Group portrait of painters of the World of Art 1920

Boris Kustodiev painted this group portrait of the ‘World of Art’ association in Russia, showing its members relaxing together. This painting is all about the role of artists in society. The ‘World of Art’ group was founded in 1898, and promoted a modern aesthetic that was detached from everyday social concerns, embracing symbolism and individual artistic expression. They turned away from the socially engaged realism that had defined Russian art for decades. You’ll notice that these artists are placed in an interior, not out on the streets or in the fields with the workers or peasants. They are gentlemen with time for leisure. Their values aligned with the aristocratic patronage that sustained them. We can dig deeper by looking at publications of the time or records of the group's exhibitions. By doing so, we get a better understanding of the artist as someone deeply embedded in a social and institutional context. Art is never made in a vacuum.