The Religious Aspect in the Works of the “Blue Rose” Artists

This article explores the religious aspects of the work of artists from the Blue Rose group (Moscow, 1907), representing the second generation of Russian Symbolism. The aim of the work is to analyze the specific nature of the sacred in their artistic practice and to identify its connection with the innovative approach to material and technique that emerged in the intellectual and artistic milieu of the Silver Age. It is argued that for the Blue Rose group, the sacralization and spiritualization of artistic materials became one of the creative principles. Primary attention is paid to the influence of Old Russian iconography on the aesthetics and symbolic language of the Blue Rose group. It is demonstrated that religious themes are realized not only through plot and paraphernalia, but primarily through a metaphysical understanding of the artistic material itself and the synthesis of spiritual and physical principles in the act of creation. Using works by key members of the movement (P.V. Kuznetsov, P.S. Utkin, A.V. Fonvizin, and others), this article reveals their characteristic non-canonical interpretation of religious motifs, demonstrating a desire for a spiritual and mystical understanding of the world through art. The article emphasizes the Blue Rose’s innovative transformation of the sacred in turn-of-the-century art. Finally, the significance of their artistic practice for the subsequent development of Russian Symbolism and the 20th-century avant-garde is substantiated, embodying the special ontological status of artistic material as a vehicle for the transcendental.

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