This course will examine recurring themes in Russian art from the medieval period of Kievan Rus' to the postmodernist art of the Perestroika era.  Two of the major focuses for the course will be Russian avant-garde art of the revolutionary period and Russian theatre art connected with the Ballets Russes.  Both of these areas are extensively represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia and a number of classes will be held at the gallery working with original major art objects by artists including Malevich, Goncharova, Tatlin, Chagall, Bakst and Larionov.  There will be some consideration given to Russian cinema from Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin to Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev and Sokurov's Russian Ark. The course will also examine the impact of Russian art on Australian visual culture.

By the end of this course, you should be able to

1. Analyze many forms of Russian art and understand them within an art historical context.
2. Use specific examples to explain key concepts, themes and theories in Russian art
3. Think, write and argue with these key concepts, themes and theories.
4. Reflect on and discuss your own learning as it relates to the subject matter of the course.
5. Select and combine materials on a topic currently relevant to Russian art and present them in a coherent fashion in a team environment.
6. Understanding of Russian art within a broader art historical context.

Essay 3000 words (45%)

Tutorial paper and presentation 2000 words (25%)

Visual test (20%)

Tutorial participation (10%)

Three contact hours a week in lectures and tutorials plus graduate workshops

Gray, C. The Great Experiment: Russian Art 1863-1922, Thames

 Bird, A. A History of Russian Painting, Phaidon, Oxford

 Rudnitsky, K. Russian and Soviet Theatre 1905-1932, Thames

 Elliott, D. New Worlds: Russian Art and Society, Thames

 Bowlt, J. Russian Art of the Avant Garde, Thames

Sarabianov, D. Russian Art: From Neoclassicism to the Avant-Garde: 1800-1917, Thames