Development of the Program of the Society "Four Arts" in the Late Work of Its Members

The society «Four arts» was an important cultural phenomenon, which existed only from 1924  to 1931, but left a significant legacy. This paper examines paintings by two prominent members of this society, Martiros Saryan and Pavel Kuznetsov, particularly their pieces which were created in 1920s-1970s, and their relation to the artists’ interpretation of the program of the society «Four arts». While these two artists’ early works are well-known and the «Four arts» itself became an object of research by Adaskina (2022), this study will focus on the development of its ideology after the dissolution of the society on the example of Saryan and Kuznetsov. The purpose of this research is to analyze the two artists’ later works from the perspective of the «Four arts» ideology and determine how they interpreted and developed it throughout their careers.  This research consists of an introduction, three chapters, where the context of the «Four arts», the role of Saryan and Kuznetsov in the society and their development of the program are examined, and conclusion. In the course of the work, it was revealed the artists of the society, including Kuznetsov and Saryan, relied ideologically and stylistically on the culture of Russian and French modern and symbolism, part of which was their work during the organization of the Blue Rose exhibitions. But it was during the 1920s that their individual styles fully developed and went beyond the boundaries of the symbolist worldview. The work describes the mutual influence of the method of Saryan and Kuznetsov with the program of the «Four arts» and their common reliance on it in the years after the disintegration of the Society: throughout their careers both artists continued working with formal features in easel painting, emphasizing the emotional component rather than the plot, and choosing genres which were different from the official «thematic» painting, such as landscape and still life. At the same time, both artists also turned to industrial painting. But even in such works it is possible to trace the approach formed during the years of the «Four arts». ideals stated in the Society's program, such as involvement in teaching and work on the preservation of cultural monuments, also remained important for both artists. The adherence to these values was not interrupted even during the Soviet anti-formalist campaigns, which indicates their key importance in the artistic practice of Kuznetsov and Saryan.