Why was the Russian avant-garde inspired by… religious icons? (PICS)

Collecting icons became fashionable among artists as early as the second half of the 19th century. Avant-garde leaders Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova were also passionate collectors of icons and ‘lubok’ (traditional folk) prints, viewing them not merely as religious objects, but as important aesthetic phenomena.

The beginning of the 20th century also saw a major cultural event take place in Russia: the "revelation" of ancient icons that had been hidden for centuries beneath layers of darkened linseed oil varnish and, later, overpainting. The restoration of Andrei Rublev’s ‘Trinity’ in 1905 proved particularly significant. Once cleaned, the icons were revealed to the public as works featuring vibrant colors, concise forms and remarkable expressiveness. This made a profound impression not only on art historians, but also on artists. It’s hardly surprising that soon every icon became a subject of analysis and reinterpretation.

Avant-garde artists borrowed not the subjects, but the compositional principles. Formal techniques of icon painting – long dismissed as "incorrect" from the perspective of academic painting – suddenly resonated with the quest for a new kind of art. One example is "reverse perspective", in which lines converge not in the background of the painting but toward the viewer, creating the sensation that the image is moving toward the viewer. Avant-garde artists adopted this technique in their pursuit of a new way of perceiving the world.

Artists were also drawn to the stylized nature of icon painting. Figures and objects in icons lack three-dimensional volume and exist on a single, flat plane. This rejection of the imitation of the three-dimensional world became the foundation for many avant-garde movements. Icon painters also used pure, vivid colors (red, blue, gold) and distinct outlines, lending the images a powerful expressiveness – qualities that appealed to the avant-garde, as well.

For many of them, particularly Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich, art was a form of spiritual knowledge. They sought a "pure" art, free from the burdens of everyday life and objectivity, just as an icon serves as a window into the divine realm. Kazimir Malevich’s famous ‘Black Square’ is often viewed as a kind of "modern-day icon" – an abstract image symbolizing a "zero point of form", a new beginning and pure energy.

Mikhail Larionov’s theory of ‘Rayonism’ was largely inspired by icon painting. The artist consciously established a connection between this new art and the icon; in 1913, he even staged a simultaneous exhibition of his own avant-garde works and icons from his private collection to highlight their affinity. Works by Natalia Goncharova from this period, including the ‘Evangelists’ series (1910–1911), make direct reference to iconographic imagery, albeit reinterpreted through an avant-garde lens.