Abstract: The purpose of this article is to study polyphonic techniques in the opera choirs of M. Mussorgsky. The question is raised about the identity of M. Mussorgsky's polyphonic thinking from the point of view of the free refraction of the forms and techniques of writing Western European polyphony in it. The subject of the study are choirs from the operas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina". Through the synthesis of research methods, including musicology and choral studies, the specific features of M. Mussorgsky's polyphony are revealed. Attention is drawn to the fact that polyphony in M. Mussorgsky's operas is an extremely broad concept, consisting in the author's specificity of the manifestation of counterpoint as a general polyphonic state of all elements of figurative and musical dramaturgy. Attention is focused on the emergence of an organic trinity of sub-vocal, imitation and contrast polyphony. Based on the analysis of choral scenes, it is concluded that M. Mussorgsky's polyphonic thinking, having developed outside the mainstream of polyphonic classics and classical voice studies, significantly influenced the formation of the individual compositional style of Russian composers of subsequent centuries. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time a separate study is devoted to the choral polyphony of M. Mussorgsky, presented from the standpoint of musicology and choral studies. The author's special contribution to the disclosure of the topic is the study of choral polyphony as the main creative method of M. Mussorgsky, which is the object of special research and consists in the free refraction of forms and techniques of writing Western European polyphony in Russian music of the second half of the XIX century.

Keywords: composition technique, creative method, contrasting polyphony, Boris Godunov, Khovanshchina, choral polyphony, sub - vocal polyphony, imitation polyphony, Mussorgsky, russian music

Abstract: The development of science and technology contributes to the progress of society and changes the way of life of people in all aspects, including the necessary components of modern human activity, such as education, communication and production. Looking at the trajectory of the historical development of culture, we can see that along with scientific and technological progress, not only social culture is changing, but also the ways of our communication. Culture, being influenced by the improvement of technology, effectively uses scientific and technical means for its own development, and the development of modern Chinese painting is naturally integrated into it. The evolution of science and technology has expanded the ways of communication and dissemination of Chinese painting, as well as the forms of presentation of works of art. Therefore, the multifaceted influence of mass media and technology on social culture is a subject that requires serious study. We must effectively use scientific and technical means for our own purposes, but not replace live communication with them. Currently, society is facing a growing trend towards the use of mass media as a means of communication, which is an unavoidable reality. It is believed that in the future, progressive technologies can help us overcome the limitations of more communication and dissemination of information and bring "media quasi-interaction" closer to "real interaction".

Keywords: techniques, distribution, communication, chinese painting, technical means, China, mediatization, Culture, painting, science

Abstract: The article fills in the missing knowledge in science about the shoulder element of the kavlalks (armpits) of the traditional women's costume of the mid-nineteenth century of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Insarsky district of the Penza province, presents a complete description of its constructive and decorative specifics and the names of the details of the decoration in comparison with similar elements in the Mordovian costume and in comparison with the correspondences in the costumes of the peoples of the Middle Volga region. The materials of the archive of the Russian Geographical Society (hereinafter referred to as the SBI "RGO") are investigated as the main sources. Along with general scientific methods, systematic, comparative-historical and art criticism approaches were also used. The novelty of the work is due to the study of the original decoration of the local version of Moksha clothing, previously not mentioned by researchers. It is established that the existence of the shoulder decoration until the middle of the nineteenth century reflects the complex ethnogenetic processes in the Oka-Sur interfluve of the XVI – XVIII centuries. The technical, technological, artistic and stylistic features of the element of the Moksha women's costume reveal an affinity with the decoration of the ozhanuchka, preserved until the twentieth century in the Erzya women's costume of the Temnikovsky district of the Tambov province. The scientific contribution is determined by enriching the classification of Mordovian costume jewelry with a unique variant of the strap-type decor, known only to the Mordovian people.

Keywords: origin, the strap shape of the decoration, decorative finishing, ethnogenetic processes, shoulder decoration, protection of cultural heritage, mordva-erzya, mordva-moksha, traditional women's costume, the Mordovian people

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of the exhibition activity of the masters of the Palekh lacquer miniature. The author has chosen as a chronological period the first fifteen years of the existence of this fishery – from its inception in the first half of the 1920s to the beginning of the Second World War. The subject of the study, therefore, is an analysis of the exhibition practices of the Palekh art craft of the pre-war period (1923-1939). The article shows the importance of the exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer craft at all stages of this brief, but nevertheless extremely eventful period. The purpose of the article is to show the importance that the exhibition activity had for the success and public recognition of Palekh as a new and quickly became the most famous lacquer craft in Russia.     The scientific novelty of the article consists in the fact that, using historical-typological and structural research methods, as well as a historical-systematic approach, the author analyzes the most important domestic and foreign shows of the 1920s - 1930s, at which the products of the Palekh lacquer miniature were exhibited. The author emphasizes an important circumstance: the very formation and strengthening of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft in the first half and mid-1920s was caused precisely by the success of the prototypes exhibited at the largest exhibitions of that time, such as the All-Russian Exhibition of 1923 in Moscow, as well as the International Exhibition in Paris of 1925. At the same time, it is shown that Palekh's products continued to be successful at the shows (the exhibition "10 years of October" in 1927, the Soviet Exhibition in New York in 1928, the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937 and many other exhibitions analyzed in the article). Thus, it is the justification of the success of the exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft as an important factor of its public recognition that is the main conclusion of the article.

Keywords: soviet lacquer miniature, exhibition activities, exhibition, russian lacquer miniature, lacquer miniature, Palekh, folk art, russian folk culture, applied art, decorative and applied art

Abstract: In the contemporary art of China, a special role belongs to painting on a military theme. Its formation began in connection with the need to keep a visual chronicle of the revolutionary struggle for the New China, the assertion of its status in the eyes of the people. Initially, realism was chosen as the main artistic method. By the turn of the XX and XXI centuries, as a result of the influence of modern art trends, a "new realism" emerged. The subject of this article is the pictorial work of contemporary Chinese artists who dedicate their paintings to military subjects and themes. He pays special attention to the art criticism analysis of the formal and substantive side of the paintings of the late XX – early XXI centuries. The main conclusion of the study is the establishment of the fact that under the influence of the so-called "new realism" Chinese painting associated with images of war, army, navy, has changed in the direction of images relevant to the era, as well as methods and techniques of image construction. However, at the same time, it should be noted that there is still a connection with traditions, which allows us to characterize the process of evolution of the Chinese school of battle painting. The novelty of the article is the introduction to the scientific circulation of Russian art criticism of a series of paintings by Chinese masters devoted to military topics. In general, the battle genre in Chinese painting is associated in the work with the formation of the People's Republic of China and is considered in a political and socio-cultural context.

Keywords: traditions, China, realistic art, painting, neorealism, contemporary art, batalistics, military theme, innovation, exhibition

Abstract: The subject of the study is the analysis of the ways of development of the Palekh lacquer miniature fishery in the 1980s - the last decade of the Soviet period, which also became the last relatively prosperous time of the development of the fishery itself. Special attention in the article is paid to the analysis of the so–called Palekh "split" - the destruction of the unified organization of the Palekh art and production workshops, which followed in 1989 and ended the Soviet period in the history of the Palekh craft. The purpose of the article is to characterize the state in which one of the most prosperous Soviet crafts of folk art – the famous craft of the Palekh lacquer miniature – entered the tragic era of the 1990s. The scientific novelty of the study consists in an attempt to comprehensively study the late stage of the history of the Palekh lacquer craft in the 1980s, which also makes it possible to realize the problems of its modern crisis situation. Using the historical and systematic method, as well as the method of comparative analysis, the author of the study comes to the conclusion that the 1980s (before the "split" of 1989) became, like the previous decades of the history of the Palekh lacquer miniature fishery (despite some individual costs), the time of its progressive development, and the main reason for the collapse the financial disagreements of its participants became a single organization of the fishery in 1989.

Keywords: split, russian folk art, perestroika, 1980s, russian culture, russian lacquer miniature, Palekh, Palekh Art School, folk art crafts, palekh miniature

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to identify historical information in the text of the Georgian-language poem "Alguziani": the identification of the personalities mentioned in it is carried out, as well as the determination of the time of the events described. This is followed by an analysis of the text, which makes it possible to identify signs in it (terms, personalities, events) indicating a certain historical epoch. Then the events described in the poem are dated by comparing its plot with the real historical picture of the period determined during the study. In the course of a comprehensive analysis, a picture is formed that allows, firstly, to identify a number of the heroes of the poem with real historical figures of the XIV-XV centuries, and secondly, to point out specific socio–political processes reflected in the tendentious presentation and poetic form.   For the first time, as a result of the analysis, a hypothesis is put forward that determines the dating of specific incidents (the war with the Kalmyk Khan, the war with the Chechen tsar and other plots) and identifies the personalities of the main characters of the work (Alguz, Amakhuni, Cairo Khan, Bibor, Kurtagon and others). The study allows us to express a reasoned opinion according to which the events described in the poem "Alguziani" describe the processes of the XV century and reflect the confrontation of the Crimean Khanate and the Great Horde, as well as the peoples of the Caucasus involved in it. Thus, regardless of who the author of the poem was, it arouses historical interest and can serve as an appropriate source for researchers.

Keywords: The Big Horde, Hour, Weights, XV century, Cairo Khan, Chechnya, Circassia, Ossetia, Alguziani, Crimean Khanate

Abstract: The subject of the study is the issue of interaction between the artist – J.O. Fragonard - and an influential official institution, such as the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture in the XVIII century. From the standpoint of historical sociology and psychology, the author discusses why, having achieved significant success, won the Rome Prize and received the title of appointed, the artist preferred to move away from the Academy and deliberately refused to build an academic career. Analyzing the reasons for such a decision, the author draws on historical sources that allow to obtain data on the private life of the master, his relations with teachers, academic authorities, customers of various categories. Reconstructing the artistic environment of Paris of the period under consideration, the author places his hero in a broad cultural context, without which it is impossible to understand Fragonard's place among his predecessors and contemporaries. Of course, the author constantly checks with scientific works, where the problems of interest to him are touched upon.     For the first time in Russian historiography, the author examines in detail the main facts of the biography of J.O. Fragonard in the context of his relations with the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. However, the principal novelty of the study lies in the attention to how a new type of personality is formed in the French artistic environment of the middle of the XVIII century, unlike the type prevailing at the end of the previous century. Artists from the time of the foundation of the Royal Academy sought first of all to separate themselves from the craft environment, to prove their belonging to the creative elite and their equality with the advanced Italian masters. Now, the defense of creative freedom, including from the Royal Academy, comes to the fore, the search for one's own path, which is not always compatible with an academic career. According to the author, the experience of creative freedom gained by such Rococo masters as J.-O. Fragonard turned out to be especially important for the further development of French art.

Keywords: Paris Academy of Painting, patronage, art criticism, Salons, rococo, french art, the art of the XVIII century, School of patronized students, French Academy Rome, Fragonard

Abstract: The article examines the historical process of the development of the features of the embodiment of the Yellow River motif, which is quite relevant in modern Chinese art, made in the technique of oil painting. Chinese artists turned to the classical world heritage of painting only at the end of the nineteenth century. In a relatively short period of time, Chinese masters not only perfectly mastered the realistic principles of oil painting, but also were able to adapt this type of artistic creativity to their culture by searching for a national idea of the work. This article is devoted to the analysis of the image and the symbolic meaning of the Yellow River in Chinese oil painting. The study concluded that the character and worldview of the Chinese people originated in the valley of the Yellow River, so the image of this river is inextricably linked in the minds of every citizen of the country with the origins of the nation. Moreover, the artistic expression of the spiritual values of the Chinese people cannot be conceived without the image of the Yellow River. In the modern era, many oil artists express the image of the Yellow River in different ways, conveying their understanding and perception of the national spirit through pictorial means. In this regard, it is of interest to study the variations of the image of the river in oil painting from the point of view of its symbolic meaning and artistic expressiveness. This study identifies and examines, by the example of outstanding works of oil painting in China of the late XX and early XXI centuries, the features of the pictorial reading of the image in the plot compositions.

Keywords: destiny, heroism, the spirit of resistance, national symbol, symbolism, picture, Yellow River, artistic image, chinese art, oil painting

Abstract: The subject of this study is an analysis of the exhibition practices of the Fedoskin lacquer miniature craft in the post-war period (from 1945 to the early 1970s). The purpose of the article is not just to tell about the exhibitions of Fedoskin lacquer products of the post–war period, but above all to show those important changes that allow us to consider the post–war period as an important stage in the history of the development of the craft and his exhibition activities. Having briefly reviewed the bibliography of the issue and given a description of the exhibitions of the Fedoskino labor artel in the pre-war period (1920s – 1930s), the author analyzes in detail the most remarkable post-war exhibitions of the craft, finding both common features with the previous period and the features of the differences on which the author focuses his attention.   Using the method of comparative analysis, as well as historical-systemic and problem-chronological research methods, the author characterizes the various forms of exhibition activity used to exhibit products of the Fedoskinsky lacquer craft both in the post-war period and earlier. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the analysis of the activities of museum workers and craft artists in the popularization and public recognition of the products of the Fedoskin lacquer miniature in the post-war period. The main conclusion of the article is the statement of the importance of studying the exhibition practices of the Fedoskinsky fishery of the post-war period for the most complete study of its history and public recognition.

Keywords: decorative and applied art, applied art, soviet lacquer miniature, russian lacquer miniature, lacquer miniature, Fedoskino, folk art, russian folk art, exhibition, exhibition activities

Abstract: The article is devoted to the history of the production and painting of artistic porcelain products in the Palekh craft – a little-studied page in the annals of the twentieth century Palekh. The subject of the study is an analysis of the technical and artistic difficulties faced by Palekh artists in mastering the production and painting of porcelain in the 1920s - 1930s, as well as the reasons that, unlike the production and painting of papier–mache, it could not be put on an industrial basis. The purpose of the article is to expand our understanding of the richness of the ways of development that the Palekh fishery had during the early Soviet period using the example of an alternative artistic material for Palekh. Using the method of comparative analysis, as well as narrative and structural research methods, the author examines the role of A.V. Bakushinsky and other representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia in the development of porcelain painting by Palekh artists. The scientific novelty of the study consists in an attempt to consider this problem as a complex phenomenon: the article analyzes Palekh porcelain products from both the pre-war period and the 1950s – 1970s. The main conclusion of the article is the statement that despite the gradual fading of the Palekh fishing organization's interest in this material, many Palekh artists continued to create talented and original porcelain products during the Soviet period.

Keywords: russian folk crafts, palekh miniature, russian lacquer miniature, ceramics, Dulevsky Porcelain Factory, porcelain, Palekh, russian folk art, applied art, artistic varnishes

Abstract: The subject of the study is the Anglo-Indian community of the 1880s and the reflection of its characteristic features in the works of Rudyard Kipling in the mid-1880s - early 1890s - newspaper essays, poems, short stories. Such features of the Anglo-Indian community as isolation, its isolation from the indigenous population of India, hostility towards travelers who judge the state of the country based on short-term visits, not understanding the unique climatic, political, and social conditions of India are considered in detail. Special attention is paid to the attitude of the Anglo-Indian community to the emerging national movement demanding the expansion of the rights of Indians in the governance of the country.   As a result of the study , the following conclusions were made: 1) the image of a traveler who describes India, but does not have knowledge about it and understanding of its conditions, often found in the early works of R. Kipling ("Paget, C. P.", "Anglo-Indian Society", "The Enlightenment of Padgett, a member of Parliament"), was characteristic of the Anglo-Indian literature of the period under study (in in particular, for the work of J. Abery-Mackay) and reflected the views widely spread in the Anglo-Indian environment; 2) the changing conditions of Indian life, such as the emergence and development of the national movement, are becoming a new plot in Anglo-Indian literature and Kipling's work, showing the negative attitude of the community to the strengthening of the political activity of the indigenous population India.

Keywords: Abery-Mackay, national movement, Anglo-Indian community, Kipling, colonialism, Indian National Congress, anglo-Indian literature, travelers, poems, essays