He later wrote that their tribute reminded him of the "nation-wide" support he had received in 1913 in his fight against the "reds." (Valkenier, 1978, p. 28).
The Russian Revolution also introduced an entirely new art form. It is thought that the period following the Bolshevik Revolution until the middle 1920s was progressive and at the forefront of the European avant-garde. Artists believed in the profound influence they could have on individual and social development: The Revolution gave them the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the formation of a new way of life (Birnholz, 1972, p. 146)
Lazar "El" Lissitzky was dedicated to new Soviet goals, such as teaching artists to benefit the state and society instead of the individual. He was adamant about renouncing private and elite forms of art-making, such as oil painting, for work that was egalitarian, affordable, and understandable to the masses. For that goal, he turned to printed forms like posters, books, and prints that could be mechanically reproduced in considerable numbers.
El Lissitzky noted: "And if Communism which set human labor on the throne and Suprematism which raised aloft the square pennant of creativity now march forward together, then in the further stages of development it is Communism which will have to remain behind because Suprematism -- which embraces the totality of life's phenomena -- will attract everyone away from the domination of work and from the domination of the intoxicated masses." This concept of art preceding economic and social change soon ran afoul of government policies and a heightened friction arose over precisely this issue of the mission of art (ibid).
Underlying his Lissitzky's artwork was his belief that the art of Suprematism and had abolished existing barriers. By using the Communist Revolution as a social example, he observed that art had discredited old concepts that had set up barriers in society, including...
Based on this, he argued that towns would be rebuilt in such a way as to abolish the separation between their different elements, since houses, streets, squares, bridges and similar entities were now linked by "underground metro, underground monorail, electricity transmitted under the ground and above the ground" (Levinger, 1989, p.227)
States Birnholz, (1972, p. 146), "for [El Lissitzky's] work to be properly understood it must be judged primarily in relation to the atmosphere of the Russian Revolution, with its upheavals and faith in a radical transformation of the world."
In short, similar to Russian literature, this art can only be grasped from the vantage point of 1917.
Later, the role of artists solidified and the forms that art could take came under tight political control. The U.S.S.R. decreed Socialist Realism the official style of the nation, and work outside this style was limited. While the goal of this control was to use artistic forms to promote ideas and values of the worker society, the limits to artistic freedom created controversy. This period in Russian history raises important questions about the role of art in society, and its relationship to politics.
References
Birnholz, a. The Russian Avant-Garde and the Russian Tradition Art Journal 32(2):
Millon, H.A., and Nochlin, L. (1980) Art and Architecture in the Service of Politics.
Cambridge: MIT.
Valkenier, E. K (1975). The Peredvizhniki and the Spirit of the 1860s Russian Review
1978) Politics in Russian Art: The Case of Repin Russian Review,
Historical Perspectives on the Arts, Sciences and Technology
Art and Mathematics in the Thought of El Lissitzky: His Relationship to Suprematism and Constructivism
Esther Levinger
Leonardo, Vol. 22, No. 2. (1989), pp. 227-236.
