Man and Space in the Life Writing Texts of K.S. Petrov-Vodkin

Abstract

Life-writing is increasingly coming into the focus of academic researchers, becoming the source of a better understanding of cultural categories and practices which go far beyond the biography of a specific individual. This article analyses the memoirs, diary entries and letters of the Russian artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin in order to examine his unique understanding of the category of space. Spatial perception lies at the basis of any cultural outlook, defining the worldview of its representatives. Petrov-Vodkin’s life-writing allows us to trace back the process of formation of his innovative perception of space, which is reflected in his artwork. The artist abandons the linear perspective and insists on a subjective and dynamic spatial perception, formulated in his theory of the ‘spherical perspective’. He examines the interaction between objects, people and the space around them. Petrov-Vodkin uses his private experience to interpret the laws of the universe and connects the future to a new cosmic understanding of spatiality.

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