Okno v prostor: Konstantin Balmont in Japan

The article addresses a profession whose work often involved travel - artists, specifically the Russian symbolists of the early 20th century. The article focuses on one especially well travelled individual - Konstantin Balmont - and explores the ramifications of his trip to Japan in 1916. Despite the prevalent hostility to Japan and the influence of Orientalism, the article shows that Balmont embraced Japanese culture and developed an aesthetic that integrated the horizontal expanses associated with Russia with the vertical tradition found in Japanese writing