The promised posts on Herzen are still in preparation, but in the meantime, a few recent features on Soviet design have reminded me that their poster art wasn’t an isolated phenomenon (incidentally, good sites for Soviet posters keep cropping up – I found this French one after I published my four short links post). Favourite [...]
All posts in category Russia
Four short links: Soviet design
Posted by Sarah Young on October 9, 2011
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/10/09/four-short-links-soviet-design/
Four short links: Soviet posters
Soviet poster art was truly remarkable, and some amazing examples are available on the internet. My favourite sites are: 1) Plakaty.ru. A huge gallery with a wide range of subjects, from military to entertainment and advertising, including this one from the propaganda section, which reads: ‘Stalin’s mood makes our army and country strong and solid!’ [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on August 25, 2011
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/08/25/four-short-links-soviet-posters/
Vera, or The Nihilists
My interest in British views of Russians recently led me to read Oscar Wilde’s first play, Vera, or The Nihilists, apparently inspired by Vera Zasulich’s attempted assassination of the Governor of St Petersburg in 1878. It’s spectacularly bad, and I’m surprised neither that its first productions, in London in 1880 and New York in 1882, [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on May 9, 2011
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/05/09/vera-or-the-nihilists/
Hughesovka revisited
Finding the concept of Welsh Noir rather appealing, I’ve been meaning to get round to reading Malcolm Pryce’s Aberystwyth novels, featuring gumshoe Louie Knight, for some time. But it was only when I picked up a copy of the latest addition to the series, From Aberystwyth With Love, that I realized its true significance. I had anticipated [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on March 18, 2011
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/03/18/hughesovka-revisited/
Four short links: Russian oddments
1. Hermitage cats. For over 250 years – with a break during the siege when they sadly all perished – the Hermitage has been home to an army of 50 or so cats, and every year the museum holds a Cat Day in March with lots of cat-related events to celebrate the Winter Palace’s most [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on February 5, 2011
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/02/05/four-short-links-russian-oddments/
Four short links: Russian icons
Continuing the theme of traditional Russian culture, icons, even though they are part of other cultures too, are among the most recognizably Russian art works (although they’re not works of art at all…). They’re also possibly the most mysterious. For me the mystery lies in the idea that they access the spiritual world whilst being entirely [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 12, 2010
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2010/11/12/four-short-links-russian-icons/
Four short links: Russian folk art
Like many people who’ve spent time in Russia, I’ve picked up various bits of decorative art over the years. I’ve always liked the contrast between the really beautiful side of Russian folk art, such as Palekh boxes (the picture on this one is from Ruslan and Liudmila): and its amusing and slightly vulgar side – [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 9, 2010
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2010/11/09/four-short-links-russian-folk-art/
Forest palaces
I recently discovered a great website by a Russian photographer, Andrei Kuzman, or Qzmn. He specializes in travel photography, the Russian wilderness, and its architecture. It’s really worth exploring the site, whether you’ve ever been to Russia and long for the birch forests (I’m a city girl but the Russian countryside definitely speaks to me), [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 2, 2010
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2010/11/02/forest-palaces/
Marriage in late imperial Russia
Today I went to a really great seminar given by Barbara Alpern Engel at SSEES on marriage breakdown in the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. Engel is very well known as a specialist on women’s history who, among other things, has written the brilliant Mothers and Daughters: Women of the Intelligentsia in Nineteenth-Century Russia. [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on October 27, 2010
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2010/10/27/marriage-in-late-imperial-russia/
Four short links: Alexandra Kollontai
I’ve been interested in Alexandra Kollontai’s work for a while, and would like to do some research and write about her at some point. But at the moment I’ve got so many other projects on the go that I can’t see how I can possibly fit anything else in. So, as a statement of intent [...]
Posted by Sarah Young on October 20, 2010
http://sarahjyoung.com/site/2010/10/20/four-short-links-alexandra-kollontai/
@russianist
- Hilarious sleeping cats http://t.co/6bzatKB9 via @EHChalus < made my day too!
(about 2 days ago) - @BeraDis so take it up with the people who produced the panorama. Or should I include a disclaimer with every link?
(about 2 days ago) - @BeraDis Well, something has to be (too bad for ipad owners, I mean, not that something has to be in Flash - I wish that wasn't the case!)
(about 2 days ago) - RT @anterotesis: Stunning interactive panorama of #Petersburg #Russia http://t.co/zUEl8bNF
(about 3 days ago) - RT @ioffeinmoscow: Best Russian photography of the year: http://t.co/AByf5pb2
(about 3 days ago)