Semantics of the Concept of “Steed”/“Horse”in the Russian Art of the First Third of The20th Century: “A Horse as a Horse” and “We Areall a Little Bit Horses”

The article continues the research on the artistic image in the Russian art of the first third of the 20th century and aims at studying the concepts of “steed”/“horse” in the art of the 1900s-1920s. From the beginning of revolutionary transformations in Russian art to the changes after 1917, the semantic meaning of the artistic image in its evolution is of particular interest. The basis for the study is largely fiction, in which the horse image was formed most fully. The multidimensionality of semantic relations within the boundaries of the synonymic paradigm with the general meaning of “horse” is examined in the article on the material of fine arts. The author studies the diversity of artistic roles, symbolic and semantic functions, which were given to the horse image in the art of a certain period and reveals the specificity of these roles depending on the artistic concept. Identification and recognition of the image occurs at different levels. The content of the concept is not revealed only through the plot. Unexpected semantic associations, suggested to the artist by visual, worldly, intellectual, emotional experience or creative intuition, are also possible. In this context, the quotations in the title of the article mark two main notions: “a horse as a horse” (V. Shershenevich) actualizes the direct meaning of “a horse as an animal”, and “we are all a little bit horses” (V. Mayakovsky) is a zoometaphor defining the inner state of a person. At this stage of the study, we can distinguish five main sections that allow us to structure and order the set of works containing the horse image: a village, a city, a rider, Apocalypse, a historical event (here the Civil War and collectivization). In order to fully understand the specifics of the semantic content of the horse image in the art during the study period, it is necessary to carry out some additional research. So far, the proposed text cannot claim to be an exhaustive solution to the problem, but outlines the vectors that allow us to continue its study.