Socialist Realism – The History

As the name connotes, Socialist Realism in art was designed to acclaim the Communist leaders. It originated in the Communist United States of Soviet Russia around the 1930s. After the Second World War ended in 1945, this art began taking roots in other Communist nations like China. Socialist Realism was similar to the French art movement of 1850s in its representation of forms and the treatment of space. However, unlike Realism, it was limited in the terms of themes and experimentation with subjects.

It suppressed creativity and freedom of expression, and was later criticized as a ‘forced’ art. Socialist Realism came into being in the regime of Joseph Stalin, through his year 1932 decree on ‘The Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations.’ At this time, when the Soviet Government was using visual art forms as an advertisement medium.

Artists & Their Works

‘Roses for Stalin’ by the official painter, Boris Vladimirski is a classic example of Socialist Realism with the realistic figures of school children presenting bouquets of roses to Stalin. Similarly, various artists, including Isaac Brodskiy, Alexei Nesterenko, and Stepan Karpov created Lenin’s portraits. For nearly 60 years, this genre of art remained the official style of Soviet Russia, being an instrument of political evangelism. For instance, ‘The First Tractor’ by Vladimirski was a discursive eulogy of the State, which first imported tractors from Henry Ford & Son Company and eventually started manufacturing them indigenously.

This painting serves to glorify the ‘progressive’ approach of the Soviet State and a step towards collective farming. Despite being the State artist, Vladimirski painted ‘Black Ravens,’ the vehicles used by the dreaded NKVD, a secret police force of Stalin. NKVD was notorious for using coercive force for arresting and executing innocent victims in Stalin’s regime. However, this piece managed to clear the censorship barrier, amidst criticism.

The Correlations

Socialist Realism in Chinese art was an inspired phenomenon, which owed its origin to the New Woodcut Movement and the Soviet Socialist Realism. In fact, it was a mix of the two styles, where Block Painting and Realism co-existed on the same canvas frame. Socialist Realism in China was adopted under its leader Mao Zedong. The paintings under this movement, therefore, put the bourgeois and peasantry on a high pedestal. These politically flavored works were not very prolific in the terms of artistic imagination and often carried Communist Chinese slogans. Overall, art community received Social Realism in bad taste, and still treats it as a ‘sponsored art.’

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

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