"Amaravella" (; a combination of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

words; approximate translation: "sprouts of immortality", "light bearers") – the association of Russian cosmist artists (художники-космисты) of the 1923–1930s. Its members included A. P. Sardan (Baranov) (1901-1974), B. A. Smirnov-Rusetsky (1905-1993), P. P. Fateev (1891-1971), S. I. Shigolev (1895-1943), V. T. Chernovolenko (1900-1972), V. N. Pshesetskaya (Runa) (1879-1945/1946) (A. F. Mikuli (1882-1938) and V. I. Yatskevich were temporary participants of the group). The ideas of N. K. Roerich had a significant influence on the philosophical and ideological foundations of artists. The art of the participants of "Amaravella" reflected the cultural trends of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – ideas of

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

and

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, philosophy of cosmism and intuitivism, a number of religious and mystical movements (

theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

anthroposophy Anthroposophy is a spiritual new religious movementSources for 'new religious movement': which was founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensibl ...

Eastern philosophy Eastern philosophy (also called Asian philosophy or Oriental philosophy) includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philoso ...

, ideas of philosophers of life.

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 (Russian: Русский космизм), or simply cosmism, is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia, integrating science, religion, and metaphysics into a unified worldvie ...

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 (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...

Nicholas Roerich Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (), better known as Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, philosopher, and public figure. In his youth he was influenced by Russ ...

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

, and

Victor Borisov-Musatov Victor Elpidiforovich Borisov-Musatov (; – ) was a Russian painter, prominent for his unique Post-Impressionistic style that mixed Symbolism, pure decorative style and realism. Together with Mikhail Vrubel he is often referred as the cr ...

. 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 () (4 August 1915 in Kyiv, Russian Empire – 27 July 1984 in Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Ukrainian-born painter, archeologist and collector, especially of avant-garde art. He single-handedly founded the State Art ...

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