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THE PHANTOM OF INSPIRATION: ELENA POLENOVA, MARIIA IAKUNCHIKOVA AND THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN ART IN RUSSIA

This dissertation provides an examination of the lives and works of two Russian artists: Elena Dmitrievna Polenova (1850-1898) and Mariia Vasilevna Iakunchikova (1870-1902). It takes a biographical approach to elucidate how Polenova and Iakunchikova negotiated the constraints imposed by their gender and the rapid changes occurring in Russias social structure in their search for a modern Russian art. The dissertation begins with an investigation of Polenovas activities in the spheres of social activism and art in the 1870s and concludes with both womens contributions to the Russian handicrafts (kustar) pavilion at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. While Polenovas contributions to the Russian kustar revival have been the subject of scholarly research, her activities in the broader art world have not. This dissertation seeks to remedy the skewed vision of Polenovas artistic output that has been a result. In addition, her close friendship and artistic synergy with Iakunchikova has been neglected. Iakunchikova is virtually unknown outside a small group of Russian-art specialists. Thus, an investigation of both womens work together provides a more rounded history of their contribution to Russian artists search for a modern, yet uniquely Russian, art at the end of the nineteenth century.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04212009-161617
Date17 June 2009
CreatorsHarkness, Kristen M
ContributorsDr. Barbara McCloskey, Dr. Anne Weis, Dr. Helena Goscilo, Dr. Kirk Savage
PublisherUniversity of Pittsburgh
Source SetsUniversity of Pittsburgh
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04212009-161617/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

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