RUSSIAN Folk Art describes the traditions, styles, and functions of a broad range of objects made by Russian peasant artists for local use by specialized artisans for trade. Beginning with the settings in which artists traditionally worked— the peasant household, the village, and the local market— Alison Hilton discusses the principal media they employed (wood, textiles, birch bak, bone, metal, and ceramics) and the items they produced: kitchen utensils such as bowls, goblets, dippers, and molds; tools used in making clothing; lace, embroidered linens, costumes, and everyday clothing; toys; elaborate window frames and house decorations; colorful broadsides called lubki.
This remarkable survey emphasizes the cumulative originality inherent in Russian folk art. the balance between time-honored forms and techniques, and the creativity of individual artists. It show how pervasive images designs evolved from ancient Slavic sources, absorbed elements of church, court, and urban arts, reflected historical events and daily life, and helped to form a Russian esthetic identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Finally, it examines the complex interaction between folk art and high culture: the role of serf artists, the preservation and reinterpretation of folk arty by scholars and professional artists, and the new roles of folk art in the Soviet era.