Socialist Realism

The paintings featured in this gallery are by and large representative of a generation of Ukrainian artists who enjoyed a measure of self-expression through painting, which was largely denied to any other section of the artistic community or the population of the Soviet Union as a whole.

Artistic output, like every other area of soviet life, was determined by the state, which had a monopoly on the commissioning and displaying of art in public places. Since art was first and foremost a propaganda tool in the hands of the soviets, it was natural that the bulk of the output should be destined for display in public buildings. The artist themselves were rated according to the importance of the locations where their art was exhibited. Thus it became generally accepted that the "best" artists were those whose pictures were selected for display in important government ministries or large municipal galleries. Since these buildings were generally monumental in design the artists selected to adorn them tended to be those who produced the largest canvases. This naturally resulted in large eye-catching canvases, which in spite of the strictly controlled ideological and social content, were painted with a surprising degree of technical and artistic skill. Indeed to earn the coveted title of "People's Artist", Professor or Academician each artist underwent many years of formal training and a long apprenticeship in the tutor's studio.

In its efforts to control the hearts and minds of its subjects the soviet propagandists created a culture in which art permeated every area of life in the USSR. Since the state dictated the form and content of its artists' creations it was logical to expect that its citizens would view reality through the same political and social dogmas it imposed on those responsible for representing soviet life through art. The enormity of this exercise gave rise to a further illusion - that soviet artists were prodigious in their output. However the process of commissioning, censoring and cataloguing was the responsibility of an army of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Culture and it dictated where and for how long each painting was displayed. Thus the progress of a single painting from exhibition to museum and then on to government building, public organisation and institution ensured that the illusion was perpetuated. The reality is somewhat different, with the Ministry of Culture accepting on average between 10 and 20 paintings each year for display. Those canvases not presented for display or rejected during the censorship process remained in the artists' studios and were sold privately or simply left to gather dust.

Following the break up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's much of the world, and in particular the artists of the newly-independent states themselves, turned their back on these images of the past, adopting instead the conceptuality of Western art. Consequently it is not known how much of this "unfashionable" art has perished or has been removed from display and placed into storage but it is estimated that in the last ten years the genre has been decimated. It is only in recent years that the soviet realist school is starting to be rehabilitated. Local and foreign collectors, tiring of the abstract nature of the work emanating from Western fine arts graduates, are increasingly turning to the refreshing certainties illustrated by realistic painting: landscapes, portraits, scenes of daily life, still life.

Quite apart from the quality of the painting demonstrated by these artists there is another pressing reason for acquiring their work. As I mentioned earlier, these artists were not particularly prodigious in their output and as canvas and paint was often scarce the number of good quality works of art is limited. Furthermore the majority of this generation of artists is either deceased, retired or close to retirement. If they continue to paint it is for purely commercial reasons in order to scrape by financially and the pictures which they sell on street corners do not do justice to their former glory. From this state of affairs I can draw only one conclusion - demand will soon outstrip supply. The proliferation of galleries such as this will only serve to widen the appeal and the market for this type art. Prices will rise and for the best artists prices will soon be out of reach of the amateur enthusiast.

William Graham, 17 November 1998

For information on the individual artists featured in the gallery click here.


This page was last updated on 6th March 2002.