The Russian Street at the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition

Fedor Shekhtel\u27s four pavilions for the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition are often described as the birthplace of stil\u27 modern, a specifically Russian response to the international phenomenon of Art Nouveau. But with their volatile mix of vernacular and modern forms they can also be seen as a reflection of the \u27Witte System,\u27 the process of rapid industrialization to which Serge Witte committed Russia during his tenure as Minister of Finance (1892-1903). Witte took up his post just in time to approve Ivan Ropet\u27s designs for the Russian section at the 1892 Columbia World\u27s Exposition in Chicago; he stepped down two years after signing off on Shekhtel\u27s plans for Glasgow. The years in between these two exhibitions saw both the radical transformation of Russian society and a corresponding shift in how Russia presented itself at the world\u27s fairs. The Old Russian Style that had satisfied the outside world\u27s expectations of Russian culture for decades gave way, if only briefly, to a dynamic and unsettling neo-Russian style. When a British reviewer dismissed the Glasgow pavilions as \u27the new are seen through Slavic distorting glasses,\u27 he was responding not only to Shekhtel\u27s architectural experiment, but also to the self-presentation of a state under intense pressure to \u27move a traditional society onto new historical tracks.\u27https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/art_books/1020/thumbnail.jp