Arts and Crafts in Late Imperial Russia (Modern Architecture and Cultural Identity)

Arts and Crafts in Late Imperial Russia is the first account of the revival of Russia's Kustar art industries from their origins in the populist debates and philanthropic impulses of the early 1870s to their climax in 1913, with the display of their achievements at the Second All-Russian Kustar Exhibition in St Petersburg. This study uncovers the complex motivations that lead a broad cross-section of educated Russian society to devote their money, energy, and artistic skills to save Kustar arts and crafts from extinction by adapting them to satisfy the tastes of a new, well-to-do urban consumer. Focusing on the four major centres of Kustar art production, it also examines the role of the professional artist in the creative life of the peasant artist, the place of traditional culture in modern society, and the ways in which traditional gender roles affected the production of Kustar crafts.