The Decorative Arts in Russian Architecture - Part I

Stained Glass Window Project by Artist Kupchinskaya

Digging up my digital archive I found few very interesting sketches dated 1905-1907.

I'd rather prefer to quote William Brumfield than write in my own words to describe this period and movement:

"The revival of the decorative arts in Russia during the latter half of the nineteenth century played an important role in the development of an innovative architectural movement centered in Moscow and St.Petersburg at the turn of the century.

Known as the style moderne, or simply the "new style", this protean movement corresponded in the broadest sense to its contemporary art nouveau, although in specifics it resembled more closely the Secession and occasionally incorporated elements derived from the arts and crafts revival in Great Britain and Finland.
For all of the obvious borrowings that contributed to the style moderne, the major impetus for a renewed appreciation of the design-in both architecture and the applied arts-originated in local Russian centers of the arts and crafts movement, first at Abramtsevo in the 1870s and then at Talashkino in 1890s. Both colonies continued their work into the first decade of the twentieth century, and thus provided not only an early example of the revival of the applied arts but also a contemporary source of creative ideas linking traditional craftsmanship with modern design."