New Worlds

Between 1900 and 1937 radical political and cultural changes took place in Russia with cataclysmic rapidity and diverse inspiration. A new generation of artists, writers, and political theorists united in a rejection of the values of the past and in a relentless search for a new and modern world. This book recreates the age which, in many respects, has shaped our thought and the culture in which we live.. New Worlds offers a kaleidoscopic panorama of the creations and innovations of the period, starting and ending with the Russian pavilions at the Paris World Exhibitions of 1900 and 1937. . The political figures, from Nicholas II to Kerensky and from Lenin to Stalin, are present here, as well as the many and varied artists' groups like the Symbolists, the Acmeists, the Futurists, and the Constructivists; these and, above all, the great number of individual artists, writers, poets, theatre designers and directors, dancers and choreographers, musicians, film-makers, photographers, graphic designers, cartoonists, and textile, fashion, and pottery designers gave vital expression to a new world. Their vision, along with their achievements, were to perish in the 1930s under Stalin when idealism was suppressed in the name of ideology.