May-August 2015

Russian and Ukrainian Socialist Realist Art- Escaping Reality

Initially, Socialist Realism was an artistic and literary doctrine of political censorship in the Soviet Union. Established by the Union of Soviet Writers, it became implemented as compulsory practice in 1932. Socialist Realism primarily required that artists portray a positive depiction of socialist society in conventionally realistic terms. But after Stalin's death [1953], the practice of Socialist Realism gradually became more relaxed though Soviet censorship, in general, remained comparatively strong until Glasnost of the mid-1980s.

The most famous definition of Socialist Realism is Aleksandr Gerasimov's explanation: "Socialist Realism is art that is realistic in form but Socialist in content." "It is primarily optimistic about life," Gorky explained, "and is cognisant of its didactic educational role as it portrays information through images." ...

If the artist succeeded in doing what was considered an extraordinary painting of Lenin, he might be rewarded with a Lenin Medal of Honor. But the reality of Stalin's regime was isolation, loneliness, and grimness of life. Millions of people were arrested and murdered. At the end of Stalin's era, the situation was so bad that it was impossible to make paintings depicting a glorious new world. That's why paintings of the 1960s and 1970s have a different, more gentler atmosphere.

In essence Socialist Realism transformed itself into a romantic style - an escape from brutal reality. Many of the paintings began to resemble 17th century landscape paintings. Pastoral in content, they show Lenin relaxing and dreaming about a life of harmony. Everybody, including the censors, wanted to have peaceful dreams. And so that's the kind of art that was created.

A.V

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