From August 7 to 28, 2026, the Russian Research Institute (Director: Professor Choi Woo-ik), in collaboration with the Banpo Library of Seocho District, hosted a public humanities lecture series titled “Russian Art Reflecting the Times.” The four-part series was designed to deepen participants’ understanding of Russian history, culture, and the spirit of the times through representative works of Russian literature, visual art, and music.

In the first lecture, Professor Jeon Mi-ra of the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Dankook University examined the life of Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the leading Russian writers of the 19th century, along with the historical context in which he lived. Focusing on his final novel, The Brothers Karamazov, she explored the author’s literary world and compared the diverse representations of humanity embodied by the novel’s major characters. The lecture also examined pivotal events that profoundly shaped Dostoevsky’s life, including his involvement in the Petrashevsky Circle, his death sentence, and his exile to Siberia.

The second lecture explored the transformations of Russian art in the late 19th century and the development of Realism, focusing on Ivan Kramskoi’s renowned painting Unknown Woman to examine Russian society and culture of the period. Particular attention was given to the “Revolt of the Fourteen,” through which artists challenged the Imperial Academy of Arts, and the subsequent formation of the Peredvizhniki, or the Itinerants, as a means of understanding the emergence of Russian Realist art and the social role of art. The lecture then analyzed the subject, clothing, expression, and background of Kramskoi’s portraits, particularly Unknown Woman, and explored various interpretations of the woman’s identity. Through this analysis, participants reflected on class, urban culture, and contemporary social perceptions of women in late 19th-century Russia as represented in the painting.

The third lecture examined the development of ballet, one of the art forms most closely associated with Russia today, and explored the distinctive characteristics of Russian ballet through Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The lecture traced the development of ballet from its European origins to its introduction into the Russian imperial court, where it flourished around the Imperial Theatres and ballet schools and eventually developed into an art form emblematic of Russia. It also introduced Tchaikovsky’s life and musical world, the plot and major characters of Swan Lake, and the ways in which the contrasting figures of Odette and Odile are expressed through music and stage performance.

The fourth lecture explored the relationship between art and its historical era through the life and music of Dmitri Shostakovich, a composer who lived through the turbulent history of 20th-century Russia. Participants examined the historical context of the Soviet system and the Stalin era following the Russian Revolution, and reflected on the tensions and conflicts experienced by artists working under socialist realism and censorship. Through listening to Shostakovich’s major works, including Waltz No. 2, the lecture drew attention to the darkness and anxiety, satire, and ambiguity embedded within its familiar and elegant melodies. At the same time, it considered the limitations of interpreting his music simply as an expression of resistance to the Soviet regime, and explored how art can capture the historical experiences of an era through emotion, atmosphere, and memory.