'A person does not always look like himself' : the visual representations of Russian writers 1860-1899

• Main Author: Minns, Emma Helena
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2006
• Subjects: 302.23088891709003
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.427940

The period 1860-1899 witnessed rapid developments in print technology and exhibition culture that diversified the types of images available and increased their accessibility to a wider audience. In Russia, this period also saw the increased significance of the position of the writer in society and an unprecedented number and variety of visual representations of writers were placed in the public arena. This thesis examines the ways in which Russian writers' reputations and status were reflected and shaped by visual representations how writers' personal, professional and national identities were manifested in images and how these images were then received and interpreted by a Russian audience. This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part examines the representation of writers primarily by those artists belonging to the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (Peredvizhniki) and the creation of a portrait collection of Russian writers by the main patron of the Peredvizhniki, P.M. Tret'iakov. This thesis then analyses the ways in which these portraits were viewed and received. The reception given to images of writers, particularly in newspaper and journal reviews, is a central element of the thesis. Also discussed is the reproduction of portraits - painted, photographed and engraved - in illustrated publications. Part two focuses solely on one writer, A.S. Pushkin. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century the position of Pushkin as Russia's national poet was established and two major celebrations of the writer occurred in 1880 and 1899. This section looks at the visual heritage of Pushkin and how this developed to form a definitive Pushkin iconography by 1899. The reception of Pushkin's visual representation in 1880 and 1899 is examined through the analysis of Pushkin exhibitions and the use of Pushkin's image in advertisements and packaging designs.