Group of
second-generation Russian Symbolist artists active in
Moscow between 1904 and 1908. The term derives from the
title of an exhibition that they organized at premises
in Myasnitsky Street, Moscow, in 1907. The group
originated in Saratov, when in 1904 Pavel Kuznetsov and
Pyotr Utkin (1877–1934) organized the exhibition
Crimson Rose (Rus. Alaya Roza), which
included the work of the two major Symbolist painters
Mikhail Vrubel’ and their teacher Viktor Borisov-Musatov.
Later that year, at the Moscow School of Painting,
Sculpture and Architecture, they attracted artists of a
similar persuasion such as Anatoly Arapov (1876–1949),
Nikolay Krymov, Nikolay Milioti, Vasily Milioti, Nikolay
Sapunov, Martiros Saryan and Sergey Sudeykin. An
important member of the group was the wealthy banker,
patron and artist Nikolay Ryabushinsky, who publicized
Blue Rose in his magazine GOLDEN FLEECE (Rus.:
Zolotoye Runo). By 1907 most of the group had become
co-editors, but a group statement or manifesto was never
published. Ryabushinsky also contributed to the
stability of the group by purchasing works from
Kuznetsov, Sapunov, Saryan and Sudeykin.
