Dostoevsky biography

I asked previously about Dostoevsky's "A Writer's Diary" and received no response. I know that AWD is not read nearly as often as his other fiction (Although "Bobok", "A Meek One", and "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" all originally appeared in AWD). So I figured I might quote some of Dostoevsky's own passages from that work instead of quoting from Frank's bio; maybe even spark some interest in the work itself for those of you who haven't a taste of it.

Dostoevsky often compared the 'ideal' and the 'realistic' - 'idealism' vs. 'realism' - since 'idealism' was often mocked and scorned while 'realism' was considered the apex of artistic achievement (one might even say the goal of art) among most of Dostoevsky's later contemporaries. This is only a tiny excerpt from a wonderful article that touches on everything from the decline of historical painting to the genre art of Dickens. This brief excerpt illuminates his thoughts on this most important artistic consideration - 'idealism' vs 'realism'. The context of this is an art exhibit that he attended, and he elaborated from there:

"A portriatist, for example, seats his subject to paint his portrait; he prepares; he studies the subject carefully. Why does he do that? Because he knows from experience that a person does not always look like himself, and therefore he seeks out 'the principal idea of his physiognomy,' that moment when the subject most resembles his self. The portraitist's gift consists in the ability to seek out and capture the moment. And so what is the artist doing here if not trusting first his own idea (the ideal) more than the reality before him? The ideal is also reality, after all, and just as legitimate as immediate reality. Many artists in Russia don't seem to realize that. Take Bronnikov's 'Hymn of the Pythagoreans,' for instance. Some genre painter (even one of our most talented) might even be surprised at how a contemporary artist could pick such subjects. And yet subjects such as these (almost fantastic ones) are just as real and just as essential to art and to humans as is immediate reality." [All quoting and parentheses are Dostoevsky's]

- "A Writer's Diary" Volume 1 1873-1876;
1873 - "Apropos of the Exhibition"; pgs. 214-215