{"id":1993,"date":"2020-09-30T21:10:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T21:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery\/?post_type=exhibit&p=1993"},"modified":"2025-07-07T21:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T21:56:43","slug":"from-revolutionary-outcast-to-a-man-of-god-dostoevsky-at-200","status":"publish","type":"exhibit","link":"https:\/\/www.lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery\/exhibit\/from-revolutionary-outcast-to-a-man-of-god-dostoevsky-at-200\/","title":{"rendered":"From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/i> Visit the virtual exhibition!<\/a><\/section>\n
<\/i> Take the exhibition survey<\/a><\/section>\n<\/div>\n

August 16 – December 17, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fall 2021 Main Library Gallery exhibition, From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200<\/em>, 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\u2019s 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<\/em> to The Brothers Karamazov<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The exhibition is divided into four sections:<\/p>\n

\u201cRebel<\/strong>\u201d explores Dostoevsky’s youth and college years as well as early publications such as Poor Folk, The Double<\/em> and White Nights<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cConvict<\/strong>\u201d focuses on the years of exile to a penal colony in Siberia and on his novels Notes from the Dead House<\/em>,\u00a0Humiliated and Insulted<\/em>, and\u00a0Winter Notes on Summer Impressions.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGambler<\/strong>\u201d chronicles the post-Siberia period, which includes the novel The Gambler<\/em> as well as Notes from Underground<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The final section, \u201cProphet<\/strong>,\u201d celebrates the five great Dostoevsky novels Crime and Punishment<\/em>, The Idiot<\/em>, Demons<\/em>, The Adolescent<\/em> and The Brothers Karamazov<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In addition to focusing on Dostoevsky\u2019s literary compositions, the exhibition briefly highlights the two operas based on Dostoevsky novels, Sergei Prokofiev\u2019s The Gambler<\/em> and Leos Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s From the House of the Dead<\/em>, as well as Dostoevsky film adaptations.<\/p>\n

<\/i> Dostoevsky Exhibit Guide (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Curator Highlights<\/h3>\n
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Notes from the Dead House<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

Dostoevsky served his four-year sentence in a labor camp in the Siberian city of Omsk.<\/p>\n

Notes from the Dead House (sometimes translated as The House of the Dead) was Dostoevsky\u2019s first complete book after his time in Siberia. It was initially published as a serial novel in his brother Mikhail Dostoevsky\u2019s journal, Time\u00a0(\u0412\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f),\u00a0between 1860 and 1862. The novel\u00a0is autobiographical\u00a0and based on\u00a0his\u00a0experience as a convict in\u00a0the Siberian\u00a0hard labor prison colony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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P\ufe20S\ufe21altir\u02b9 (1851)<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

This book appears in the exhibition because it is representative of Dostoevsky’s deep appreciation of his copy of the New Testament. \u00a0The New Testament\u00a0was the only book the prisoners in Omsk were allowed to keep,\u00a0and\u00a0it\u00a0was Dostoevsky\u2019s only book companion for the four years\u00a0his spent in the labor camp. He treasured his copy all his life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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Russia: A Handbook for Travelers (facsimile of 1914 edition)<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

This map shows the cities of Omsk, Semipalatinsk, and Tobolsk, which are associated with Dostoevsky\u2019s years in Siberia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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Russian Tea Culture<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

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\u2019s front display case to provide a cozy introduction and bring a taste of Russian tradition to Iowa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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The Gambler<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

Even though Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) completed the opera adaptation of Dostoevsky’s\u00a0The Gambler\u00a0in 1917, the performances\u00a0were\u00a0scrapped due to the revolutionary events engulfing Russia that year.\u00a0The first performance of the\u00a0opera took place in 1929\u00a0in Brussels after extensive revision.\u00a0The\u00a0Bolshoi Opera collaborated on a production of\u00a0The Gambler\u00a0with the Metropolitan Opera\u00a0in\u00a01975, which was performed in New York City.\u00a0Prokofiev\u2019s original version was finally performed in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2001,\u00a084 years after its premiere was cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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The Grand Inquisitor<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

This\u00a0parable\u00a0in\u00a0The Brothers Karamazov\u00a0serves as an overarching philosophical statement that bridges the works of Dostoevsky:\u00a0human 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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Travels through Part of the Russian Empire and the Country of Poland ; along the Southern Shores of the Baltic (1815)<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div>

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Voyage Pittoresque En Russie (1854)<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/a>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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Credits<\/h3>\n

Exhibition Curation<\/strong>
\nDr. Anna Barker<\/a><\/p>\n

Preparation & Conservation<\/strong>
\nBill Voss, Giselle Sim\u00f3n<\/p>\n

Installation<\/strong>
\nBill Voss, Giselle Sim\u00f3n, Kalmia Strong, Sara J. Pinkham<\/p>\n

Design<\/strong>
\nKalmia Strong<\/p>\n

Exhibition Coordination & Editing<\/strong>
\nSara J. Pinkham<\/p>\n

Exhibition Technology<\/strong>
\nWill Brown, Chris Clark<\/p>\n

Publicity & Website<\/strong>
\nSara J. Pinkham, Ken Clinkenbeard, Jennifer Masada<\/p>\n

Virtual Exhibit Assembly & Photography<\/strong>
\nSara J. Pinkham<\/p>\n

Financial Support
\n<\/strong>Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries<\/p>\n

Special Thanks<\/strong><\/p>\n