The turn of the19th - 20th centuries is called the Silver Age  of Russian art. This name reflects the situation at the turn of any century:  on the one hand, it implies the sense that the  end  of  a once magnificent culture is close, while on the other hand, it means  the  dawn of  a new era. This mood was succinctly summed up by A.N. Benois, an artist and critic, who said, "We are another sad epoch which has achieved  the  peak  of  its maturity and  now  spreads the slanting rays of  the setting sun over aging civilizations".
       The age of the nobility's assuredness is passing away the  slow  and  regular  style of 19th century  life. Scientific discoveries  and  technological  inventions  have  shaken stable notions. The  feeling  grows  that  the world is both fragile  and  complex,  which  is  depicted  in  smoldering emotions and diametrically opposed ideological desires. The time's tense atmosphere amplifies mystic sentiment and promotes spiritual exploration.
     The artistic situation at the turn of the century is marked by  a  clash  between  tradition  and  innovation,  by  the 
emergence of various trends. New trends in Russian art can be found in the creative work of young artists, such as I.I. Levitan,  V.A. Serov,  M.A. Vrubel,  K.A. Korovin  and M.V. Nesterov.  They  are  influenced  by the major artists of  the second half  of  the 19th century, such as I.E. Repin, V.I. Surikov,  V.D. Polenov,  A.K. Savrasov, but  they begin to  look  for  independent ways in art  from the mid-1880s. 
     The social urgency of Realism  that determined art in the preceding decade is replaced  by increased interest in  exploring  the expressiveness  of  the aesthetic  form. In painting  this  implies the independent  value of colour, lines and composition. 
       The new epoch is permeated with the idea of beauty's curing  force  that  is  present  in  everything.  Philosopher V.S. Solovyov  declares  that  "beauty  is  necessary  to do good  in the material  world, as only it lights up and tames the  unkind  darkness  of  this  world".  The  principle  of representing  reality  is  replaced  by  a desire to embody a high  world of  images in counterpoint  to  everyday  life. M.A. Vrubel wrote, "art should enflame, illuminate the soul with  grand  images awakening it  from  the trite details of everyday  life". Artists  try  to unite and express the  era's religious, philosophical and aesthetic questions. They peer into  the  secrets  of  human  consciousness, they  explore the subtlest  motions of  the soul and brave surges of  the 
spirit. The language of  art  becomes sophisticated. It is no longer  understandable  to the multitudes. The high  calling of  the creative  individual  and the tragedy of  creation are depicted  particularly  acutely. This  leaves  the  Silver Age as  the  successor  to  Romantic  ideas. Even more than in the Romantic period, art  at the turn of  the century is filled with  the  pathos  of  spiritual  prophecies  and  the  desire to fulfil  them.
         Spatial  arts experience great  upheaval: architecture, sculpture, painting and graphics strive to unite their means of  expression. This  leads to the creation of  a grand style intended to transform human environment. The work of the architects  F.O. Shekhtel, A.V. Shchusev,  the  monumental paintings and sculptures of  M.A. Vrubel are the most vivid examples of interaction between arts.
        This  desire  to  achieve  harmony  between  painting, poetry  and  music  was  crowned  with  brilliant  results. S.P. Diaghilev  organised  the  Ballets Russes  in  Paris where performances were staged with sets by the artists of   the   World  of  Art   group,  such   as  A.N. Benois, L.S. Bakst  and A.Ya. Golovin. The composers A.N. Skryabin and  I.F. Stravinsky  became  famous  all  over  the  world. It  is  impossible  to  imagine  fine  art  of  this  period without  making  comparisons to the poetry  of  A.A. Blok, Andrei Bely, V.Ya. Bryusov, K.D. Balmont,  and Vyacheslav Ivanov. 
       The turn  of  the century  forms a creative personality reminiscent  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  masters.  He  is a universal  artist able to embody his thoughts in different forms  of  art.  M.A. Vrubel,  K.A. Korovin,  V.E. Borisov-Musatov, N.K. Roerich  and  A.Ya. Golovin  are among the artists  of  this  kind.
       Besides the emergence of major creative personalities, this  epoch  also  features  the  appearance  of  artistic associations,  such  as  the World  of  Art  group, the Union of Russian Artists, and  the Blue Rose, which  helped artists to introduce their own innovations.
        In  Russia  the  renewal  process  starts  later  than in Europe,  but  it  takes  hold  much  faster.  Therefore,  the stylistic situation at the turn of the century is marked by the simultaneous existence of and interaction between various trends.  One  could point  to  three  main  trends  here: that of National Romanticism, Impressionism  and Symbolism. 
       The National Romantic trend marked the beginning of a spiritual revival, which is unimaginable without an appeal to the  sources  of  a  nation's  culture.  It  is  formed  at Abramtsevo, the estate of S.I. Mamontov, a patron the arts, in  the early  1880s.  Unlike  the  Peredvizhniki,  who depicted the people as a "poor suffering stratum", the new generation sees it as "the force hiding the wealth of  centuries". This trend is set apart by how it delves into the spirit of bygone times, the creative thinking of folk  art,  of  fairy-tales,  epics,  while  it  also  awakens interest in the folk works, old Russian architecture and fresco  painting.  This  artistic  direction  formed  the Neo-Russian  style which was the forbear of  Russia's Art Nouveau  and determined its specific features. The movement  is  inextricably  linked  with  the names of M.V. Nesterov ("Young Bartholomew's Vision", 1889-1890),  N.K. Roerich,  A.P. Ryabushkin,  F.A. Malyavin ("The  Whirlwind",  1906)  and  M.A. Vrubel  ("The Swan Princess", 1900). 
       Impressionism  emerged in Russia when it was already fading  in  France,  its  motherland. The  first  Impressionist paintings appeared in the 1880s, and  by 1900s this  trend is sufficiently widespread. The specific features of Russian Impressionism  are  determined  by its profound  ties  with the traditions  of  landscape painting  from the second  half of  the 19th century. Impressionist  artists  saw  the  world transformed by light that is constantly changing in a stream of  the  rainbow's  hues.  Attention  is  drawn to everything ephemeral and changeable: water, air, light, and how  they interact. Therefore, the landscape becomes  the  favourite genre. Russian Impressionism is full of  heightened  lyrical intonation and the desire to convey, as subtly as possible, the  soul  of  northern nature which  offers  no  bright, clear colours.  The  winter  landscape  becomes  particularly 
popular during Impressionism period. Many Russian artists used  Impressionism  as  the  first  step  towards  bolder aesthetic experiments. The most important representatives of  this  trend  are  V.A. Serov ("Girl with Peaches", 1887), K.A. Korovin  ("Fish,  Wine  and  Fruit", 1916),  I.E. Grabar ("March  Snow", 1904),  K.F. Yuon,  I.I. Levitan  ("March", 1895)  and  the  painters of  the  Union of Russian Artists.
       Symbolism, which appeared  in  Russia  in  the 1890s - 1900s, was  the  main  aesthetic  trend  uniting  fine  arts, the theatre, music, poetry  and  aesthetic thought  in  the epoch. Reflected in the internal vision of the artist, reality is  transformed  into  a  poetic  metaphor  or  a  myth. Symbolism  operates  with  the  notion  of  the  symbol. In Russia this trend concentrates on the mysteries of the human soul, nature, the art of the past, on the search for their  unity  and  harmony. 
       The Art Nouveau  style  is  the  last  major  style  of  fine art. It  united  architecture, sculpture, painting  and  applied arts. Symbolism used the ornamental decorative language of  the Art Nouveau style  to  embody  its  ideas  in  fine  art. The  leading  masters  of  the  Russian  symbolism-Art Nouveau  were M.A. Vrubel ("Seated Demon", 1890), V.E. Borisov-Musatov  ("The  Emerald  Necklace", 1903-1904), the artists of the World of Art  and the  Blue Rose groups. 
       The  innovatory exploration of  the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries prepared Russian art for radical aesthetic reforms  which  marked  the  avant-garde  period  of  the 1910s-1920s.