A. N. BENOIS ON ART IN THE GERMAN COLLECTION OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY "RUSSIANS ABOUT RUSSIA"

The paper explores the work of A. N. Benois "Contemporary Art", which was published in 1906 in German in Frankfurt-am-Main in the collection of articles "Russians about Russia". It focused on the analysis of artistic situation in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, consideration of the work of Russian masters of the older, middle and new generations, and assessment of their contribution to the culture and cultural heritage of the country. Acting as a historian of art, critic and artist, Benois provided foreign readers with a rich tapestry of Russian art life with all its participants and auxiliary commentaries according to his vision of their talent, originality and value. In his lifetime his judgments about art were often subjected to accusations in bias and subjectivity, however over the course of a century they acquired exceptional significance for understanding complex historical and cultural context of the era, called the Silver Age of Russian culture. Currently the works of Alexandre Benois are included in the golden fund of the national cultural heritage, highly valued and studied all over the world. Their unique, extremely wide and diverse creative content has retained its relevance and continues to be in high demand in modern art, educational and sociocultural practice.