A black banner with a portrait of an older Dostoevsky. The banner features the title of the exhibition.

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August 16 – December 17, 2021

The Fall 2021 Main Library Gallery exhibition, From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200, is dedicated to the life and work of the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). Curated by Dr. Anna Barker, University of Iowa professor of Russian literature, the exhibition covers the entirety of Dostoevsky’s prolific literary career. His youth, his years of exile in Siberia, a period of gambling addiction, and his philosophical and theological teachings are explored in the context of Russian historical events and many of his most famous novels, from Poor Folk to The Brothers Karamazov.

The exhibition is divided into four sections:

“Rebel” explores Dostoevsky’s youth and college years as well as early publications such as Poor Folk, The Double and White Nights.

“Convict” focuses on the years of exile to a penal colony in Siberia and on his novels Notes from the Dead House, Humiliated and Insulted, and Winter Notes on Summer Impressions.

“Gambler” chronicles the post-Siberia period, which includes the novel The Gambler as well as Notes from Underground.

The final section, “Prophet,” celebrates the five great Dostoevsky novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, The Adolescent and The Brothers Karamazov.

In addition to focusing on Dostoevsky’s literary compositions, the exhibition briefly highlights the two operas based on Dostoevsky novels, Sergei Prokofiev’s The Gambler and Leos Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, as well as Dostoevsky film adaptations.

Dostoevsky Exhibit Guide (PDF)

The exhibition guide above includes a curator statement by Dr. Anna Barker as well as a complete list of items on display. The numbers in the guide correspond with numbered objects in the exhibit.

Curator Highlights

A black and white illustration from the novel

Notes from the Dead House

Dostoevsky served his four-year sentence in a labor camp in the Siberian city of Omsk.

Notes from the Dead House (sometimes translated as The House of the Dead) was Dostoevsky’s first complete book after his time in Siberia. It was initially published as a serial novel in his brother Mikhail Dostoevsky’s journal, Time (Время), between 1860 and 1862. The novel is autobiographical and based on his experience as a convict in the Siberian hard labor prison colony.
This 19th century book of Psalms is printed in kirillitsa, which is a traditional Russian script that mimics the earliest Russian writing and Church Slavonic of much earlier writings. The book is open, displaying full pages of Russian script.

P︠S︡altirʹ (1851)

This book appears in the exhibition because it is representative of Dostoevsky’s deep appreciation of his copy of the New Testament.  The New Testament was the only book the prisoners in Omsk were allowed to keep, and it was Dostoevsky’s only book companion for the four years his spent in the labor camp. He treasured his copy all his life.
A long illustrated map of Siberia is unfolded from this book and seen in its entirety.

Russia: A Handbook for Travelers (facsimile of 1914 edition)

This map shows the cities of Omsk, Semipalatinsk, and Tobolsk, which are associated with Dostoevsky’s years in Siberia.
A table draped with Russian scarves sits on a bed of fallen maple leaves. On the table are two white teacups with saucers, a small white teapot, and a plate decorated with an ornate folk-style rooster. Four small faux pancakes are on the plate.

Russian Tea Culture

Fine porcelain, tea rituals, Russian scarves, and birch forests are symbolic of Russian culture and history. This exhibition combines them all in the Main Library Gallery’s front display case to provide a cozy introduction and bring a taste of Russian tradition to Iowa.
A vinyl record box is mounted to the back of an exhibit case. It says The Gambler, and is from the Prokofiev opera. The design features a roulette table.

The Gambler

Even though Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) completed the opera adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Gambler in 1917, the performances were scrapped due to the revolutionary events engulfing Russia that year. The first performance of the opera took place in 1929 in Brussels after extensive revision. The Bolshoi Opera collaborated on a production of The Gambler with the Metropolitan Opera in 1975, which was performed in New York City. Prokofiev’s original version was finally performed in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2001, 84 years after its premiere was cancelled. 
This black and white illustration features a religious man facing a doorway. In the doorway is a large spectral face of Jesus Christ. A dark figure ascends the stairway behind him.

The Grand Inquisitor

This parable in The Brothers Karamazov serves as an overarching philosophical statement that bridges the works of Dostoevsky: human suffering is unavoidable and destructive, but without self-conscious realization of the nature and implications of our freedom, we cannot fulfill our potential as human beings.
The book is open to a color illustration of the Kremlin. The Kremlin has several tall spires and sits along a riverfront.

Travels through Part of the Russian Empire and the Country of Poland ; along the Southern Shores of the Baltic (1815)

This book is the oldest on display in the exhibit and gives travel advice about visiting Russia in the years just prior to Dostoevsky’s birth.
The book is open to its title page. An illustration of the equestrian statue of Peter I in Saint Petersburg is opposite.

Voyage Pittoresque En Russie (1854)

Commissioned by the Russian Empress Catherine II, French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet’s equestrian statue of Peter I is one of the greatest symbols of Saint Petersburg and is shown here in this illustration. The statue was named The Bronze Horseman after the 1833 poem by Alexander Pushkin. In his 20s, after his graduation from the Military Engineering School, Dostoevsky lived within minutes of walking from the statue. 

 

Credits

Exhibition Curation
Dr. Anna Barker

Preparation & Conservation
Bill Voss, Giselle Simón

Installation
Bill Voss, Giselle Simón, Kalmia Strong, Sara J. Pinkham

Design
Kalmia Strong

Exhibition Coordination & Editing
Sara J. Pinkham

Exhibition Technology
Will Brown, Chris Clark

Publicity & Website
Sara J. Pinkham, Ken Clinkenbeard, Jennifer Masada

Virtual Exhibit Assembly & Photography
Sara J. Pinkham

Financial Support
Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries

Special Thanks

  • Katie Buehner, Director of the Rita Benton Music Library, University of Iowa Libraries
  • Dr. Eric Ensley, Curator of Rare Books & Maps, University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives
  • Lisa Gardinier, Curator of International Literature, University of Iowa Libraries
  • Lindsay Moen, Public Services Librarian, University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives
  • Rob Durham, Scene Shop Supervisor, University of Iowa Theatre Arts Department
  • F.M. Dostoevsky Literary Memorial Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • Dostoevsky House Museum, Staraya Russa, Russia
  • Father Ignatius Valentine, St. Raphael Orthodox Church, Iowa City
  • The Barker Family