The artistic language of the Leningrad/Petersburg tapestry as the basis of industrial textiles

Abstract

The article analyzes the works of Saint Petersburg textile artists in the context of studying the phenomenon of Soviet decorative art and the ‘Leningrad style’. The author focuses on : the stylistic features and artistic techniques of the ‘Leningrad style’ in artistic tapestry, as demonstrated by the work of the outstanding artist Boris Migal. The stylistic coordinates that were determined during the development of the ‘Leningrad style’ were represented by a gravitation towards metaphorically filled conventional images, laconic and precise spots, proximity to monumental art, tectonic compositions, subtle coloristic nuances and frequent recourse to the drawing line and monochrome graphics. Migal was not only an artist, but also a teacher, which was an extremely important combination for the development of the Leningrad and, subsequently, Saint Petersburg tapestry. The author relies on the works of Migal’s colleagues, university groupmates and pupils (Irina Alova, Svetlana Busygina, Galina Bushueva, Anna Veksler) to identify several vectors in the development of Saint Petersburg tapestry art and their typical forms of artistic and plastic language. Though the said artists had different approaches and artistic manners, their creative searches reveal their belonging to the ‘Leningrad style’ and the school of artistic textiles that emerged at V. I. Mukhina Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School. The author analyzes the historical development and the continuity of the artistic and plastic language of artistic tapestry at the level of both meaning and expression. The analysis makes it possible to conclude that the Leningrad/Petersburg artistic textile was developing as a coherent stylistic system translated into the artistic items that served as reference points for the textile art industry of the second half of the 20^th century.