In the article, the researcher investigated the problems of interpretation of the “canon of Soviet art history” in the scientific works of Mikhail Alpatov. The author paid special attention to the elements of populist strategies in his legacy and possible sources of Alpatov’s “populist” cultural concept (ideas of Fedor Buslaev, Pavel Muratov, Nikolai Punin, Wilhelm Worringer). The researcher revealed the heterogeneous nature of the scientific methodology of Mikhail Alpatov within the framework of the general dominance of conservative and essentialist discourses. The author also focused on the most relevant and promising components of the scientific heritage of Alpatov, to one degree or another associated with comparative, semiotic, and post-structuralist studies. The researcher discussed in detail the study “Artistic Problems of the Art of Ancient Greece” and the opposition Russia / West in Alpatov’s work. The author examined the components of the German “conservative revolution” (in particular, Oswald Spengler’s cultural studies) in the scientific works of Mikhail Alpatov as well.