Wagner Georgy Karlovich
19 October 1908, Spassk, Ryazan Governorate — 25 January 1995, Moscow
Biography, education, career:
In 1927‑1930 Georgy Wagner was a student of Ryazan Pedagogical Technicum of Arts, where after graduation he worked as an instructor in 1930‑1932. From 1928 he successively occupied the positions of researcher (1928‑1932) and Head of Art Department (1932‑1933) at Ryazan Museum of Local History. He considered local artists and A.I. Fesenko his teachers in art. In 1933‑1936 he was a student of Higher Museum Courses of the People’s Commissariat of Education in Moscow. In 1936‑1937 he was an associate fellow of the State Historical Museum. On 21 January 1937 he was arrested on charges of “counter-revolutionary activities”; on 1 July 1937 he was sentenced to five years of corrective labour camp. The sentence was later extended for another five years. He served his sentence in Khattynnakh settlement, Magadan Oblast. In 1947‑1949 he was a senior researcher at Ryazan Art Museum and lecturer at Ryazan Art College. On 19 January 1949 he was arrested again and exiled for life to Belsk settlement, Udereysk District, Krasnoyarsk Krai. In 1949‑1954 he worked as a technical artist and draftsman in geological-prospecting parties. In 1955 he participated in Angara Archaeological expedition led by A.P. Okladnikov. Wagner was released on 24 April 1954 and exonerated in 1956. From 1956 he successively occupied the positions of technician, junior researcher, senior researcher, and lead researcher of the Institute of Archaeology, USSR AS, where on 15 March 1968 he defended his Candidate’s and Doctoral Dissertations (under B.A. Rybakov), devoted to the sculpture of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’.
Areas of expertise: Folk art; History and ethnography of the Russians; History and ethnography of the peoples of Siberia, the Extreme North, and the Far East; monuments, historical and philosophical problems of the art of Ancient Rus’ and Ryazan Krai
Awards and titles:
Recipient of the Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Arts; winner of the State Prize (1983) and the RSFSR State I.Y. Repin Prize; honorary citizen of the city of Ryazan. The Ryazan Art College and Spassk Historical Archaeology Museum in Ryazan Oblast were named after G.K. Wagner.
Major publications:
• Деревянное зодчество русских старожилов в Среднем Приангарье // СЭ. 1956. № 3. С. 52-68; [Wooden Architecture of Russian Old Settlers in the Middle Angara Region // Sovetskaya Etnografiya (Soviet Ethnography). 1956. № 3. P.p. 52-68];
• Деревянное зодчество русских старожилов по якутскому тракту // СЭ. 1958. № 6. С. 3-14; [Wooden Architecture of Russian Old Settlers along Yakut Post Road // Sovetskaya Etnografiya (Soviet Ethnography). 1958. № 6. P.p. 3-14];
• Древние мотивы в домовой резьбе Росто¬ва Ярославской области // СЭ. 1962. № 4. С. 34-45; [Ancient Motifs in House Carving in Rostov of Yaroslavl Oblast // // Sovetskaya Etnografiya (Soviet Ethnography). 1962. № 4. P.p. 34-45];]
• Скульптура Владимиро-Суздальской Руси. М., 1964; [The Sculpture of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’. Moscow, 1964];
• Мастера древнерусской скульптуры. Рельефы Юрьева Польского. М., 1966; [Masters of Old Rusian Sculpture. Reliefs of Yuryev-Polsky. Moscow, 1966];
• Скульптура Древней Руси. XII в. Владимир. Боголюбово. М., 1969; [The Sculpture of Ancient Rus’. The 12th century. Vladimir. Bogolyubovo. Moscow, 1969];
• Проблема жанров в древнерусском искусстве. М., 1974; [The Problem of Genres in Old Russian Art. Moscow, 1974];
• Белокаменная резьба древнего Суздаля. Рождественский собор XIII в. М., 1975; [White-Stone Carving of Ancient Suzdal. Cathedral of the Nativity of the 13th Century. Moscow, 1975];
• От символа к реальности. М., 1980; [From Symbol to Reality. Moscow, 1980];
• О соотношении народ. и самодельного искусства // Проблемы народного искусства. М., 1982. С. 46-55; [On the Correlation between Folk Art and People’s Art // Problems of Folk Art. Moscow, 1982. P.p. 46-55];
• Старые русские города. М., 1984; [Old Russian Towns. Moscow, 1984];
• Канон и стиль в древнерусском искусстве. М., 1987; [Canon and Style in Old Russian Art. Moscow, 1987];
• О системном подходе к изучению русской художественной культуры // Материалы и исследования / Государственные Музеи Московского Кремля. М., 1990. № 7. С. 5-17; [On the Systematic Approach to the Study of Russian Artistic Culture // Materials and Research / State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin. Moscow, 1990. 1990. № 7. С. 5-17];
• Тысячелетние корни. М., 1991; [Millennial Roots. Moscow, 1991];
• В поисках Истины: религиозно-философские искания русских художников середины XIX — начала ХХ веков. М., 1993; [In Search for the Truth: Religious and Philosophical Pursuits of Russian Artists of the mid-19th – early 20th Centuries. Moscow, 1993];
• Искусство Древней Руси (совместно с Т.Ф. Владышевской). М., 1993. [The Art of Ancient Rus’ (co-authored with T.F. Vladyshevskaya). Moscow, 1993].
About G. Wagner:
• Решетов А.М. Репрессированная этнография: люди и судьбы // КЭТ. 1994. Вып. 4. С. 209-210; [Reshetov, A.M. The Purged Ethnography: People and Fates. Kunstkamera. Ethnograficheskiye tetradi (Kunstkamera. Ethnographic Notebooks. 1994. Iss.4. P.p. 209-210)];
• Рыбаков Б.А., Даркевич В.П. Памяти Г.К. Вагнера (1908-1995) // Российская археология. 1995. № 3. С. 249-255; [Rybakov, B.A., Darkevich, V.P. In Memory of G.K. Wagner (1908-1995) // Rossiyskaya arkheologiya (Russian Archaeology). 1995. № 3. P.p. 249-255];
• Георгий Вагнер — ученый, художник, человек. М., 2006. [Georgy Wagner – Scientist, Artist, Man. Moscow, 2006].
Author: A.R., ed.