Politics and figure art: ideology and representation in selected periods

politics and figure (Art)

When it comes to political regimes, modern societies can be characterized as democratic or totalitarian. Throughout history, political regimes have always wielded influence over the arts. This influence has manifested itself in various manners, ranging from social aspects which translated into a particular theme which was adopted by many artists in a particular period of time, or simply in the form of restrictions imposed on artists by the ruling class. In this sense, it is quite clear that totalitarian regimes are the most harsh and limitative. The Soviet culture inaugurated by Stalin had the longest lifespan among all known totalitarian structures of its kind. Although restrictions imposed on artists loosened after Stalin's death in 1953, it was not until the fall of the Soviet Union that artists truly achieved artistic freedom. Stalin's vision of the arts was that they should glorify political and social ideals of communism. In this sense, paintings and visual arts in general needed to be idealized images of political leaders such as Stalin and Lenin, or to depict communist ideals such as "the common man," and "labour." Socialist Realism was an ideology enforced by the Soviet state in 1934 which transformed Stalin's vision of the arts into a law, thus creating an 'artistic norm'. Thesis: This paper looks at the impact of Socialist Realism on visual arts, and strives to analyze the general impact of politics on Soviet art during the Stalinist period.

Stalin was not only the central figure of Soviet art but also the patron and customer of many art works. This can be explained by the fact that his plan of "building Socialism in one country" needed to be supported by heavy propaganda which was mostly constructed through different forms of visual art. The most common and successful forms were painting, photography and architecture which were centered on Stalin's personality cult, a trait encountered at almost all authoritarian leaders in history. Aside from the personality cult, these works focused on a mythological image of Lenin which was incredibly productive in terms of the number of works. In the Soviet Union the Realistic style not merely prevails, but it is made to prevail (Read: 118). It is the official and definitive style that all artists must conform to. In order to be able to create, the artist is obligated to adhere to this new artistic credo which is imposed by politics. All those who choose not to practice this style are banned and persecuted. This could account for the ban applied to surrealism, expressionism as they were considered to aim at social disintegration, but also to constructivism (Ibid.).

Unlike Nazi art, Soviet art did not look towards the past. In this sense, Soviet painting style cannot be labeled as a simple recourse to old nineteenth century naturalistic painting. Soviet visual arts looked towards the future, as the very core of Stalin's political vision was to orchestrate a full-scale transformation of Russian life. To this aim, Stalin built Russian culture of the avant-garde. Socialist Realism becomes a synthesis of culture and power which stars Stalin as the ruling artist and absolute leader. The avant-garde culture depicts the Soviet empire as a work of national art thus marking the abrupt departure from the utopia of the twenties and thirties which comprised all mankind. Lenin had been an adversary of artistic experimentation. Under his guidance, the Central Committee condemned "decadents" for influencing the tastes of the working class (Van Ree: 173). During the 1920s, realism was not yet enforced as initially, Stalin did not focus on art policies which he did not consider important. Nonetheless, even when he did not show much interest in art, he manifested his disgust as far as experimental avant-garde art, and supported proletarian realist art which he would later incorporate in his "new Soviet culture," i.e. The Russian Cultural Revolution. He rejected exclusively proletarian art as too sectarian (Ibid.) and advocated artists which were capable of creating on a "wider Soviet platform" (Ibid.). Life was to be portrayed "truthfully, on its way to socialism" (Van Ree: 174), meaning that at the same time art needed to be realistic and full of the socialist message. The history of the term "socialist realism" starts in May 1932 when it was first used, in Literaturnaia gazeta, by Izvestiia editor Gronskii who later explained that he had proposed the term to Stalin who approved it.

The Association of Artists of the Revolution established in 1922 played a key role in establishing Socialist Realism as the norm in the Soviet Union. Its manifesto proclaimed: "It is our duty to mankind to perpetuate the revolution, the greatest event in history, in artistic documents. We render a pictorial representation of the present day; the life of the Red Army, the life of the workers and peasants, the leaders of the Revolution and the heroes of labour" (Bunt: 239). Socialist realist ideology contained a patriotic component. For instance, in painting, the horrors of contemporary society were depicted for patriotic reasons.

Stalin often appeared as an idealized figure which fulfilled the need for vigorous leadership in Soviet society. In this sense, he appeared as a charismatic leader whose magnetism went far beyond his political role. The Soviet people were mesmerized with his image which generated mystery and fascination. Numerous paintings depicted him interacting with a group of common citizens who were perceived as lucky enough to have been in his presence. A very good example of Stalinist painting is the picture entitled "Roses for Stalin" (Boris Vladimirski, 1949) which depicts the Leader receiving a bunch of roses from a group of Soviet children. This kind of image suggested that Stalin was in fact, one of the people. His stance is characteristic to paintings belonging to that era in the sense that his face is immobile and his arms are open, a typical way of depicting Stalin. On the other hand, Grigorev's "Stalin at a session of politicians at the Kremlin" depicts Stalin as the great leader who receives a standing ovation from other politicians when entering the council room.

Stalinist architecture designates the architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1955, i.e. The period of time between the year the draft for the Palace of Soviets was officially approved, and the year when Nikita Khrushchev labeled Soviet monuments and buildings as excesses and decided to disband the Soviet Academy of Architecture. Architects were obligated to obtain the approval of the state for every point in a design which resulted in projects being remodeled many times.

Stalinist architecture is not a style per se, but a manifestation of power and greatness which were the main two characteristics of the image of the Soviet Union that Stalin wanted to project. It did not have a distinct appearance in terms of architectural style, but it definitely conveyed a strong message to its public. The monuments and buildings which were built during this era can be described as a combination between patriotic art, traditional motifs and a sense of solemnity. It is restricted to urban public and residential buildings; it did not comprise mass housing. Although it did not comprise infrastructure projects such as bridges or highways, the Moscow Canal and the Volga-Don Canal are results of the Stalinist architecture era. Stalinist architecture was overwhelmingly urban and could result in the transformation of a city's image. This can be explained by the fact that cities were divided into districts, and architectural projects could not be restricted to a single area or group of buildings, but had to encompass the entire district in question, a policy which would lead to a coherent image of Soviet urban architecture. There are numerous famous examples of Stalinist architecture that can be found in Moscow, such as the Peking Hotel, Moscow State University, and the Theater of the Red Army.

The period of time between World War I and World War II was an era characterized by fundamental transformations of mass culture which was mostly-based films and posters. The latter allowed for the distribution of images in large numbers, and were used as the number one tool of Soviet propaganda. Nevertheless, mechanisms of mass distribution also touched more traditional fields such as painting and architecture.

The poster was the most powerful tool of Soviet propaganda which survived political, economic and social turmoil. Lenin was the creator of the first truly modern propaganda machine, a machine which greatly relied on the poster which was the most colourful and effective form of visual propaganda. The poster was the tool which proclaimed and asked for support for government policies and advocated great efforts with the aim of building a great Soviet Union. This paper looks at the Soviet art of propaganda during five periods in the history of the Soviet Union, and strives to emphasize the link between artistic expression and political circumstance. The Bolshevik Era which lasted from 1917 to 1921 was characterized by the Bolsheviks' attempt to convey revolutionary fervor and powerful symbolism which would eventually lead to the creation of the first Communist state. The poster was central to Lenin's vision of political transformation, and also the easiest way to convey his message to a largely illiterate population which did not care for paintings and monuments. By the year 1918, the new government began to print and distribute posters. "Alexander Apsit was the first great Bolshevik poster artist who developed many distinct Soviet symbols" (Foss; Lapides: The Bolshevik Era). In 1919, the Literary-Publishing Department was established by the Bolshevik government; this new department was made up of brilliant cartoonists and artists such as Dimitri Moor and Viktor Deni. The New Economic Policy was the era between 1921 and 1927 when propaganda was aimed at post-war realities such as famine, discontent and freedom. The country was at peace but the economy had collapsed under the enormous weight of the war. Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy which favoured some private enterprises which eventually flourished. It was during this period that Russian experienced its "roaring twenties," an era dominated by experimentation in all fields, including the arts where the Constructivist movement was predominant. Also, it was during this era that artists became interested in contributing to the construction of a new communist society. The First and Second Five-Year Plans represented Stalin's project to turn Russia into a fully communist industrialized power. Mobilization was the main theme during the First Five-Year Plan. The first step was Stalin's decree in 1932 that all art must conform to "Socialist Realism" which meant that art would serve as a vehicle for the Communist values, and that all artistic experiments would end. State propaganda was now strictly controlled and relied on strident posters which seemed to be everywhere the common man went. The main artist of this period was Gustav Klutsis whose task was to visually translate the glorification of the plan. To this aim, he employed simple colours with dynamic composition and bold typography. The Second Plan can be summed up as an attempt to strongly react in the face of the Nazis. Posters of this period featured the infallible leader, Stalin whose image appeared everywhere. This was the era of Stalin's purge first within the Party, then the army which resulted in the annihilation, either physical or social, of those who were not in favor of it. The last period examined in this section of the paper is the Great Patriotic War which lasted from 1939 to 1945. This era was synonymous to a revival of the Bolshevik poster's symbolism which now focused on the issue of patriotism. The themes illustrated by the posters were meant to act as a reaction to the growing Nazi threat that required patriotic appeals in the Soviet Union. In fact, the themes of communism and class struggle became rather secondary in the face of a strong revival of great pre-Soviet heroes.