Arabesques (compilation)

“Arabesques” is a two-part compilation of the works of Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol , compiled by the author. Published in the first half of January 1835 (censorship permission - November 10, 1834 ) ^[1] . The collection is very diverse in content, hence the name: " arabesques " - a special type of ornament of geometric shapes, stylized leaves, flowers, animal elements, which arose in imitation of the Arabic style. The collection combined articles on annals, geography, and art, as well as several literary works ^[2] .

Arabesque
Cover of the 1835 edition.
Genre	and
Author	Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Original language	Russian
Date of first publication	1835

In the articles included in the collection "Arabesques" Gogol sets out his historical views and his views on literature and art . In the article “ A few words about Pushkin, ” Gogol expressed his view of Pushkin as a great Russian national poet; in the fight against romantic aesthetics, Gogol outlines here the tasks facing Russian literature. In the article “ On Little Russian Songs, ” Gogol assessed folk art as an expression of folk life and popular consciousness. In an article about Karl Bryullov ’s painting “ The Last Day of Pompeii ”, Gogol made a principled assessment of the phenomena of Russian art ^[3] .