The works of the Symbolist Art in Russia were very intriguing because there were so many styles used in the works assigned. The use of vibrant colors, cubism, and depictions of beautiful landscape contributed to the variety of works. Although, the illustrations of Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman, caught my eye because we read it earlier in class.

There are three illustrations of “The Bronze Horseman” by Benois that similarly display the themes of Pushkin’s story. First, the bronze horseman in the illustrations is depicted much larger than Yevgeny and seems oversized in the image. This represents the Russian state and the power it possesses. Second, there is a storm in every image showing the natural disaster theme of the story. Third, the symbols of black and white signify the love and death in the story. Yevgeny looses the love of his life and in turn this leads him down a path to his death.

The 1904 illustration seems to be distinct from the other two due to the simplicity of the work. Yevgeny and the Bronze Horseman are the only parts of the illustration with fine detail. Also this illustration is set right at the start of the chase whereas the other two depict Yevgeny being chased by the horseman.  The last illustration also stood out to me due to the coloring while still having the contrast between light and dark colors. I would be interested to know when this work was composed because it has the most detail with the shadows and sun. I couldn’t figure out the symbol of the sun. What does the sun symbolize and how do the shadows contribute to that?