Two crosses of Konstantin Batiushkov
This year marks the 230th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov (1787–1855) and the 200th anniversary of the release of his only book, the two-volume book Experiments in…

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strip tease
Beaumarchais The Marriage of Figaro
Exceptional success fell on the second part of the Beaumarchais comedy trilogy - “Mad Day, or the Marriage of Figaro”. (For the first part - see “The Barber of Seville”…

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Afanasy Nikitin "Going beyond three seas"
“Going beyond the three seas of Afanasy Nikitin” (see its full text) - a description by a 15th century Russian man of his journey to far India.Afanasy Nikitin was a…

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enough experience

“Drone”, Novikov magazine

Of the Russian prints of the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, the most serious was Novikov’s journal “The Drone”, which was published in the capital from May 1769 to April 1770. In this organ Novikov began to flaunt the vices of modern society, exposing them to the living faces of contemporaries, probably well-known and because it is easy for everyone to recognize.

Catherine resolutely rebelled against this — her satire in “All things” was “in a smiling way” and did not allow certain individuals to be convicted — she did not invade the state, even public life, and was of a general nature, as a result of which she was distinguished by vagueness. Continue reading

BORIS GROYS “POLITICS OF POETICS”

Today, the philosopher, theorist of art and curator Boris Groys is one of the most respected critics in the world art community. His recent book, The Politics of Poetics, is a collection of essays from two English-language books, Art Power and Going Public, as well as articles published in American and European journals. Some texts of the book are published in Russian for the first time. Groys is important to read to those who want to familiarize themselves with the contemporary philosophical discourse of modern art: at the same time it turns out that it is relatively easy to write about the complex. One of the main themes of the collection is the relationship of art to the art market and to the sphere of political ideologies. Continue reading

What to read: 10 books on contemporary art and culture

Be In Trend has prepared a selection of 10 books on contemporary art, which will help from different angles to look at the art of the last 100 years. The list includes both non-fiction books and studies of famous contemporary art critics, art historians and philosophers.

What is a work of art today and how can it be? What is modern culture like? These and many other questions, in fact, are set not only by the audience, but also by the actors and researchers themselves. Natural is the process of constantly reviewing all these issues, analyzing what has been done in art over the past few centuries and tracking the artistic processes of our time. Continue reading

Corneille "Sid" - analysis with quotes
In the best works of the founder of the classic tragedy Pierre Corneille (1606 - 1684), speaking in the early period of classicism, at the time of absolute monarchy flourishing,…

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"Taras Bulba" Gogol
The story of Gogol’s creation of the Taras Bulba story, the history of influences on the author of literary works by his predecessors, is very complex and has not yet…

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