The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922 (World of Art)

by Marian Burleigh-motley, Camilla Gray

Release Date: October, 1986

Edition: Paperback

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Awful

This book was required reading for a class I took on Russian Art and Architecture, and I assure you that if it wasn't required I would not have wasted my time. I feel that Gray's writing is dense, boring, and difficult to understand. She often includes images that she does not discuss or that she discusses in totally different parts of the book, leaving the reader to constantly flip through the book and piece together information in a totally inefficient way. I feel like better organization would have made this book more reader-friendly.

The Book that Inspired My Interest in Russian Art

The best single volume on the Russian Avant Garde movement is 'The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922 (World of Art)', orignally written by Camilla Gray (daughter in law of the composer Sergei Prokofiev), and revised by Dr. Marian Burleigh-Motley. Useful for anyone looking to understand how art is inspired by the historical climate of a period, in this case climaxing in a burst of optimism and energy after the end of Tsarist rule.