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It's an abominable fallacy that suffering makes for greater art. Suffering blinds, deafens, ruins, and often kills. Osip Mandelstam was a great poet before the revolution. So was Anna Akhmatova, so was Marina Tsvetaeva. They would have become what they became even if none of the historical events that befell Russia in this century had taken place: because they were gifted. Basically, talent doesn't need history.

Absolutely agree! Talent is a gift that transcends external circumstances. True artists like Mandelstam, Akhmatova, and Tsvetaeva would have shone regardless of the historical backdrop. Suffering may inspire, but it's not a prerequisite for artistic greatness. Talent speaks for itself, independent of the world's turmoil.