Amaravella (russian: Амаравелла; from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''amaravella''), or the Cosmists (Космисты), was a group of young Soviet artists active between 1923 and 1928. Its members included Aleksandr Sardan (Barabanov) (1901–1974),

Boris Smirnov-Rusetsky Boris Smirnov-Rusetsky (21 January 1905 – 7 August 1993; russian: Борис Алексеевич Смирнов-Русецкий) was a Soviet painter, member of Amaravella group. (In Sanskrit language Amaravella means ''immortality spro ...

(1905–1993), (1891–1971), (1895–1942?), (1900–1972) and (1879–1945/46).

Formation

In 1922, the artists group was founded by Fateyev, a painter who was then 32 years old. The name Amaravella, however, was introduced in 1928 when Sardan coined it based from a Sanskrit word that means "bearing light" or "creative energy".

Style

Ideologically the group belonged to the

Russian cosmism Russian cosmism, also cosmism, is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in Russia at the turn of the 19th century, and again, at the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a burst of scientific ...

movement. It embraced a range of ideas and artistic approaches that explored cosmic harmony. The artists, who lived in a commune, were heavily influenced by the ancient East's works, as well as those of

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...

Nicholas Roerich Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophi ...

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis ( pl, Mikołaj Konstanty Czurlanis – ) was a Lithuanian painter, composer and writer. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been ...

, and

Victor Borisov-Musatov Victor Elpidiforovich Borisov-Musatov (russian: Ви́ктор Эльпидифо́рович Бори́сов-Муса́тов), ( – ) was a Russian painter, prominent for his unique Post-Impressionistic style that mixed Symbolism, pure de ...

. Like M. Sokolov and V. Komarovskiy, members of the Amaravella were persecuted because their work did not conform to the "socialist realism" style prescribed for Soviet art. Particularly, their works were categorized as "formalism" through the 1932 decree ''On Restructuring Literary and Artistic Organizations,'' which repressed creative freedom.

Works

Several paintings of the Amaravella artists were collected by Iury Linnik, who claimed to be a cosmist poet and philosopher, and

Igor Savitsky Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky (russian: И́горь Вита́льевич Сави́цкий) (4 August 1915 in Kyiv, Russian Empire – 27 July 1984 in Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Ukrainian-born painter, archeologist and collector, especiall ...

References

{{Reflist 1923 establishments in Russia 1928 disestablishments in Russia Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century Arts organizations established in 1923 Cosmism Russian artist groups and collectives Russian avant-garde Soviet artists