Art Nouveau architecture in Russia

Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture and applied arts, especially the decorative arts, that was most popular between 1893 and 1910. In the Russian language it is called Art Nouveau or Modern (in Cyrillic: Ар-нувo, Моде́рн).

Vitebsky railway station, by Sima Mihash and Stanislav Brzozowski (1904)
Main staircase of Ryabushinsky House (now Gorky Museum), Moscow by Fyodor Schechtel (1900)
Teremok House in Talashkino, by Sergey Malyutin (1901-1902). Art Nouveau meets Russian Revival style

Art Nouveau architecture in Russia was mostly built in large cities by merchants and Old Believers, and was highly influenced by the contemporary movements[1] that constituted the Art Nouveau style: the Glasgow School, Jugendstil of Germany, Vienna Secession, as well as Russian Revival architecture and the National Romantic style of Nordic countries (one of which, Grand Duchy of Finland, was a part of Russian Empire) In some Russian towns, there also were earlier examples of wooden architecture, the architecture of Kievan Rus', which influenced the style.

Some Russian Art Nouveau buildings were built on territories that were part of Germany and the Grand Duchy of Finland during the Art Nouveau period and were ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. Russian architects also worked on the development of Harbin in China after 1898, which explains the presence of Art Nouveau architecture there.

Saint Petersburg
Hauswald summer house - the first Art Nouveau building in Russia

The first Art Nouveau building in Russia was built in Saint Petersburg in 1898.[nb 1] It was Hauswald summer house built by Vladimir Chagin and Vasily (Wilhelm) Schoene.

As Saint Petersburg was situated close to the border with Grand Duchy of Finland, there was a strong influence of its National Romantic style on Art Nouveau Architecture in Saint Petersburg. This style is called "Severny modern" in Russia (in Cyrillic: Северный модерн) meaning "Northern Art Nouveau". But European movements influenced local architecture as well.

Notable examples

Seven Saint Petersburg buildings[nb 2] are sometimes considered as notable examples of Art Nouveau,[2] all by different architects:

National Romantic style

The last two building are examples of Nordic National Romantic style. Other notable examples of that movement are:

  • Church of Our Lady of Lourdes
  • Portal of Putilova Apartments
  • Bubyr' Apartments
  • Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge
  • "New Passage" Trade house

Islamic Revival architecture

The Saint Petersburg Mosque (1910–1921), designed by the architect Nikolai Vasilyev in the Islamic Revival style, is modelled after the mosque of Gur-e-Amir, the tomb of Tamerlane in Samarkand (14th century).[5][6][7]

Russian Revival influence

Many Russian Orthodox churches constructed in the Art Nouveau period are primarily examples of Russian Revival architecture, though they often include some modern elements. In Saint Petersburg these are:

  • The Old Believers Church of Our Lady of the Sign[8] by Dmitry Kryzanowski (1906–1907),
  • The Church of Peter the Metropolitan[9] by Andrey Aplaksin (1907).
  • Church of Our Lady of the Sign by Dmitry Kryzanowski (1906–1907)
  • The Church of Peter the Metropolitan by Andrey Aplaksin (1907)

Moscow

Lev Kekushev

One of first Art Nouveau buildings in Moscow was the List House (1898–99) by Lev Kekushev. Kekushev was acquainted with Victor Horta, the initiator of Art Nouveau movement, and the house shows the natural curving forms, open interiors and floral designs of Horta. Kekushev's buildings are notable for his skilful use of ceramic and iron ornaments. His buildings also have a signature feature: a ceramic depiction on the facade or a sculpture of a lion, or 'Lev', after his first name.

Prominent buildings by Lev Kekushev in Art Nouveau style include:

  • List House (1898–99)
  • Kekushev House, also known as Kekusheva House, as he had to cede it to his ex-wife in settling their divorce, (1900–1903),
  • Mindovsky House and Nosov House (both in 1903),
  • Isakov Apartments (1904–1906).

Lev Kekushev also took part in the construction of the Hotel Metropol Moscow. In 1898–1899, he won the first prize in the open contest, but the commissioner of the project Savva Morozov discarded the decision of a professional jury and awarded the prize to William Walcot. However, the owners retained Kekushev as an overall project manager. Kekushev's assistance was probably crucial to the final realization of the complex structure.[10]

Franz (Fyodor) Schechtel

Another influential master of Russian Art Nouveau who worked in Moscow was Franz (Fyodor) Schechtel. Starting his career with Neo-Gothic buildings and finishing career with Neoclassical ones, he built his best-known masterpieces in Art Nouveau style. In 1901 he was commissioned to build the pavilion of Russia at Glasgow Exhibition. There he gained international recognition and got to know Charles Rennie Mackintosh who influenced Schechtel's art. Another influence was Joseph Maria Olbrich, the founder of the Darmstadt Artists' Colony, whose Ludwig Habich House was an inspiration for the Gorky Museum (1900–1903).[11] His other works in Moscow included:[12]

National Romantic style

The influence of Nordic National Romantic style was weaker in Moscow than in Saint Petersburg. Buildings with National Romantic influence in Moscow are:

  • Lomakina Apartments and Tsirkunov Heirs Apartments by Vitaly Maslennikov,
  • Kalinovskaya Apartments by Ernst Richard Nirnsee with ceramics of Alexander Golovin,
  • Loskov Apartments by Alexander Zelenko.
  • Lomakina Apartments
  • Tsirkunov Heirs Apartments
  • Kalinovskaya Apartments
  • Loskov Apartments

Old Believers churches

After the restriction to build Old Believers churches was withdrawn in 1905, construction of numerous Old Believers churches was started. Along with two churches listed above, some of them shared both Russian Revival and Art Nouveau characteristics:

  • Holy Virgin Protection Church by Vladimir Adamovich and Vladimir Mayat (1907–1911),
  • Belfry Church of Resurrection by Fyodor Gornostaev (1910),
  • Saint Nicholas Church by Anton Gurzhienko (1914–1921),

An Old Believers chapel was also built on the upper floor of the Ryabushensky House in Moscow, with a mixture of Russian Revival architecture and Art Nouveau decoration.

  • Holy Virgin Protection Church
  • Belfry Church of Resurrection
  • Saint Nicholas Church
  • Interior of the chapel in the Ryabushinsky House

Other architects

Other notable architects of Art Nouveau in Moscow include:

Some researches[1] characterize Trinity Church Apartments building (also known as House with Beasts) as Art Nouveau. This building is mostly notable for the stone carving made by Sergei Vashkov inspired by carvings of Cathedral of Saint Demetrius in Vladimir and Saint George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky of XII and XIII centuries.

Art Nouveau and Russian Revival style outside Saint Petersburg and Moscow
The Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino by Sergey Malyutin, 1903-05.

Art colonies

Art Nouveau in Russia was promoted not only by single architects but also by art colonies who worked in the Russian Revival style. The two best-known colonies were situated in Abramtsevo, funded by Savva Mamontov, and Talashkino, funded by Princess Maria Tenisheva. They mostly dealt with interior and ceramics but also left architecture monuments:

  • The Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino by Sergey Malyutin with mosaics of Nicholas Roerich (1903–1905),
  • Teremok House in Talashkino by Sergey Malyutin (1901–1902) who later developed a project of Pertsova House in Moscow (see above).

Some researches include Church of the Holy Mandylion in Abramtsevo in the list of Art Nouveau buildings,[14] but it was built in 1881–1891, before the inception of Art Nouveau movement.

Other Orthodox churches

Most Art Nouveau churches in Russia are also considered Russian Revival. Along with the already described examples, some notable exampled include:

  • Church of the Holy Trinity in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast by Fyodor Schechtel (1908–09),
  • Church of the Holy Trinity in Bekhovo, Tula Oblast by famous artist Vasily Polenov who acted as the architect for the church in his own estate (1904–1906),
  • Seraphimo-Znamenskiy Skit in Bityagovo, Moscow Oblast by Leonid Stezhensky (1912),
  • Resurrection cathedral in Tver by Nikolay Omelyusty (1912–1913),
  • Church of the Holy Mandylion in Klyazma, Pushkino, Moscow Oblast by Sergei Vashkov and Vasily Motylyov (1913–1916).

Wooden art

Wood carving is also a distinctive feature of Russian Revival style and has become a feature of Russian Art Nouveau wooden houses. Houses with wood carvings can be found not only in Central Russia but also in Siberia, in Tomsk and Tyumen.

National Romantic and Jugendstil buildings in Karelia and East Prussia

The territories of Karelian Isthmus and partly East Prussia that belonged to Finland and Germany respectively were ceded to Soviet Union after World War II. The Art Nouveau heritage at Karelian Isthmus consisted of:

In East Prussia (that became Kaliningrad Oblast) houses in Zelenogradsk and the water tower in Svetlogorsk can be noted.

See also

Notes
  1. Some researchers (e.g. Boris Kirikov) note that the first Art Nouveau building in Russia was the estate of Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich in Tsarskoye Selo that was built in 1896–1897Kirikov, Boris (2014). Architecture of Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg. Estates and Tenement Houses (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kolo. pp. 15–27. ISBN 978-5-4462-0044-3.
  2. One masterpiece is the interior of Grand Hotel Europe rather than a building itself

References
  1. Lecture on Art Nouveau of Alexander Ivanov (in Russian)
  2. List of Art Nouveau objects in Saint Petersburg - Art Nouveau World
  3. Kirikov, Boris (2017). Architecture of Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg. Public buildings. Book 2 (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kolo. pp. 353–370. ISBN 978-5-4462-0083-2.
  4. Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge - Art Nouveau World
  5. Vityzeva V.A. Saint Petersburg Mosque — a monument of National Romanticism in Saint Petersburg // History of Saint Petersburg. — SPb., 2002. — № 1. (in Russian)
  6. Saint Petersburg Mosque — Citywalls.ru (An architecture website of Saint Petersburg, in Russian)
  7. Kirikov, Boris (2017). Architecture of Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg. Public buildings. Book 2 (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kolo. pp. 485–514. ISBN 978-5-4462-0083-2.
  8. Kirikov, Boris (2017). Architecture of Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg. Public buildings. Book 2 (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kolo. pp. 405–420. ISBN 978-5-4462-0083-2.
  9. Kirikov, Boris (2017). Architecture of Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg. Public buildings. Book 2 (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kolo. pp. 431–454. ISBN 978-5-4462-0083-2.
  10. William Craft Brumfield, "The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture", University of California Press, 1991 contents chapter 3
  11. Lecture of Ilya Pechenkin on Art Nouveau style and method (in Russian)
  12. List of Art Nouveau objects in Moscow - Art Nouveau World
  13. Fahr-Becker (2016), pp. 190-191.
  14. Church of the Holy Mandylion - Art Nouveau World

Bibliography
  • Makinson, Randall (1977). "Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art". Salt Lake City, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 0-87905-023-3.
  • Fahr-Becker, Gabriele (2015). L'Art Nouveau (in French). H.F. Ullmann. ISBN 978-3-8480-0857-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Taschen, Aurelia and Balthazar (2016). L'Architecture Moderne de A à Z (in French). Bibliotheca Universalis. ISBN 978-3-8365-5630-9.
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