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The ambitious Catherine II severed the
nominal ties of the Academy with Moscow University, and with her ukaz of 1764
re-established the same institution, which now received the name of
"Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg." The following year
she laid the cornerstone of a magnificent new building for the Academy. The
Academy changed not only its name but its president. The new president, Ivan
Ivanovich Betskii, 1704-1795, an illegitimate son of Prince Trubetskoy who was
educated abroad, enjoyed the confidence of Catherine, and with her blessing
introduced new reforms that would, he thought, best suit the interests not only
of education and art but also of the Russian empire. They were part of an
overall reform of the entire system of education that included the
establishment of the Moscow Orphanage, the Smolny school for girls of noble
families and the school for boys of the non-privileged class (except serfs).
The latter was run under the auspices of the Academy, and it opened its doors
in 1764. Inspired by the "Emile" of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Betskii
believed that the school could "Breed a new type of human nature." In
order to do this, and to exclude detrimental outside influences, life at the
Academy had to resemble that at a military school. The curriculum included the
subjects that the French teachers brought with them from their country.
Accuracy of line, calculated composition, technical fluency and extensive
copying of old masters were more important than anything else. Most Russian art
critics feel that in the beginning the Academy imposed stricter control on art
than the Church ever had during the long period of time before Peter the Great.
Some blame restrictions imposed by the Academy for the "Decline of
taste." Obviously, they could not imagine worse restrictions on creative
freedom and that the control by the Soviets could be total. In Catherine's time
cultural activities were guided by the authorities, and the Academy did
restrain the free development of Russian art, but all those who opposed the
official line were free to work as they pleased. Bazhenov, Rokotov and Shubin,
to list just the top three in architecture, painting and sculpture
respectively, were educated in the Academy and later were prevented by Betskii
from playing a role in it. And yet, all their life they worked, became famous
and received recognition.
The Russian Academy of Art did not differ much in substance from most others in
Europe. It simply followed in their steps with a delay of about fifty years.
Russian "Academicism" was just about the same as in the West. All
academics had about the same ambition, namely, to control and serve art their
own way and to train new generations of artists within their specific frames.
They all, including the Russian Academy, propagated and nurtured with care all
sorts of allegorical paintings, paintings of triumphs and apotheosis, of
religious themes, portraits of potentates and particularly of the king or the
emperor. The survival and reputation of most artists depended on royal
subsidies and on the moods of the monarchs, often unpredictable and capricious.
To please the monarch the painter often had to improve his appearance, to make
him look like a hero, surrounded by splendor and magnificence. Usually it was
safe to draw inspiration from antiquity and adjust it to a certain national
historical event, and then fill the canvas with domestic personalities. By
severing ties with Russian tradition and by limiting the creative freedom of
artists, the Russian Academy's wish to launch a new national art was uncertain
and its success doubtful if not condemned to failure from the beginning. The
so-called Europeanized Russian art that foreigners planted in Saint Petersburg
continued to drag behind the West, while the simple peasants tried, as best
they could, to salvage some traditional primitive forms, mainly as byproducts
of their handicrafts.
But not all the work of the Academy was bad. It made art more popular, put it
within the reach of a larger segment of the population and, secondly, offered
the opportunity to practice art to young people of all social strata, including
serfs, if they were interested and gifted. A good number of Academy students
were sent abroad to complete their studies, which in a way resulted in keeping
them strongly influenced and in some cases dependent on foreign trends and
styles.
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