Publisher's Synopsis
Russia's Unknown Orient tells the story of Russia's artistic and historical ties with its southern neighbors: Uzbekistan (former Turkistan), the countries of the Caucasus (Georgia and Armenia) and the Crimea. The bond between Russia and these culturally distinct lands was marked by a deep fascination with Oriental traditions and a succession of wars and imperialist maneuvers, themes which found their way into the art of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the most important artist in this context was Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904), who traveled with the Russian army on campaigns to the south and served as the painterly equivalent of a war photographer, depicting both the cruel reality of war and the riches of the Oriental cultures. The works of such artists are presented here alongside the output of indigenous contemporary artists from these Central Asian lands--practitioners who offered personal interpretations of the rich traditions of their homelands that continued to develop even under Russian dominion. The historical and art-historical context of this diverse group of artists is taken up by a range of authors in this lush, generously illustrated volume, which includes more than 130 works by Vereshchagin, Martiros Saryan, Vasily Polenov, Niko Pirosmanishvili, Pavel Kuznetsov, Evgeny Lanseray and others.
