Socialist Realism

by Jane Rogoyska

The Bolsheviks placed workers in two categories: those who worked with their hands and those who worked with their heads. This classification undervalued intellectuals, but perfectly described the position occupied by artists and writers in Soviet society. Everyone contributed what they could to the development of socialism and, by definition, to the ultimate goal: the Communist paradise.Artists needed to use talent and imagination in their compositions, sometimes by sacrificing academism, sometimes by seeking to exert an influence on the era. Today, this all seems quite stale and outdated, but in those days the appearance of new materials and new techniques marked the beginning of an exciting period of undisciplined modernism. Jane Rogoyska contrasts all these historical events and disruptive times, and finds a synthesis in the 30 year period between 1920 and 1950: a period in which the creative artist found political conflict at the tip of his paintbrush, his pen, and his ruler. Sculpture, painting and architecture were the means by which socialist realism established its credibility.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1999