The development of the national art of Mongolia in the first quarter of the 20th century

Abstract

The article suggests a description of the main landmarks of the development of the Mongolian art at the beginning of the 20th century. It is stated that visual arts in Mongolia have always been concerned with the reality depicting the social and political life of the country as well as the mode of life, customs and religious beliefs of the people. For example, worship of khans who were considered to be khans due to the will of the Heaven is one of the most important values of the traditional Mongolian culture. This theme is widespread in the Mongolian art. However, this doesn’t mean that the Mongolian art is initially politicized. In the author’s opinion, statehood is one of the symbols which have always been of great importance for the Mongolian culture. It is this symbol that becomes the matter of the picture. As to the Mongolian art, it is essentially symbolic as it resembles the dialectics between the eternal and the perishable, the divine and the human underlying the interdependency of the natural and social laws. The symbolism of the Mongolian art makes it original and distinguishes it from the European realistic art.