ABSTRACT
In the world of visual art at the beginning of the 20th century, other creative associations were being actively formed. The World of Art collective revived a theatrical “feast for the eyes”, which stylistically corresponded more to opera and ballet productions; these were infinitely removed from the problems of everyday life, which became more prominent because of intensifying social conflict. The Russian classics, the Moscow Art Theatre also staged contemporary drama. Living nature for Viktor Simov was an inexhaustible source that fed creative imagination; scenic truth was a benchmark and an antidote to false theatrical presentation. In an effort to convey the truth of life, rather than abstract ideas, Simov similarly “grounded” Henrik Ibsen’s other plays, for instance Ghosts and Brand. Again Simov’s “concrete” art was at variance with the spirit of “abstract” symbolism. According to general opinion, the Moscow Art Theatre also “grounded” other Russian symbolic dramas such as L. N. Andreev’s Anathema.
