Modification of the realistic ideal in the artistic culture of Russia from the 1860s through the 1930s

The article examines the modification of the realist ideal in the Russian artistic culture of the second half 19s - first third 20s centuries. The authors emphasize that the mainstreaming of the interest in realism caused by different factors, among which and tendencies inherent in the modern art market, and the possibility of some evaluation performed in a realistic manner works outside of the political/ ideological discourse, and explicitly manifested a nostalgia for the Soviet past. The beginning of the article is devoted to consideration of the ideal, lying in the basis of realism, in retrospect its dynamics from the Baroque realism of the 17s century to the orthodox realism of the 19s century. Further analyses of the work of art theorists and publicists of the second half of the XIX century (J. Champfleury, P.-J. Proudhon, E. Ten), which present theoretical justification of art. The authors notes that in Russian painting realism as a method of reflection of reality emerged in the second half of the 19s century in the work of artists of the Wanderers. Further, the coherence of the two variants of realism -critical and socialist - is analyzed; the similarity of their themes, the orientation to the mass audience, but the ideological and semantic discrepancy associated with the difference of goals that faced Russian and Soviet art is emphasized. In conclusion the authors draw conclusions that various modifications of the realistic ideal are immanent to a particular artistic style.