THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN PERCEPTION OF SPANISH PAINTING IN THE PERIOD FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH CENTURY TO THE BEGINNIGN OF THE 20TH CENTURY

A.V. Morozova's article deals with the development of Art criticism and Spanish Art research in Russia starting from the middle of the 19th century up to the beginning of 20th century. This problem has been little studied in research literature on historiography so far. However, the knowledge of stages and factors of this development allows us to understand better the Spanish paining itself. Morozova compares the ideas of various authors of the time under study who speculated on Spanish art of the Golden Age represented by such outstanding artists as Velazquez, Ribera, Zurbaran, Murillo, Valdes Leal. The article analyzes the relation of the authors' artistic evaluation to the tendencies of art development of their time. The article also describes the progressive transformation of Russian art studies into an independent field of research free of contemporary influence of artistic life in Russia. The specific character of Russian view of Spanish art in the second half of the 19th century is most vividly revealed in popular research and fiction, particularly in Russian travel notes about Spain. So Morozova gives a detailed review of the travel notes by Russian writers D.L. Mordovtsev (1883) and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko (1887-1895). The turn of the 19-20th centuries was marked by the reappraising of the old Spanish painting, with the most revolutionary views of the artist and art critic A.N. Benois, so Morozova dwells on his contribution in Spanish art research. The studies of the changes of the Russian perception of Spanish art at the turn of the 19-20th centuries allows us to get a deeper insight into the development of Russia culture of the time.