The album of the famous historian of Russian art examines the work of the largest masters of the late XIX - early XX centuries: V. Serova, M. Vrubel, L. Bakst, K. Korovin, V. Surikov, N. Roerich, P. Kuznetsov, K. Petrov-Vodkin, V. Borisov-Musatov, M. Larionova, N. Goncharova, V. Tatlin, A. Kuprin, A. Lentulov and many others in aspect the most interesting problem of art in general is the problems of tradition and innovation. The author focuses on issues such as the search by artists of this time for ways to create new art of great style, creative rethinking of classical traditions - primarily antiquity.