Russian Design Graphics in Art Studies of the 19th–21st Centuries

The article is devoted to the historiographic problem of domestic design graphics in the history of Russian art. The analysing sources are structured in accordance with the main stages of the development of graphic design in Russia. This approach allows to visually trace the evolution of art history in the context of the corresponding cultural and historical era. In chronological order, the article examines the following periods: 18th — early 20th century, an era that can be called the protodesign period; 1920s–1930s, a period of active development of a new professional model, interrupted for the next twenty years; 1960s–1990s, a period of professional self-determination; the first decades of the 21st century, when the digital age begins and new horizons of research open up. The characteristics of each period are given from the point of view of the development of graphic design as a phenomenon of artistic creativity. The paper’s novelty is determined by the topic itself: the specifics of design in general and graphic design in particular have not yet been studied. It takes into account, basically, the range of problems studied in the Russian conventional history of art. The main tasks of the work: to show the path of development of art criticism in the work of Russian researchers; to systematize the volume and problems of the latest studies of art history over the past decades; to contribute to the formation of a more complete picture of the authors and the amount of accumulated research material. The article shows the path of development of art criticism in the work of Russian researchers — from artistic-critical to historical-theoretical comprehension throughout the 19th and 21st centuries. The foundations of fundamental research of the late 20th — early 21st century are revealed are systematized for the first time.