Page 372 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
In the first chapter of Spira’s book, important facts such as that “unlike medieval cul- ture in Europe, the equivalent in Russia was not displaced by a Renaissance,” and that the Classical tradition did not become a natural part of the heritage of Russian clergy, as well as that the “classical values reworked during the Renaissance in Europe had no historical root in the collective memory of the Russian people,”3 provide the appropriate perspec- tive for the discussion in the succeeding chapters. While noting the “decline of icons” in Russia during the 18th and 19th century, Spira then discusses, in the second chapter, the role of Christian iconography in the development of Realist and Romantic art in Russia.4
Chapters three and four comprise not only a historical account but also formal analy- ses of the early 20th century works created by Russian avant-garde artists. Understanda- bly, Spira does not fail to mention Henri Matisse’s visit to Russia and his admiration of Russian icons.5 A number of Russian artists, such as Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Gon- charova, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Liubov Popova, Alexander Rodchenko, Vasi- ly Kandinsky, Marc Chagall and others, are then discussed by Spira. In the fourth chapter Spira discusses mainly Chagall, Kandinsky, Goncharova and Malevich. He addresses the inspiration which Kandinsky found in the icons of St George and even comes to notice how at the point of entering his abstract phase, in one of his almost entirely abstract paintings entitled St George, Kandinsky keeps the component parts of the narrative of St George killing the dragon decipherable.6
However, a deeper significance of the particular inspiration from the icons of St George for the formation of Kandinsky’s abstract style of painting is not something that Spira aims at exploring. Being focused on the influence of Late Byzantine painting on Kandinsky’s work, our chapter on Kandinsky aspires also to contribute to an under- standing of how the birth of Kandinsky’s concept of the “musicalisation” of painting, which simultaneously constitutes the birth of his abstraction, was in part also inspired by and became combined with his iconological theme of The Blue Rider – which itself is inspired by the icons of St George.
3 Ibid., 21.
4 Towards the end of the second chapter he says: “Besides reconciling aesthetic sensibility with manual skill and application, icons were believed to unite all levels of society and to express the soul of the nation and of the people.” Ibid., 44.
5 Ibid., 54.
6 In particular, Spira stresses: “In one example (Plate 73), in which the image of the saint and the dragon fill the entire canvas, the component parts of the narrative are still decipherable (a blue horse, lozenge-shaped shield, tapering spear, bright red cloak, dragon’s seratted wing and blood red wound), but it is the coherent interaction of dynamic thrusts, to which Kandinsky found this particular nexus of relationships so conducive, that creates the overall impact of the image.” Ibid., 130.
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