Soviet art

Soviet art
Communist ideology had a major influence during the 20th century, setting a particular social and political context. Soviet art thus reflects the specificities of this period, through a unique aesthetic and the appearance of many avant-garde movements.
Red, Art and utopia in the land of Soviets - Exhibition catalogue
Exhibition Catalogues

Red, Art and utopia in the land of Soviets - Exhibition catalogue

EC107384
  • € 45
Written in France.

Official exhibition catalogue of "Red. Art and utopia in the land of Soviets" at the Grand Palais from March 20th 2019 to July 1st 2019.

In 1917, the October Revolution caused a disruption of the social order, which had a decisive impact on artistic creation.
Many artists adhere to the communist project and want to participate through their works in building the new society.
Driven for some by authentic convictions, like Mayakovsky, for others by a pragmatism oscillating between opportunism and resignation, they quickly opposed what should be a "truly" socialist art.
But by the end of the 1920s, the debates were closed by the establishment of Stalin's regime. This led to the gradual establishment of socialist realism, an aesthetic doctrine that governs all sectors of creation.
In the countries of Western Europe, particularly in France, Germany and Italy, these debates were closely followed: multiple artistic exchanges were established with the Soviet Union, which then attracted artists and intellectuals, curious to discover the "homeland of socialism", while Soviet artists exhibited in Paris, Berlin and Venice...

This catalogue shows this history, these tensions, these plastic innovations and ideological constraints, the impulses and reversals.
Major works from major Russian museums and the Centre Pompidou, paintings, plastic arts, architecture, design... magnificently illustrate this exciting period in art history, on the politicization of art and its place in society...

288 pages
In French.
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©Olaf Meister
Did you know ?
Mikhail Anikushin was so unsatisfied with his work that he invested his own money to rebuild the statue in honour of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, even though it had been validated by the government. The statue is still visible today in the Square of Arts in St. Petersburg.
" The most precious things in pictorial creation are colour and texture. They constitute the pictorial essence that the subject has always killed. " Kasimir Malevich
Red. Art and Utopia in the Land of the Soviets

Red. Art and Utopia in the Land of the Soviets

18 March 2019 1 July 2019 Exhibition has ended
In 1917, the October Revolution caused a disruption of the social order, with decisive repercussions on artistic creation. Many artists adhere to the communist project and want to participate through their works in the construction of the new society. Led for the most part by authentic convictions, these artists oppose each other in defining what the art of socialism should be. But by the end of the 1920s, the debates were closed by the establishment of the Stalinist regime. This led to the gradual establishment of socialist realism, an aesthetic doctrine that gradually governed all sectors of creation. In capitalist countries, these debates are closely followed: multiple artistic exchanges are taking place with the young Soviet Russia, which attracts intellectuals and artists curious to discover the "homeland of socialism". It is this history, its tensions, its impulses and its reversals that the exhibition recounts through a series of major works on loan from the major Russian museums and the Centre Pompidou; a history in which plastic innovations and ideological constraints, inextricably linked, raise the question of a possible politicization of the arts.
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