Dimensions friends:
I'm copying this from an e-mail I just sent out. May it be of interest or use to you.
Friends -
We are members of The Museum of Russian Art (and music, lectures, and gifts). I'm sure that all, or most, of you have seen these iconic nesting dolls before. They are usually interpreted as a family, with the great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and offspring represented. I have a somewhat different interpretation which I have not found on-line, but is obvious to me.
As we grow, from birth through childhood and into young adulthood, we each develop persona and coping mechanisms appropriate to our surroundings, our ages, our beliefs and our skills. In introspective analysis (engaged in many, many times over the years "Who am I?" - "What was I?" - "Where did I come from? - "Where am I going?") these early models of behavior and personality never disappear, or are totally rejected as we grow into adulthood and (in my case) old age.
I think the nested dolls are a perfect representation of this process. As I said, my conjecture has raced ahead of my actual knowledge. I cannot find any similar interpretation in sources immediately available to me. I asked the proprietor of TMORA gift shop (IZBA) and she had not heard that interpretation either, but thought it was a good one.
I think that one of these sets of dolls would make a good gift for a younger person, as they approach, or enter, adulthood. Each would be accompanied by a write-up similar to this one; as in Buddhism, a focal point or a guide to meditation or introspection.
I think the same model would appropriate in the analysis of the steps of growth in a marital relationship, parent/child relationship, or in any evolving relationship.
I am sending this to a rather large number of friends and acquaintances, including some who are on our gift list (Don't peek!).
Ho Ho Tai
Posted By Michelle Massey | September 19, 2017
Join us in the Lower Gallery for Matryoshka: The Nesting Doll
November 10th, 2017 April 14, 2018
Matryoshka, a painted wooden nesting doll, is familiar to many as the quintessential Russian souvenir. Pulled apart, the Matryoshka spills out smaller figures, each one inside a larger doll, until the tiniest one is revealed. Matryoshka dolls are new-comers in the ancient family of Russian wooden toys. The brightly painted toy was developed in the midst of Moscows sophisticated artistic elite in the late 19th century. Inaugurated at the World Expo in Paris in 1900, the Russian doll became popular with European collectors before it became a folk craft in remote villages of densely wooded Northeastern Russia. Moscows prominent artists played with its design before Russian peasant children ever set their eyes on the amusing toy.
A thriving industry in its early, pre-revolutionary years, Matryoshka production was brought under the control of the state during the Soviet period. The art of post-Soviet Matryoshka stands in striking contrast to the previous uniform styles. Once again a home industry, contemporary Matryoshka nesting dolls express the variety and dynamism of artistic talent.
Share with a friend
I'm copying this from an e-mail I just sent out. May it be of interest or use to you.
Friends -
We are members of The Museum of Russian Art (and music, lectures, and gifts). I'm sure that all, or most, of you have seen these iconic nesting dolls before. They are usually interpreted as a family, with the great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and offspring represented. I have a somewhat different interpretation which I have not found on-line, but is obvious to me.
As we grow, from birth through childhood and into young adulthood, we each develop persona and coping mechanisms appropriate to our surroundings, our ages, our beliefs and our skills. In introspective analysis (engaged in many, many times over the years "Who am I?" - "What was I?" - "Where did I come from? - "Where am I going?") these early models of behavior and personality never disappear, or are totally rejected as we grow into adulthood and (in my case) old age.
I think the nested dolls are a perfect representation of this process. As I said, my conjecture has raced ahead of my actual knowledge. I cannot find any similar interpretation in sources immediately available to me. I asked the proprietor of TMORA gift shop (IZBA) and she had not heard that interpretation either, but thought it was a good one.
I think that one of these sets of dolls would make a good gift for a younger person, as they approach, or enter, adulthood. Each would be accompanied by a write-up similar to this one; as in Buddhism, a focal point or a guide to meditation or introspection.
I think the same model would appropriate in the analysis of the steps of growth in a marital relationship, parent/child relationship, or in any evolving relationship.
I am sending this to a rather large number of friends and acquaintances, including some who are on our gift list (Don't peek!).
Ho Ho Tai
Posted By Michelle Massey | September 19, 2017
Join us in the Lower Gallery for Matryoshka: The Nesting Doll
November 10th, 2017 April 14, 2018
Matryoshka, a painted wooden nesting doll, is familiar to many as the quintessential Russian souvenir. Pulled apart, the Matryoshka spills out smaller figures, each one inside a larger doll, until the tiniest one is revealed. Matryoshka dolls are new-comers in the ancient family of Russian wooden toys. The brightly painted toy was developed in the midst of Moscows sophisticated artistic elite in the late 19th century. Inaugurated at the World Expo in Paris in 1900, the Russian doll became popular with European collectors before it became a folk craft in remote villages of densely wooded Northeastern Russia. Moscows prominent artists played with its design before Russian peasant children ever set their eyes on the amusing toy.
A thriving industry in its early, pre-revolutionary years, Matryoshka production was brought under the control of the state during the Soviet period. The art of post-Soviet Matryoshka stands in striking contrast to the previous uniform styles. Once again a home industry, contemporary Matryoshka nesting dolls express the variety and dynamism of artistic talent.
Share with a friend
