William Craft Brumfield

William Brumfield at an April 18, 2013 event "Memory, Commemoration, Memorialization: Moscow’s Western Battlefields" at the Kennan Institute.

William Craft Brumfield (born June 28, 1944) is a contemporary American historian of Russian architecture, a preservationist and an architectural photographer. Brumfield is currently Professor of Slavic studies at Tulane University.[1]

Brumfield grew up in the deep American South, where he became interested in Russia by reading Russian novels. After receiving a BA from Tulane University in 1966 and an MA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968,[2] he arrived in the former Soviet Union for the first time in 1970 as a graduate student starting work in architectural photography, although he did not seriously study the craft of photography until 1974.[3] Brumfield earned a Ph.D in Slavic studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1973 and held a position of assistant professor at Harvard University in 1974–1980.[1]

In 1983 Brumfield, formerly a generalist of Slavic studies, established himself in the history of architecture with his first book, Gold in azure: one thousand years of Russian architecture. It was followed by The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture (1991), Russian housing in the modern age: design and social history (1993), A History of Russian Architecture (1993, Notable Book of that year[4] and a best seller[5] according to The New York Times), Lost Russia: Photographing the Ruins of Russian Architecture (1995), Landmarks of Russian Architecture: A Photographic Survey (1997) and Commerce in Russian urban culture: 1861-1914 (English edition 2001, Russian edition 2000).

In 1986 Brumfield organized the first exhibit of photographic prints from the Prokudin-Gorsky Collection at the Library of Congress.[6] Since that time Brumfield has been actively engaged in the study of Prokudin-Gorsky's photographs, including several publications for the site "Russia Beyond the Headlines".[7]

Brumfield lived in the former Soviet Union and Russia for a total of thirteen years,[8] doing postgraduate research with Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University,[8] but mostly travelling through the northern country, surveying and photographing the surviving relics of vernacular architecture.[3] In a 2005 interview Brumfield, asked to tell which of those journeys stood out, picked a photo survey of Varzuga, a remote village connected to civilization by 150 kilometers of a sandy clay track.[9] Brumfield donated his collection of around 1,100 photographs of Northern Russian architecture taken in 1999–2003 to the Library of Congress.[10] His archives were digitized with assistance of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Washington Library.[8] The basic collection of Brumfield's photographic work is held in the Department of Images Collections at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The William C. Brumfield Collection consists of 12,500 black-and-white 8" x10" photographic prints and over 55,000 digital files, most of which are in color.[11][12]

In 2000 Brumfield was elected a Guggenheim Fellow for Humanities - Russian History.[8] He has been a full member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAASN) since 2002 and an honorary fellow of the Russian Academy of the Arts since 2006.[8] He currently holds the record for most domes captured in a single photograph.

In 2014 the D. S. Likhachev Foundation in St. Petersburg awarded Brumfield the D. S. Likhachev Prize "for outstanding contributions to the preservation of the historic and cultural heritage of Russia."[13] [14]

Publications

Portrait of William Brumfield by Zoya Zhilkina
  • Gold in azure: one thousand years of Russian architecture (1983)
  • The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture (1991)
  • Russian housing in the modern age: design and social history (1993)
  • A History of Russian Architecture (1993)
  • Lost Russia: Photographing the Ruins of Russian Architecture (1995)
  • Landmarks of Russian Architecture: A Photographic Survey (1997)
  • Commerce in Russian urban culture: 1861—1914 (2001)
  • Architecture at the End of the Earth: Photographing the Russian North (2015)

With financial support from the Kennan Institute, the publisher «Три квадрата» (Tri Kvadrata) began in 2005 to release the series Открывая Россию/Discovering Russia by Brumfield:

  • Totma: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (Moscow, 2005)
  • Irkutsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2006)
  • Tobolsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2006)
  • Solikamsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2007)
  • Cherdyn: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2007)
  • Kargopol: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2007)
  • Chita: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2008)
  • Buriatiia: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2008)
  • Solovki: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2008)
  • Kolomna: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2009)
  • Suzdal: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2009)
  • Torzhok: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2010)
  • Usol'e: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2012)
  • Smolensk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (2014)
  • Chukhloma Region = Чухломский край: архитектурное наследие в фотографиях (Moscow, 2016; Discovering Russia, issue 15). ISBN 978-5-94607-208-3

With financial support from the "Vologodskie Zori" Fund (Vologda, Russia), the publisher «Три квадрата» (Tri Kvadrata) began in 2005 to release the Vologda series by Brumfield on the architectural heritage of the Vologda region:

  • Vologda Album (2005)
  • Velikii Ustiug (2007)
  • Kirillov. Ferapontovo (2009)
  • Ustiuzhna (2010)
  • Belozersk (2011)
  • Vologda (2012)
  • Cherepovets: Architectural Heritage of the Cherepovets Region, Moscow: Tri Kvadrata Publishers, 2017, ISBN 978-5-94607-218-2 .


Other publications:

  • Brumfield, William С. (2012), Appointment in Dauria: George Kennan, George Frost, and the Architectural Context, Harriman Review, 18 (2–4), New York: Harriman Institute, Columbia University, pp. 3–57, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2016, retrieved 6 December 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2014), "In the Presence of Two (Future) Nobel Laureates", Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 11 (4): 331–334, archived from the original on 23 January 2015, retrieved 23 January 2015 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2014), "Sleptsov Redivivus", Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 11 (2): 357–389, archived from the original on 24 September 2014, retrieved 24 September 2014 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2014), "Invitation to a Beheading: Turgenev and Troppmann", Informatsionnyi gumanitarnyi portal “Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie” (6), archived from the original on 16 March 2015, retrieved 17 March 2015 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2015), "The West and Russia: Concepts of Inferiority in Dostoevsky's "The Adolescent"", Informatsionnyi gumanitarnyi portal “Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie” (1): 149–161, archived from the original on 23 May 2015, retrieved 23 May 2015 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2015), "From Victor Hugo to Fedor Dostoevskii: 19th-Century Perceptions of Architecture as Historical Text", Journal of Siberian Federal University: Humanities & Social Sciences, 8 (6): 1026–1036, archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2015, retrieved 9 July 2015 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2015), "Bazarov and Riazanov: The Romantic Archetype in Russian Literature", Informatsionnyi gumanitarnyi portal “Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie” (3): 95–113, archived from the original on 8 October 2015, retrieved 8 October 2015 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2015), "Cross Cultural Ties between Generations and Countries: Visual Communication", Rol' sovremennoi kommunikatsii mezhdu obshchestvom i gosudarstvom [The Role of Contemporary Communication between Society and State]: 22–27, ISBN 978-5-98427-082-3, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2016, retrieved 3 February 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2015), "Two Hamlets: Questioning Romanticism in Turgenev's Bazarov and Sleptsov's Riazanov", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 8 (9): 1792–1802, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-2015-8-9-1792-1802, archived from the original on 21 June 2016, retrieved 21 June 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2016), "New Directions in Russian Orthodox Church Architecture at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 9 (1): 5–40, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-2016-9-1-5-40, archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2016, retrieved 1 February 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2016), "Thérèse philosophe and Dostoevsky's Critique of Rational Egotism", Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 13 (1): 304–317, doi:10.17805/zpu.2016.1.28, archived from the original on 3 April 2016, retrieved 3 April 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2016), "Eastern Motifs in the Ornamentation of Eighteenth-Century Siberian Church Architecture", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 9 (4): 745–774, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-2016-9-4-745-774, archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2016, retrieved 5 May 2016 .
  • Guseinova, I.A.; Brumfield, W.С. (2016), "Russian Folklore as a Poetics of Inference: (Based on Material from the Fairytale by Leonid Filatov "Fedot the Musketeer, a Brave Lad")", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 9 (9): 2223–2230, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-2016-9-9-2223-2230, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2016, retrieved 2 October 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2016), "America as a Representation of Modernity in the Russian Architectural Press, 1870–1917", Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 13 (3): 132–146, doi:10.17805/zpu.2016.3.11, archived from the original on 15 October 2016, retrieved 15 October 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2016), "Style Moderne and the Rediscovery of the Wooden Architecture of the Russian North: The Photographic Connection", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 9 (10): 2383–2397, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-2016-9-10-2383-2397, archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2016, retrieved 14 November 2016 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2017), "Yurii Gagarin and My Launch into Space", Vestnik of Moscow State Linguistic University. Series: Humanitarian Sciences (2 (769)): 106–112, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2017, retrieved 21 May 2017 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2017), "Gateway to Siberia: the Architectural Heritage of Verkhoturye and Ekaterinburg", Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 10 (5): 612–640, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-0071, archived from the original on 19 June 2017, retrieved 19 June 2017 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2017), "Tara and Omsk: Western Siberian Architectural Heritage in Historical Context" (PDF), Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 10 (10): 1462–1484, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-0148, archived from the original on 6 November 2017, retrieved 6 November 2017 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2017), "The Cathedral of St. Demetrius in Vladimir: Sources, Form and Documentation" (PDF), Theory and History of Art (1/2): 29–48, archived from the original on 1 October 2018, retrieved 1 October 2018 .
  • Brumfield, William С. (2018), "The Historic Architectural Legacy of the Chita Region in Eastern Siberia" (PDF), Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 11 (6): 874–902, doi:10.17516/1997-1370-0278, archived from the original on 5 August 2018, retrieved 5 August 2018 .


Interviews

  • Brumfield, W.С. (2016), "Faded Glory in Full Color: Russia's Architectural History (Interview with William Craft Brumfield)", Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, 17 (2): 379–404, doi:10.1353/kri.2016.0031 .

Bibliography

  • Glushchenko, N. D. (2017), "Discovering Russia: The Books of William Brumfield about Russian Architecture", Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 14 (4): 257–266, doi:10.17805/zpu.2017.4.23, archived from the original on 22 December 2017, retrieved 22 December 2017 .

References

  1. 1 2 "William Craft Brumfield (faculty profile)". Tulane University. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Reports of the president and of the treasurer (2000), p. 56.
  3. 1 2 Ian Mitchell (September 2009). "Professor William Craft Brumfield – Architectural Historian Extraordinaire". Passport Moscow magazine.
  4. ↑ "Notable Books of the Year 1993, page 2". The New York Times. December 5, 1993.
  5. ↑ "Best Sellers". The New York Times. November 7, 1993.
  6. ↑ "The Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record Recreated: The Empire That Was Russia". Library of Congress.
  7. ↑ "Discovering Russia". Russia Beyond the Headlines.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "William Craft Brumfield (Guggenheim Fellowship biography)". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 2000.
  9. ↑ Michele A. Berdy (April 2005). "William Craft Brumfield, Campaigner". Passport Moscow magazine.
  10. ↑ "The William C. Brumfield Collection - About the Collection". Library of Congress. 2004.
  11. ↑ "Travels Across Russia: Murom". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19.
  12. ↑ "Featured Photographers and Campaign Organizers". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19.
  13. ↑ "Сокуров стал лауреатом премии имени Лихачева". Interfax Russia. 2014.
  14. ↑ "Russian architecture expert William Brumfield awarded Likhachev Prize". Russia Beyond the Headlines. 2014.
  • William Brumfield talks on Russian architecture at U.S. Embassy. Video by Anastasis.me.
  • "Discovering Russia". Russia Beyond The Headlines. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
  • "William C. Brumfield Collection of Jewish Sites". Clemson University Research, TigerPrints. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016.
  • "Audio slide show - William C. Brumfield tells about The Solovetsky Transfiguration Monastery". Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
  • "The William C. Brumfield Collection". Library of Congress. 2000–2004. (original photographs 1999 to 2003)
  • "William C. Brumfield. Faculty profile, photo collection, publications". Pomor State University. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
  • "William C. Brumfield. Publications on the landmarks of Vologda Oblast, video interviews". Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
  • "William Brumfield: We See Things in Russia We Never Expected to See". Russia beyond the Headlines : The RBTH supplement to the New York Times. September 15, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 17, 2015.
  • "Preserving the Legacy of the Russian North in Photographs". Russia beyond the Headlines : The RBTH supplement to The Washington Post. October 7, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2015.
  • Zubacheva K. "William Brumfield: the American who made Russia's architectural heritage famous abroad". Russia Beyond. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018.
  • My life in Russia: William Brumfield, America's authority on Russian architecture


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