A. Poleshchuk: Creative Biography of the Russian-Estonian Architect and a Retrospective Direction in Russian Church Architecture of the Early 20th Century

Abstract

This article is devoted to the creative biography of the largest Russian-Estonian architect at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries A. Poleshchuk and retrospectivism in Russian church architecture at the beginning of the twentieth century, which was his main creative method. The works and biography of the great master are still poorly studied, scientific publications are practically not devoted to him. At the same time, being a pupil of the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, the architect was awarded the title of architecture academic, the position of professor, proved himself in the capital as the author of such monumental structures as the Geological Committee and the Church of St Isidor with the house of the St Petersburg Orthodox Estonian brotherhood. He owns the project of the most monumental Orthodox church in the Baltics of the twentieth century — the Assumption Cathedral of the Pyukhtitsa Monastery, where he worked from his student years under the guidance of his teacher prof. M. Preobrazhensky. A native of Estonia and an Estonian himself on the maternal side, the architect made an invaluable contribution to the formation of a professional architectural school in the country. He was the chairman of the Estland Engineering Society and the Estland Technical Society in Petrograd, then was actively involved in teaching in Tallinn as professor of architecture at Tallinn Polytechnic College and chief architect and educational adviser to the Construction Board. A. Poleshchuk is known as an architectural theorist, a specialist in the theory of vaults, the author of the fundamental courses “Lectures on the art of building” in 10 volumes, and a two-volume guide to bridge construction. The article examines in detail the main milestones in the creative path of A. Poleshchuk in the context of the history of architecture at the beginning of the 20th century, mainly, church retrospectivism. The features of his work, diverse in typology and stylistics (Russian style, neoclassicism, neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque), are analyzed. In conclusion, a stylistic classification of the retrospective directions of church architecture of the late 19th — early 20th centuries with examples of relevant monuments is proposed. The article is based both on little-known published materials and, mainly, on newly discovered archival documents from the depositories of St Petersburg, Tartu, Tallinn.