John E. Bowlt is a specialist in the history of Russian art, especially of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and has published widely on Symbolism, the avant-garde, and Socialist Realism. Starting his career as a literary historian with a particular interest in the writings of Andrei Belyi and Aleksandr Blok, Bowlt broadened his field of research to the painting, architecture, and design of Russian Modernism, while he was a graduate student at Moscow State University in 1966-68. Since then he has continued to address both the careers of individual artists such as Bakst, Benois, Filonov, Kandinsky, Malevich, Somov, and Tatlin and also philosophical issues such as the concept of zero in the avant-garde, the occult dimension of Symbolism, artistic and military violence, and the cult of solar energy in Stalin's decorative arts. Bowlt tries to promote the cause of Russian art not only through teaching, lecturing, and publishing, but also through art exhibitions, many of which he has curated or co-curated for public museums and private galleries. Among his most recent exhibition projects are "Russian Stage Design 1900-1930" for the Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan, "Theater of Reason, Theater of Desire. The Art of Léon Bakst and Alexander Benois" for the Thyssen-Bornmesiza Foundation, Lugano, "Amazons of the Avant-Garde" for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Painting Revolution" for the Foundation for International Arts and Education, Bethesda, Maryland, and "Alfabeto in Sogno" for the Biblioteca Panizzi, Reggio Emilia, Italy. At the moment he is working closely with the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece, on a cycle of experimental exhibitions pertaining to the history of Russian Constructivism.
 
     During his tenure at USC, Bowlt has offered courses in Russian art, literature, cultural studies, and language. However, while most of his classes are concerned with the history of 20th century Russian painting, architecture, and design, he realizes that any culture is the sum total of many disciplines and that analogies with literature, the performing arts, and material culture may often illuminate an artifact or aesthetic theory. In pursuing this course of comparative study, Bowlt often draws on the unique collections of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at USC.
 
      Currently, Bowlt is working on several projects. For example, he is part of an editorial team preparing the complete writings of Lev Bakst for publication (letters, theoretical and critical statements, and creative prose). He is also helping to prepare a major retrospective of the Pavel Filonov's paintings for Russian, European and American museums 2006-07).

      In February, 2006 he will be chairing the conference concomitant with the exhibitions "Russian Avant-Gardes" at the Museo Thyssen, Madrid.

      In the summer of 2003 he was one of the organizers of the "Palaia Dance Project" in Italy and in September, 2005, of "A Chant of Universal Flowering: The Poetry and Painting of Pavel Filonov" at the Getty Research Center, Los Angeles.      

      Apart from his Italian wife, Bowlt's primary passion is antique Russian books. He also harbors a special affection for dogs, convinced that their sensibilities are often more acute than mankind's.