Soviet Art

USSR Culture

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

VI Lenin in Red Square near the Kremlin wall in front of a plaque installed in memory of the fallen for peace and brotherhood of peoples (by S. Konenkov). November 7, 1918

VI Lenin in Red Square near the Kremlin wall in front of a plaque installed in memory of the fallen for peace and brotherhood of peoples (by S. Konenkov). November 7, 1918

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin
There are ideas that capture the minds of the masses, become a symbol of social renewal of the world. They excite minds, destroy obsolete judgments, illuminate the way of struggle and work for people. These are the thoughts and deeds of Lenin. His name is a new era in the history of mankind. Live Leninist word transcended national borders, stirred the hearts and minds of the working people all over the world. The leader of the first workers’ state in the world paid constant attention to complex processes that took place in the artistic life of the young republic, to the arts as an important means of ideological and aesthetic education. “Art belongs to the people. It must leave its deepest roots in the very thick of the working masses. It should be understood for the masses and loved by them. It must unite the feelings, thoughts and the will of the masses and raise them. It should awaken artists in them and develop them.” These Leninist statements define the purpose of Soviet artist of serving people.

Lenin speaks at the opening of the monument to Marx and Engels. Sculpture by S.A. Mezentsev. November 7, 1918. Moscow

Lenin speaks at the opening of the monument to Marx and Engels. Sculpture by S.A. Mezentsev. November 7, 1918. Moscow

From the point of view of the interests of working people, Lenin estimated high public role of art. The course of history brings new evidence of rightness and invincible force of Lenin’s ideas. One of the major gains of Leninism in the XX century – the emergence of the world socialist system, the bulwark of peace and international security.

A. Belostotsky. New lands. 1958. Diploma works of students of art colleges of the USSR. All-Union Exhibition of 1958

A. Belostotsky. New lands. 1958. Diploma works of students of art colleges of the USSR. All-Union Exhibition of 1958

Following Lenin’s behests, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, speaks to humanity as the founder of new, equitable relations among nations, as a consistent advocate of peace, equality and friendship of all nations.

L. Kotlyarov. Ulyanov family. Oil. 1970

L. Kotlyarov. Ulyanov family. Oil. 1970

More than 140 years have passed since Lenin’s birth, but the thought and word of Ilyich have not lost their relevance and revolutionary energy. Walking along the path indicated by Lenin, the Soviet people defended the gains of October. In no time, our country has turned into a powerful socialist state.

M. Abdurakhmanov, G. Yaralova. The first sowing. Oil. 1980

M. Abdurakhmanov, G. Yaralova. The first sowing. Oil. 1980

The labor feats of the Dnieper and Turksib builders, heroism of the defenders of Stalingrad and the storming of Berlin, and the revival of virgin land, the achievements of Soviet science and space exploration, and the construction of BAM, virgin lands transformation – such cases noted forward movement of the Soviet people to communism.

NL Babasyuk. Kirov workers

NL Babasyuk. Kirov workers

And, reflecting the beat of the pulse of time, on a par with these victories and achievements was fine art. Top Soviet monuments, paintings and sculptures, graphic works and works of arts and crafts – all creative victory of Soviet art was made possible thanks to the tireless care of the party on the augmentation of the values ​​of the multinational socialist culture.

V. Bulankin. Ernst Thalmann

V. Bulankin. Ernst Thalmann

Lenin defined the way of formation and development of Soviet art. And truly high wins in the works achieved those artists whose search illuminated ideological conviction, loyalty to the Leninist principles of party and nation, the method of socialist realism.

G.S. Vasetsky. To the peaceful work

G.S. Vasetsky. To the peaceful work

In the history of domestic multinational culture entered the new names of famous Soviet masters. And creative youth followed them. This was natural. After all, in the USSR have been created the conditions for the flourishing of young talents. We put into practice Lenin’s dream of a time when working people will not only “consumer”, but also an active creator of cultural values.

Children in the Soviet Union had ample opportunity to join the spiritual values. In 1980, the artistic, musical and choreographic schools attended two million young men and women, more than 800 thousand amateur clubs and artistic groups combined 14 million schoolchildren. Almost all towns and cities of our homeland have sculptural monument to the founder of the Soviet state. But the greatest of all the monuments to Lenin – the reality of socialism, everyday life of communist construction, the world in which we lived, studied and worked.

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Worker's tribune. 1975 (forged copper). V.A. Avakyan

Worker’s tribune. 1975 (forged copper). V.A. Avakyan

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

A. Aktsinov V. Aktsinova. Volgar. Canvas, oil. 1985

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

A. S. Baharev (Leningrad). Before the holiday. 1981. Oil on canvas

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

B. Beltyukov. 1920s

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

IP Bevzenko (b. 1927) first steel of Komsomol. 1958 oil on canvas

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

M. Belsky. Working morning. Exhibition Soviet Ukraine

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Sh Bedoyev (Ordzhonikidze). Veteran of the collective farm Sonka Gunashvili. 1981. Oil on canvas

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

V. Babitsin. In the days of the war. Oil 1984

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

V. Britvin. Clash. Canvas, oil. 1985

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

L. Kotlyarov. Ulyanov family. Oil. 1970

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

L. Vitkovsky. Before shift. Diploma works of students of art colleges of the USSR. All-Union Exhibition of 1958

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

L. Volsky, V. Potapov. Young will build communism. Poster. 1967

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Lev Vekhter. 15 years old. Moving mountains. Linocut

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Sergey Ivanovich Galben (Born 1942) The tractor brigade. 1975 oil on canvas, fragment

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

V. Baksheyev. May Day demonstration. Oil. 1927

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Alexander Semyashkin (1925-1998). ‘Lenin in the Tretyakov Gallery. 1958

Art belongs to the people. Vladimir Lenin

Alexey Kulakov (1923-1998). Lenin and Krupskaya at the art exhibition