Article
Zolotoe runo [The Golden Fleece] (1906–1909) By Chuchvaha, Hanna
Article
The successor to the World of Art, the Symbolist art-literary journal Zolotoe runo [The Golden Fleece] (1906–1909) was published in Moscow by Nikolai Riabushinsky (1877–1951), the offspring of a wealthy merchant family, and ran for 48 issues. It became a rival to the literary periodical The Vesy [Scales] (1904–1909), edited by Symbolist poet Valery Briusov (1873–1924). The quest implied in the title and expressed in the journal’s editorial manifesto was an articulation of the Symbolist notion of the search for beauty and the value of art. Contemporaries, however, criticized the journal and believed that it did not express anything new or fresh. For the first six months it was published in Russian and French, and articulated the cosmopolitan desire to promote Russian art and literature in Europe. The Symbolist artists of the future art group Golubaia roza [Blue Rose] (organized in 1907) created the look of The Golden Fleece. The periodical printed the highest quality reproductions and used expensive imported enamelled and silk paper. By 1909, the journal gradually lost its luxurious look, and ceased publication after Riabushinskii’s bankruptcy.