Hoff mann’s Works in the Art of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky

E.T.A. Hoffmann was a favorite writer of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, but Hoffmann’s works have never become the subject of a special study as Dobuzhinsky’s lite - rary sources of creativity yet. This determines the relevance of this article. Impressions from reading masterpieces of liter ature played an important role in the works of Russian artists of the late 19th — early 20th century.

The scientifi c novelty of this article lies in the fact that it is the fi rst undertaken experience in analyzing the impact of the works of Hoffmann on the art of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. The author used a complex method that combined the source analysis of the artist’s memoirs, the traditional formal analysis of his works, and the analysis of the texts of Hoffmann’s novels and short stories. The method allowed to expand and deepen the existing notions of the art of Dobuzhinsky, which had been created just on the basis of traditional formal analysis of his works.

The article reveals that the experience of reading Hoffmann’s novel “The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr”, as well as his short stories “The Golden Pot” and “The Corner Window”, infl uenced the fi gurative decision and choice of artistic sources (primarily, Japanese prints of the 18th—19th centuries) for a number of Dobuzhinsky’s artworks: illustrations to the works of Alexei Remizov and Mikhail Kuzmin, views of Saint Petersburg, views of some streets of Saint Petersburg. 

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