About
Louise Hardiman is an art historian specialising in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian and Soviet art. She is a graduate of the universities of Oxford, London, and Cambridge, where she completed a PhD on the history of Russian Arts and Crafts in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Her primary research areas concern the history of the neo-national revival and Anglo-Russian cultural exchange. Hardiman teaches for universities and adult education providers on a freelance basis and lectures frequently for education institutions, galleries, and museums. She was consultant to the Watts Gallery (Guildford, UK) exhibition ‘A Russian Fairy Tale: The Art and Craft of Elena Polenova’ (2014-15). Education
BA (Hons) Jurisprudence/MA (Oxon), University of Oxford
MA Russian Studies, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London
PhD History of Art, University of Cambridge Publications
Edited books:
Modernism and the Spiritual in Russian Art: New Perspectives, ed. by Louise Hardiman and Nicola Kozicharow (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, forthcoming in 2017)
Elena Polenova, Why the Bear has no Tail and other Russian Folk Tales (trans. by Netta Peacock and ed. by Louise Hardiman) (London: Fontanka, 2014).
Journal articles
Louise Hardiman, ‘“An Extraordinary Feeling for Ornament”: Elena Polenova and the Neo-Russian Style in Embroideries and Painted Textile Panels’, Experiment: A Journal of Russian Culture, 22 (November 2016), pp. 53-71. DOI: 10.1163/2211730X-12341278.
Book chapters
Louise Hardiman and Nicola Kozicharow, ‘Introduction: Modernism and the Spiritual in Russian Art’, in Hardiman and Kozicharow (eds) , Modernism and the Spiritual in Russian Art (forthcoming).
Louise Hardiman, ‘The Loving Labourer through Space and Time: Aleksandra Pogosskaia, Theosophy, and Russian Arts and Crafts, c.1900-1917’, in Hardiman and Kozicharow (eds) , Modernism and the Spiritual in Russian Art (forthcoming).
Louise Hardiman, ‘“To be known and appreciated in England”: Netta Peacock and the Campaign for Elena Polenova’s Artistic Legacy’ in Natalia Murray (ed.), A Russian Fairy Tale: The Art and Craft of Elena Polenova (exh. cat., Watts Gallery, Guildford, 2014), pp. 92-117.
Louise Hardiman, ‘“Infantine Smudges of Paint … Infantine Rudeness of Soul”: British Reception of Russian Art at the Exhibitions of the Allied Artists’ Association, 1908–1911’ in Anthony G. Cross (ed.), “A People Passing Rude”: British Responses to Russian Culture (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2012), pp. 133-147.
Reviews:
Katia Dianina, When Art Makes News: Writing Culture and Identity in Imperial Russia (Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, IL, 2013), The Slavonic and East European Review (April 2015), 93 (2), pp. 359-361.
David Roberts, The Total Work of Art in European Modernism (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY: 2011), Journal of European Studies (June 2013), 43 (2), pp. 171-172.
Mary E. Davis, Ballets Russes Style: Diaghilev’s Dancers and Paris Fashion (Reaktion Books: London, 2010), Slovo (November 2011), 23 (2).
Anthony Parton, Goncharova: The Art and Design of Natalia Goncharova (Antique Collectors Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2011), Slavonica (April 2011), 17 (2), pp. 175-176.
Philip Ross Bullock, Rosa Newmarch and Russian Music in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Britain (Ashgate: Aldershot, 2010), Slavonica (April 2010), 16 (2), pp. 156-157.
Other:
New/revised entries for Viktor Borisov-Musatov, Kiriak Kostandi, Viktor Demut-Malinovsky, Vasily Polenov, Isaak Levitan, Igor Grabar, and Nikolai Dubovskoy, Benezit Dictionary of Artists (Oxford University Press, Autumn 2015 update).
Projects
The Firebird’s Flight: Russian Art in Britain, 1851-1917 (authored monograph; in progress)
This monograph explores the history of British engagement with Russian art, beginning with its much-lauded appearance at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and charting the path towards a pivotal moment — the London performances of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes during the 1910s. It ends with an account of the Russian Exhibition of 1917 at the Grafton Galleries, the first major exhibition of Russian art in Britain and a high point in British-Russian cultural relations, before the advent of Soviet rule changed the relationship forever. The book argues that, above all, it was Russian decorative art, and Arts and Crafts of the ‘neo-national’ movement, that most intrigued and excited British audiences.
Inspired by a rich folk heritage and the traditions of centuries long past, artists of the ‘neo-national’ movement energised the art world of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with their quest for reinvention. Exploring mythical themes, prioritising ornament, experimenting with theatre and the decorative arts, and modernising furniture design and interiors, they created an ‘Arts and Crafts’ revival which had much in common with similar such movements across Europe. By the fin de siècle, Russian arts and crafts began to enjoy considerable success overseas. This was especially the case in Victorian Britain, where the plight of the Russian peasant under Tsarist rule had attracted much sympathy, and the sale of arts and crafts offered a source of support for impoverished rural communities.
The Story of Synko-Filipko and other Russian Folk Tales (London: Fontanka, forthcoming)
A collection of folk tales and rhymes written and illustrated by Elena Polenova, translated by Louise Hardiman, and edited by Frank Althaus and Mark Sutcliffe. The book is designed to be a companion to Why the Bear has no Tail and other Russian Folk Tales (London: Fontanka, 2014), with the same quarter binding, and individually coloured chapters.
