Art critic, culturologist, professor Oleg Krivtsun has died: “He had the gift of systematization”

The body was discovered only a few days later

The name of this professor is etched into the consciousness of the majority of art historians and cultural experts who today make their mark in the profession, along with basic knowledge of the specialty. Oleg Aleksandrovich Krivtsun is the author of the textbooks “Psychology of Art” and “Aesthetics”, without which not a single course on the history and theory of art, art history and cultural studies is complete. Therefore, the sudden death of the professor resonated in the hearts of thousands of specialists, his former students and graduate students. Oleg Alexandrovich died of heart failure. His body was discovered by a housekeeper several days after his death. The professor was just a couple of months short of his 70th birthday.

Oleg Aleksandrovich Krivtsun was born on February 18, 1954 in Moscow. He graduated from the philological department of Leningrad State University (1976), then graduated from graduate school at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov in the Department of Aesthetics (1979), where he defended his PhD thesis on the topic “Problems of artistry in art (from the history of German classical aesthetics)” in 1980. For another 12 years I wrote my doctoral dissertation “Art in the context of cultural history. Aesthetic Analysis,” which he defended after the collapse of the USSR – in 1992. But even at the end of the Soviet era, works began to appear from his pen, on which professional art history and cultural education now rests. In 1986, his first fundamental work, “Art and the Human World,” was published, which laid the vector for the development of his analysis of processes in culture. Krivtsun’s cultural method was based on humanism. He believed that every new era needs its own expressive structures, be it the language of lines, color relationships, volumes, luminosity techniques, unusual compositions, performance or installation, but whatever the artistic language, it always reflects human perception.

“In some eras they value not the completeness of a person’s experience, but the height of this experience. However, time passes, a different interest in man, in other aspects of his existence, flares up – and now all everyday life is drawn into the focus of the artist’s vision, and the fleeting appears as value (impressionists – C. Monet, E. Degas, C. Debussy, M. Ravel ). Strengthening trust in sensuality, in the intense current of experience as an important attribute of artistic excellence, opens up other colors of being without dividing it into high and low. Thus, every new “register” of the artist’s vision is each time a new discovery of man. Identifying such nuances allows us to discern unknown shades in the modes of life of the human spirit,” Krivtsun wrote in his work “The Measure of Humanity in Art: Historical Modifications,” which became one of many continuations of his first works.

Already in the 1990s, such works as “The Evolution of Artistic Forms. Culturological analysis”, textbooks “Aesthetics” and “Psychology of Art”, encyclopedic dictionary “Basic Concepts of the Theory of Art”, which have become the basis for the educational programs of most specialized universities. Oleg Krivtsun wrote hundreds of works, including four monographs. His works have received wide recognition in the professional community and have been repeatedly awarded with various awards.

From 2001 to 2018, Krivtsun headed the department of art theory and aesthetics at the Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts. In 2004 he received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. In 2009 he became a laureate of the Moscow City Prize in the field of literature and art. He regularly participated in meetings of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, and at the same time managed to teach at Moscow State University and the Literary Institute. M. Gorky. But the most dear to him remained the Institute of Art History, where the professor worked since 1983. And five years ago, Oleg Aleksandrovich headed a specialized magazine that publishes GII. Director of the Institute of Art History Natalya Sipovskaya remembers with great warmth one of the main researchers of the research center:

“The departure of Oleg Alexandrovich Krivtsun is a big loss for us,” says Natalya Vladimirovna. “He spent many years within the walls of the institute, and these years were spent in successful work. His contribution to the development of Russian aesthetics can hardly be overestimated. On the one hand, he had a talent for opening new directions in aesthetics and cultural studies, on the other hand, there are many researchers, but there are few people who are able to systematically present the material as a training program for young specialists. This talent is truly rare. Oleg Aleksandrovich had this gift of a systematizer, a person who is engaged in generalizing accumulated knowledge. Therefore, his work on compiling methodological manuals is extremely interesting and has always received deservedly high reviews from specialists. He trained a whole galaxy of wonderful researchers. The most important thing is his extremely proactive position in organizing various research projects. The latest of these undertakings, which is now being developed at the Institute of Art Studies, is a separate inter-institute seminar “Theoretical problems of artistic creativity and the language of art” and the preparation on its basis of a collective monograph on the anthropology of culture. No less important is his contribution to the creation of one of our magazines, “Artistic Culture,” of which Krivtsun has been editor-in-chief for the past five years. It is one of the ten most respected publications on cultural studies and art history. It’s hard to say how we will survive this loss. Of course, the departure of any person is sad, but for us the departure of Oleg Alexandrovich is also the need to continue working on his projects, for which we will make every effort.