreshing fountain of knowledge. It was with great sadness that we learned of his untimely death as this volume was nearing completion. As an expression of appreciation for his contributions in the world of art in general and to the symposium on “Art and Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia” in particular, this volume is dedicated to his memory.

In addition to financial support from the institutions mentioned above, this book would not have been possible without the initiative and collaboration of several individuals whom I wish to thank: Barbara Shissler, the exhibition’s Special Director, who initiated the whole venture while Director of the University of Minnesota Gallery; her worthy successor, Lyndel King; Robert van der Wege, their Associate Director; colleagues in the Soviet Ministry of Culture, especially A. A. Butrova, A.-G. Khalturin, V. Litvinov, I. Barabash, and others who facilitated negotiations for the exhibition; John Bowlt, who served as Special Curator; Frederick M. Jackson, Director, Committee on Institutional Cooperation; the University of Minnesota Committee on the Russian Exhibition, as well as students, colleagues, and university officials; Professor J. K. Munholland for his valuable contribution during numerous discussions he and I had from conceptualization to completion of this project; Fred Lukermann, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, for his generous support; Professor S. Frederick Starr for suggesting the idea of the symposium to be held at Minnesota in connection with the exhibit; Suzanne Cave, who helped with the organization of the lecture series and symposium and retyped the manuscript or parts of it several times; and, of course, the participants in both the lecture series and the symposium. Finally, my thanks go to my wife, Freda, who acted as a gracious hostess throughout these deliberations.

We have attempted to maintain consistency with regard to questions of style and transliteration; at the same time, the preference of individual contributors have been honored.

Theofanis George Stavrou