History of World Exhibitions (Lots of photos). History of the World Exhibitions (Many photos) 1900 exhibition in Paris
where some typical Russian exhibits were located. These buildings were built on May 29, 1899 and, among the few other national pavilions, were ready for the opening day of the exhibition on April 14, 1900. The main one among them was the Russian Outskirts Pavilion, built according to the design of R.F. Meltzer. It had the appearance of a Russian town that suddenly found itself in Paris. Bells even rang on one of its towers. The architecture of the pavilion was created based on the Moscow and Kazan Kremlins. The ensemble was located 43 m from the Trocadero Palace. The outline of its plan was a trapezoid, and the area totaled 4400 m2. The tallest tower rose almost 47 m and was surrounded by walls with battlements and loopholes. Separate annex buildings adjoined it in front and on both sides. Opposite the main entrance (from the Seine) there was a spacious courtyard, in which, dividing it into two parts, there was a “Siberian” restaurant. In the left corner of the courtyard there was a rotunda-stage for musicians. From the courtyard there was a view of the hall of Central Asia, the entrance to which was decorated “in the Central Asian style” - copied from the portal of the Samarkand mosque. At the main entrance there was also the Imperial Pavilion - "Royal Chambers", made in the Old Russian style. It was intended for the Highest Persons (members of the royal family) and, together with the reception halls, overlooked the main facade of the Pavilion of the Russian Outskirts. There was also a copy of an old Moscow boyar’s dwelling with all the furnishings. Separate rooms in different annex buildings were intended for a large exhibition with the main theme of “Vehicles”. To the right of the central entrance were exhibits of the Main Administration of the Estates: a scientific exhibition (Siberian Railway - maps and models of bridges), riches of the Urals and northern regions (furs, samples of wood and rocks, gold, malachite), etc. The Sleeping Car Society demonstrated a train in which, with the help of a moving panorama by the artist P.Ya. Pyasetsky, a complete illusion of traveling along the Siberian Railway with stops at stations arranged according to the local model was created for visitors-passengers. Unlike most national pavilions, the structures of which consisted of a wooden frame, filled only in the first tier with brick and covered with plaster “Mak boards” that imitated stone, the Pavilion of the Russian Outskirts was made of brick. 
The facades of the towers and buildings are whitewashed to look like light brick, finished with stone-like plaster, decorated with colored majolica, tiles on the friezes, various relief details framing the openings, numerous cornices, and lace metal valances. The intricate roofs were made from multi-colored glazed tiles and stamped iron sheets painted in different colors. They were topped with openwork crests, and the tents of the towers were crowned with golden double-headed eagles. The interior decoration was also varied: for example, the vaulted ceiling of the reception hall was covered with gilding and colored ornaments; the interior of the hall had tiled stoves and colored stained glass windows. In total, in the Pavilion of Russian Outskirts, which truly became the “highlight” of the Russian department, there were 28 huge panels on themes from the life of the Caucasus, Central Asia, Siberia and the Far North. Most of them belonged to the brush of K.A. Korovin. According to the design of the same artist, architect I.E. Bondarenko built it in the style of buildings in the North of Russia in the 17th century. next to the walls of the Pavilion of Russian Outskirts there was a string of small wooden buildings called the “Russian Village”, where the Handicraft Department was located. Here there was a hut with an exhibition of women's handicrafts and other handicrafts, a church in the spirit of northern churches, etc. All wooden parts were made in Moscow. The carpenters, who arrived as part of a group of Russian workers, surprised us with their ability to use an ax in such work, for which the French used a whole set of tools. The State Pavilion of the Ministry of War was built from pine forest according to the design of A.I. von Gauguin "in modern Russian taste". There was the necessary stylized “set” of elements from ancient Russian architecture - kokoshniks, jug-shaped columns, windows with weights, tents, carvings. The composition of the building was also asymmetrical and picturesque in the Russian spirit; The role of high-rise accents here was played by turrets - the central one, crowned with a golden imperial eagle, and two smaller ones, topped with weather vanes. The architectural design of the state pavilion of the Main Directorate of the State Sale of Drinks, built according to the design of V.N. Zeidler on the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower, was associated more with the motifs of the Portuguese “Manueline” (16th century) than with images of Russian architecture. This massive stone building (300 m2 in area) stood out for its overload of decor and general unbalanced composition. On the Esplanade of the Invalides stood the pavilion of the Institutions of the Empress Mary. A rather modest wooden building by R. F. Meltzer was spectacular with its central part, clearly confirming the national identity of the entire structure. One of the private Russian buildings was the pavilion of the Popov tea trading company, also built of wood on the Esplanade of Invalids according to the design of F.O. Shekhtel. It was distinguished by the graceful outlines of the entrance opening and the decorative arch above it, beautiful carvings of the piers and paired columns, brightly colored frieze, and a large amount of fabric in the form of awnings over the terrace, awnings, and curtains. In contrast, the private pavilion of the Russian-American Rubber Manufactory, built according to the design of R.F. Meltzer on the Champ de Mars near Souffren Avenue, gave the impression of a ponderous monument. 
The Finnish Pavilion, built according to the El project, also belonged to the Russian buildings. Saarinen on the Quai d'Orsay in the forms of Finnish Art Nouveau. It had a rectangular plan, a steep glazed roof, a high multi-faceted tower, a spare relief ornament framing the arches of the entrance and exit. It housed only a part of the Finnish exhibits, the rest were in groups and classes Russian department in the general exhibition buildings. In addition, public and private pavilions were built at the exhibition: the Nikolaev Physical Observatory, a special pavilion at the general exhibition building of Forestry and Hunting, pavilions for exhibits of the Russian flour-milling industry, the Provodnik Partnership, the cement plant of the Smith and Co. o (which housed a full crushing workshop). By tradition, Russian cuisine was also presented in two large restaurants and a snack bar. The French press unanimously noted the “enormous growth of Russian industry” and the “incredible progress” of Russia in all branches of art and industry. The newspaper "Liberte" wrote: “Within a few years, Russian industry and trade have undergone such a development that amazes everyone.” The French Minister of Industry and Trade, Millerand, called our exhibition “one of the most interesting attractions at the Paris Labor Day.” Thus, if at the previous world exhibitions of 1867-1889. the main emphasis was on the exoticism of our architecture; if in 1893 the refined and luxurious eclectic stylization of the Russian pavilion and the solid multidisciplinary exhibition in it and in general buildings had already become the threshold to a qualitative leap, then the exhibition and architecture of domestic departments and buildings in 1900, in fact, they represented this leap. The representation of Russia in the quantity and quality of buildings and exhibits truly reflected the achievements in the cultural and economic life of the country. Now the appearance of the buildings, outlandish for foreign visitors, did not hide, as had happened before, the paucity of the exhibition, but rather preceded a collection of interesting objects. 
The World Exhibition brought the French treasury an income of 7 million francs. Over 76 thousand participants took part in the exhibition; the exhibition area was 1.12 km².
At the 1900 World's Fair, voice-over films and escalators were introduced to the public for the first time, and Campbell Soup was awarded a gold medal (it is still depicted on the soup can to this day).
Rudolf Diesel presented to exhibition visitors a diesel engine running on rapeseed oil.
About 50 million people visited the 1900 Paris Exhibition
Many panoramic paintings and new panoramic techniques were also presented, such as the sinorama, mareorama and the Trans-Siberian railway panorama.
The center of attention at the Palace of Illusions was a telescope with a lens diameter of 1.25 m, allowing one to see the Moon from a distance of one meter. This telescope was the largest of all created at that time. The telescope's eyepiece was 60 m long and 1.5 m in diameter.
And the press spoke enthusiastically about the Russian department. The gold medal of the exhibition was awarded to the Russian engineer Lavr Proskuryakov by a special committee headed by Gustav Eiffel for the Krasnoyarsk railway bridge. The French press unanimously noted the “tremendous growth of Russian industry” and the “incredible progress” of Russia in all branches of art and industry.
Russia had been poorly represented at previous World's Fairs, but at the 1900 Exhibition the government decided to demonstrate Russia's technical power as fully as possible.
Thanks to the special friendly relations between Russia and France, the largest exhibition area was allocated for the Russian department - 24,000 m². Russia spent 5,226,895 rubles on participation in the exhibition (of which the government allocated 2,226,895, and institutions and exhibitors 3,000,000 rubles).
Russia spent 5,226,895 rubles on participation in the 1900 exhibition
D. I. Mendeleev, who was vice-president of the International Jury, took an active part in the exhibition.
This was the fourth world exhibition in France. Like all previous shows, it was located in the very center of Paris - on the Champ de Mars, the Quai d'Orsay and, on the contrary, across the Seine - in the Trocadero area. The exhibition area, which occupied more than 70 hectares, was provided by the city free of charge. The exhibition turned into a unique experimental construction laboratory. Buildings and structures made of metal were built here, which, in terms of the boldness of their technical thought and their enormous size, were many years ahead of world practice. The grandiose 300-meter metal tower, designed by Gustav Eiffel on the banks of the Seine, was twice the height of the tallest buildings in the world. The engineer Bourdon took part in the design along with Eiffel, and it was built by several contractors: Gobert, Nougnier, Cachelin, Salle and Sauvestre. All parts of the tower were manufactured in a factory manner. Its construction lasted 7 months. The dynamic composition of the tower showed new aesthetic possibilities of metal architecture.
Behind the Eiffel Tower there were various exhibition buildings, the main compositional role of which was played by the luxurious Palace of Industry. On the dome of this building, 65 meters high, a huge female figure was installed, personifying France.
Behind the Palace of Industry designed by architect F.L. Duter and engineer M.Zh. Contamena built a true masterpiece of engineering art - the Palace of Machines. The length of this gigantic three-span building was 420 m, the middle span was 115 m, and the clear height was 45 m. Unique for that time was the light load-bearing structure of the central hall. It consisted of twenty lattice three-hinged arches resting directly on the foundation. The building had an unusual observation platform, operating on the principle of an overhead crane. It transported more than 200 visitors along the entire length of the grandiose pavilion and allowed them to view from above a varied exhibition - the most modern for that time and most of them working machines.
The Palace of Machines was a specifically exhibition building, outstanding in the history of world architecture. He changed the usual ideas associated with the distribution of masses in conventional structures. The famous architectural historian Siegfried Gideon wrote about this: “Such a freely covered spatial volume meant a victory over matter that was completely unknown until now.” This architecture, which expressed the new possibilities of machine production, contrasted with the prevailing tradition of decoration and eclecticism in which other exhibition buildings were maintained.
Unfortunately, the Palace of Machines, like most unique exhibition buildings of the 19th century, was dismantled after the closure of the world show. The Eiffel Tower was luckier. Despite numerous protests and petitions from Parisian writers, artists, sculptors and architects that accompanied the construction of the tower, and even after the exhibition was closed, it survived. Moreover, two decades later it became a symbol of the city. Ironically, the Eiffel Tower inspired poets and artists to create outstanding works in the 20th century.
In the Paris exhibition of 1889, 29 countries took part officially and another 11 countries took part unofficially. Russia, like most monarchical states, refused to officially participate in the show, “timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the execution of the French king.” The exhibition attracted 56 thousand participants. About 62 thousand exhibits were thematically divided into 9 groups and 83 classes:
1st group – objects of fine arts;
2nd group – subjects of upbringing and education;
3rd group – furniture, bronze, watches, carpets, luxury items;
4th group - fabrics, dresses, jewelry, toiletries;
5th group – mining industry, raw materials and their processing;
6th group – mechanically processed items;
7th group - food;
8th group – agriculture, winemaking, fishing;
9th group – gardening.
What unique was presented at this show? The most impressive was the engine department. Among the steam units, the machines of the American Corlis predominated. The large 1200-horsepower coal-lifting machine was amazing. The development of machine technology was ensured by the rapid growth of steel smelting using the latest processes. At the exhibition, along with the Bessemer and Martin processes, the dephosphorization of metal in converters using the Thomas method was shown. Here, for the first time, samples of cars were demonstrated: a three-wheeled car by Karl Benz and a four-wheeled car by Gottlieb Daimler.
The electrical department was widely admired. Lighting equipment, light bulbs, telephones, and the telegraph fascinated the public. Of particular interest was the stand with numerous inventions of Thomas Edison. Visitors stood in line for hours to listen to his phonograph. Great advances in electrical engineering, especially in the field of lighting, contributed greatly to the splendor of the exhibition itself. Effective and safe electric lighting made it possible to visit the exhibition in the evening. Gas and electricity were used to illuminate the exhibition, but gas was clearly inferior to the latter. The palm belonged to incandescent lamps. Interestingly, 70 Yablochkov candles were also burning in the gardens and on the bridge over the Seine.
There have been significant advances in the development of chemical technologies. Many new chemical products were demonstrated here: artificial alkaloid, indigo, saccharin, celluloid, etc.
The exhibition coincided with the 50th anniversary of the invention of photography. An extensive exhibition introduced the public to the victorious spread of “light painting” throughout the world.
The exhibition organizers organized several more special thematic exhibitions, among which the section “History of Human Dwelling” was of greatest interest. The author of the idea was the famous French architect Charles Garnier. According to his designs, 44 buildings were built, representing an impromptu retrospective of residential buildings of different nations from the Stone Age to the 17th century. The Paris Exhibition of 1889 began a tradition of building settlements of “exotic” peoples, which continued until the mid-twentieth century.
Despite the fact that Russia did not take official part in the Paris show, the Russian department was still privately represented. It occupied an area of 3800 square meters. m in the large gallery of the Palace of Industry. 820 of our compatriots exhibited their exhibits here.
Russia's unofficial participation in the exhibition inevitably affected its quality. The costs of participating in the exhibition this time fell entirely on the exhibitors themselves. There were no Russian exhibits in the machinery department. The mining section did not reflect the state of the Russian mining industry and was significantly inferior to similar sections of ours at previous world exhibitions. Russian artists were also poorly represented at the Palace of Fine Arts. Nevertheless, 671 Russian exhibitors received awards - 19 honorary diplomas, 128 gold, 184 silver, 210 bronze medals and 130 honorable mentions, i.e. more than 80% of the total number of world exhibition awards.
Among the most significant exhibits of the Russian department, the collection of soils sent by Professor V.V. stood out. Dokuchaev. Of particular interest was the “cube” of black soil brought from Voronezh and later transferred to the Sorbonne University. The collection of Russian soils received a gold medal at the exhibition, and its compiler was awarded the medal “For Merit in Agriculture.” Visitors and the press noted the quality of Kuznetsov's faience, Batashev and Vorontsov's Tula samovars, Morozov's calicoes, Novinsky's furs, Labzin's Pavlovo Posad shawls, Greenwald's hunting furniture and stuffed animals, Aliber's stone products. Special praise was given to Savin's leather, Svirsky's furniture, Chopin's bronze, silverware by Khlebnikov and Ovchinnikov, Frachet's cupronickel, and Auerbach's mercury ore samples. The first producer of Russian cognac, founder of famous cognac factories in Kizlyar, Yerevan and Tbilisi D.Z. Saradzhiev was awarded two gold medals at once.
Parisian newspapers spoke enthusiastically about the concerts of Russian music at the Trocadero Palace. A symphony orchestra conducted by N.A. performed here. Rimsky-Korsakov.
The Russian restaurant “in national taste”, which was set up on the first platform of the Eiffel Tower during the exhibition, enjoyed great success among the Parisian public. Among the “History of Dwellings,” the “Russian house” built by the French also stood out. It was a free improvisation on the theme of a two-story boyar house of the 15th century.
The World Exhibition of 1889 turned into a colossal celebration - a massive public holiday and at the same time a holiday of industry. It gave a lot of new ideas and improvements that contributed to the progress of mankind.
Russia at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 - St. Petersburg: Publication by I. Shustov, 1900. - 56, 116, 71, 5 p. : ill.; 43.
Russia at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 - St. Petersburg: Edition of I. Shustov, 1900. - 56, 116, 71, 5 p. : ill.; 43.
[From the Introduction]
To determine the state of culture and progress by the end of the 19th century, the government of the French Republic organized the World Art, Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in Paris in 1900, in which, at the invitation of France, Russia and forty-nine foreign countries took part.
According to the plan of Paris, an area of 1,080,000 square meters was allocated for the exhibition. meters with the provision of 24,000 sq. m. to Russia. meters (5,270 sq. fathoms).
The exhibition occupied the space between Place de la Concorde and Avenue d'Antin and Avenue des Champs Elysées; Place des Invalides (Esplanade des Invalides), the embankments of the Seine from the Pont Alexandre III, the Trocadero and the Champs de Mars. In addition, a place has been allocated in Vincennes Park for rolling stock of railways, items for constructing a railway track and its equipment. Temporary competitions in all kinds of sports were also held here.
Part one
Introduction
Russia at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900
Biographies of exhibition participants
Russia in the exhibition groups and in the pavilion of Russian outskirts
Part two
Exhibitors
Awards given to Russian exhibitors at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900
Alphabetical list of exhibitors for Russia's participation at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900
Sample pages
→ 1900
Politics and culture
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The main event of the year
World Exhibition in Paris. Panorama of the Champ de Mars from the gallery of the Trocadero Palace
1900
View of part of the World's Fair from the bridge on the Seine
Paris, 1900
Zhivago Foundation, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
The World Exhibition in Paris, which surpassed all previous exhibitions not only in France, but also anywhere else (they were held on various continents, but mainly in Western Europe), was certainly the main event of the year. It attracted the attention of the whole world and provoked the arrival of an unprecedented number of tourists in the country: from April to November, 50,860,801 people visited France - more than its entire population.
Entrance to the metro on Boulevard Pasteur in Paris, designed by Hector Guimard
OK. 1900
Roger-Viollet / East News
In July, the first metro line opened in Paris - a triumph of technology and art (the metro entrances, sophisticated from a decorative point of view, were decorated in the Art Nouveau style according to the designs of Hector Guimard). It is now possible to travel from one end of Paris to the other in just 25 minutes instead of an hour and a half.
Impressive buildings appeared on both sides of the Seine. On the left bank is the Orsay station, which after more than seven decades, as a result of a major internal reconstruction, became the Orsay Museum, the main center of 19th-century art. On the right bank there grew the Grand and Small Palaces (Grand Palais and Petit Palais), from which the Alexander III Bridge was thrown across the Seine; its very name was reminiscent of the ever-growing Russian-French ties. These buildings visibly embodied the Belle Epoque - a quarter-century period of French history, abruptly interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War.
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World Exhibition in Paris. View of the Pont Alexandre III
1900
World Exhibition in Paris. Pont Alexandre III and Invalides esplanade
1900
Zhivago Foundation, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
Among the most notable attractions of the exhibition was also the long-forgotten “Parisian Woman” - a slightly strange symbol of the great city with large breasts and oriental style, created through the efforts of the sculptor Paul Moreau-Vautier. This five-meter statue with outstretched arms welcoming the whole world, crowning a huge arch on the Place de la Concorde, simply could not survive for long, as it was cast from plaster.
World Exhibition in Paris. Sculptures in the central hall of the Grand Palais
1900
Zhivago Foundation, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
The main part of the World Exhibition was dedicated to the achievements of industry, but many hundreds of works of art from different countries were also displayed there for every taste - from the pompous creations of the masters of the Parisian salons to the paintings of the Impressionists, Georges Seurat and other opponents of official art that received citizenship rights here. (I. S. Ostroukhov was appointed organizer of the large Russian department of the painting exhibition). Art lovers and simply people who like to stare flocked to Paris from all over the world. The exhibition was visited by many Russian painters and cultural figures, including the Shchukin brothers.
World Exhibition in Paris. French painting at the Grand Palais
1900
Roger-Viollet / East News
As part of the World Exhibition, two expositions were launched, the organizers of which pursued far from the same goals. One exhibition, the Ten Year Exhibition (Exposition Decennale), focused on works of recent years, did not allow paintings by the Impressionists and their followers into its halls. At another, the Centenary, the Impressionists could be represented, but only with works performed before 1890 (the century was counted from the Great Revolution). This dispensation was achieved by the academic circles of France, who did not want to popularize the latest trends in painting, marked by the paintings of Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, and Paul Cézanne. Paintings of the latter were sent to the Centenary Exhibition by Paul Durand-Ruel, Ambroise Vollard and a number of famous collectors (14 works by Monet, 7 by Degas, 8 by Alfred Sisley, etc.) Be that as it may, the admission of the Impressionists to the international arena meant their recognition in the eyes of the rest of the world. At that moment, M. A. Morozov and S. I. Shchukin had barely begun to collect new French painting, and I. A. Morozov was still just thinking about such an idea, but it was already clear to them that, no matter how their Moscow brethren treated their hobby According to the merchant class, the path they have chosen is the right one and not so risky. At the same time, one of the Russian pioneers of new French painting, I. I. Shchukin, on the contrary, is selling most of his collection of impressionists in order to completely switch to old masters.
Young Pablo Picasso
1904
In connection with the exhibition of his paintings at the World Exhibition, the young Spaniard Pablo Picasso comes to Paris for the first time - and lingers there, becoming closely associated with the colony of Spanish modernists who settled in Montmartre: he greedily absorbs new acute impressions of the life and art of Paris.
The second future titan of the avant-garde, Henri Matisse, at this time stands on the threshold of radical changes in his destiny. Avoiding the well-trodden and promising paths offered by the Salon and the Academy of Arts, he first paints in the spirit of impressionism, then is influenced by the art of Vincent Van Gogh, but his paintings do not at all attract either lovers of new painting or Marchands: he was probably too ahead of himself. At the beginning of 1900, Matisse was forced to earn money as a painter, taking part as a day laborer in the decoration of the Grand Palais, a huge, newly completed building designed to house paintings and sculptures.
Grand Palais, Paris
1900
Archive of the Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkina
The alignment of creative forces in the French capital at that time was distinguished by exceptionally great diversity and significantly increased tolerance towards any innovations in a short time, because the World Exhibition of 1900 itself was nothing more than a colossal parade of innovations. The routes to climb the Parisian artistic Olympus are gradually losing their standardization and legitimacy. Salon benefits and awards attract young artists less and less. On the other hand, adherents of officially approved art are increasingly willing to adopt what only recently would have been subjected to the most decisive condemnation by the academic Areopagus. This, in particular, refers to the widespread use of Art Nouveau (Art Nouveau) techniques.
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Maurice Denis
Tribute to Cezanne
1900
Canvas, oil. 180 x 240
Orsay Museum, Paris
Pierre Bonnard
Man and woman
1900
Canvas, oil. 115 x 72.5
Orsay Museum, Paris
It is characteristic that Maurice Denis, one of the luminaries of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, paints a large group portrait “Tribute to Cezanne” (Orsay Museum, Paris), showing his friends reverently listening to the Master from Aix. An astute critic who had excellent command not only of the brush, but also of the word, Denis perfectly understood how important a place Paul Cézanne had already occupied in French painting, although he was still very far from wide public recognition.
The group of nabis, to which Maurice Denis belonged, then nominated its most talented masters - Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. In “Man and Woman” (Museum Orsay, Paris), Bonnard simply and boldly addresses issues of psychology and the opposition of the sexes, which at that time acquired an acute social resonance and worried not only scientists and medical workers, but also all thinking people.
The growing understanding of the coloristic foundations of painting led to the strengthening of the position of neo-impressionism on the Parisian stage, as well as to the expansion of this style beyond the borders of France. Young artists are noticeably attracted to Paul Signac and Henri Edmond Cross.
World population
The year 1900, the final year of the century, pushed the very logic of chronology to take stock and comprehensively take into account various indicators, especially since the 19th century became, at least for Europe, the era of the greatest achievements of civilization. It was calculated, in particular, that the globe is inhabited by 1617 million people (this figure has increased by 711 million over the century). In 1900, there were 132 million people in Russia, 40 in France, and 76 in the largest country in the Western Hemisphere, the United States.
"Boxer Rebellion"
Soldiers of the Eight Power Alliance and European recruits who suppressed the Boxer Rebellion in China
1900
European states, including Russia, began to suppress the “Boxer Rebellion” in China, aimed against Western expansion. As a result, China adopted an “open door” policy.
The first issue of the newspaper "Iskra"
December 1900
G.V. Plekhanov and V.I. Lenin founded the Marxist newspaper Iskra in exile. The illegal press contributed to the spread of anti-government sentiment in Russia.
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Development of Russia
Laying the Great Siberian Route.
Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich personally transports a wheelbarrow of earth onto the roadbed in Vladivostok.
May 19, 1891
Prisoners pave part of the Great Siberian Route.
Late XIX - early XX centuries.
Along with the USA, England, Germany and France, Russia has become one of the world's leading industrial powers. The country's financial position remained quite strong: the then ruble was backed by gold and was worth half the American dollar. The Russian railway network developed, and part of the Great Siberian Route was laid, construction of which began in 1891.
New in knowledge of the world
1900 is truly a milestone date. The point is not in the magic of a round number that closes one period and notifies about the onset of a new time, but in the formation of new conditions for intellectual awareness of the world, in which exact sciences coexist with esoteric fads, and rationalism is accompanied by faith in the sacraments. The eve of the next century is a crossroads of a wide variety of discoveries in the exact sciences and humanities, in literature and art. Max Planck, the founder of quantum theory, deduces the law of radiation. The era of color photography begins. Edmund Husserl publishes Logical Investigations, Sigmund Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams (Russian translation appears in 1913), and Henri Bergson publishes the book The Comic.
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The turn of two centuries of Russian culture
Mikhail Vrubel
City of Ledenets. Set design sketch for the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov (fragment)
1900
Mikhail Vrubel
The Swan Princess (fragment)
1900
Canvas, oil. 142.5 x 93.5
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Russian culture approached the end point of the 19th century with many significant achievements that can withstand comparison with the highest world standards, especially in the field of literature and music. A characteristic property of this period of development of Russian culture was comprehensiveness, syntheticity, universality - with deep attention to the national nature of the chosen theme, image, motive. In 1900, this unique fusion of qualities was demonstrated, in particular, by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” which was probably not the best creation of this composer and yet has not lost its significance. “Saltan” was staged at the Moscow Private Opera, the production was designed by M. A. Vrubel. The role of the Swan Princess was performed by the artist’s wife N.I. Zabela-Vrubel. Many years later, B.V. Asafiev admired the “exceptional sound-light-colorful imagery” of this performance.