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[THE GRZHEBIN EDITION: SURVEY OF RUSSIAN ART] Istoriya russkogo iskusstva: Zhivopis’. Arkhitektura. Skul’ptura. Dekorativnoye iskusstvo [i.e. History of Russian Art: Painting. Architecture. Sculpture. Decorative Arts]

Nikolsky, V.

Item #2750

Berlin: R.S.F.S.R. Gos. izd-vo, 1923. VIII, 252 pp., 49 full-page ill (ca. 14 color). 24,7x17,3 cm. In original publisher’s illustrated wrappers by Ivan Mozalevsky. Previous owner’s contemporary ink inscription (N. Khomutetsky) on the front wrapper. Very good. Wrappers worn, light damp stains throughout the copy, Soviet bookshop paper label on the inner side of the rear wrapper.

Scarce. Second edition. First edition published in 1915. Text in Russian. Front cover design by the Ukrainian graphic artist Ivan Mozalevsky (1890-1975). With a foreword by the Russian and Soviet art historian and writer Pavel Muratov (1881-1950). Wrapper design by Ivan Mozalevsky (1890-1975), a Russian and Ukrainian Soviet graphic artist, painter, and art historian.
One of the earliest comprehensive Soviet studies of Russian art, written by the repressed Soviet historian Viktor Nikolsky (1875-1924). A researcher at the State Academy of Artistic Sciences (GAKhN), Nikolsky wrote notable articles on the “Union of Russian Artists,” the “Moscow Salon,” and the art of Auguste Rodin. In 1928, he was arrested by Soviet authorities, imprisoned in the notorious Butyrka prison, and exiled to Siberia. He disappeared completely around 1934. Today, not a single verified photograph of Nikolsky survives, leaving his published works as the sole testament to his life.
The book was published in Berlin and commissioned by Zinovy Grzhebin’s publishing house under a contract with the Soviet State Publishing House (Gosizdat) in 1923. Following the post-revolutionary collapse of Russian printing, Grzhebin relocated to Berlin to produce literature for import back to the RSFSR, successfully publishing over 220 titles. However, after he included works by perceived counter-revolutionaries like Julius Martov and Viktor Chernov in his Chronicle of the Revolution series, Lenin banned the import of foreign-printed books entirely. Financially ruined by the Soviet government, Grzhebin died in poverty near Paris in 1929.
The book traces the evolution of Russian painting, architecture, sculpture, and decorative arts from their prehistoric origins through the 19th century. The project was originally envisioned as a massive two-volume set, intended to be printed in 1915 by I. D. Sytin, one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Russia. While the author managed to finish the manuscript, the outbreak of World War I made it impossible for the publishers to release the work as planned. Due to these wartime disruptions and the subsequent revolution, the expansive project was cut short, and the second volume was never published.
In a foreword marked by classic anti-Western rhetoric, Soviet art historian Pavel Muratov frames the book as a testament to Russia’s enduring cultural identity. He defiantly contrasts the struggling industrial state with the “historyless” West, asserting: “Russia - even this fourth Russia, industrial and born in agony - is not America. And we, the Russian people, are not a people without a past. “Barbari non sumus!” [We are not barbarians!]. The main text is structured across nine chapters, chronologically tracing the evolution of Russian architecture, painting, sculpture, and decorative arts through three major eras. The first section explores the Art of Ancient Rus, analyzing the transition from early wooden structures to monumental stone architecture [such as the Kiev-Sophia Cathedral, the Spaso-Nereditskaya Church, and the Pokrov Church on the Nerl], alongside early frescoes and jewelry making. The second section documents the Art of Muscovite Rus (15th–17th centuries), focusing on the emergence of a decorative national style [exemplified by St. Basil’s Cathedral among others] and the transitional iconography of Simon Ushakov. The final section addresses the 18th century, contrasting the grand Baroque of St. Petersburg [such as the work of V. Rastrelli] with the neoclassical Moscow architecture of V. Bazhenov and M. Kazakov, while highlighting the shift toward secular academic portraiture [by masters like D.G. Levitsky and V.L. Borovikovsky].
The edition includes about 49 full-page illustrations, featuring examples of Russian architecture (primarily drawn from Grabar’s History of Russian Art) as well as reproductions of paintings.

Overall, a landmark of Russian art historiography.

Price: $500.00