Category Archive: Soviet Art

Sculptor Elena Aleksandrovna Yanson Manizer.

The cycle of works by the remarkable sculptor Elena Aleksandrovna Yanson-Manizer (1890-1971), dedicated to Soviet ballet, is evidence of the highest cultural level of both Soviet ballet and Soviet sculpture. Why did she become such a sculptor?

It’s very simple: she studied with the remarkable, highly professional sculptor M.G.Manizer, who, in turn, received a good academic education at the end of the existence of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

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Sculptures from the series Soviet Socialist Republics, sculptor N. A. Malysheva, Dulevo Porcelain Factory, 1950-60.

Soviet manufacturers of porcelain figurines, whose products today cost hundreds of thousands of rubles

Porcelain figurines of the Soviet period today, without exaggeration, can be called true works of art. Surprisingly, these products were appreciated only after the disappearance of the state in which they were born from the map of the world. Today we will talk about the productions that gave mankind true beauty – unique porcelain figurines, for which collectors from different parts of the globe are ready to pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

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Painting The tank takes obstacles, artist Svarog Vasily, USSR, 1931.

The founder of the Soviet newspaper illustration: Svarog (Korochkin) Vasily Semyonovich

Vasily Svarog is considered the founder of illustrations in the newspaper genre of the Soviet era. His works of art have always been executed perfectly, as a true professional, he did not tolerate hack work and constantly developed his abilities. The style of this artist’s work is closest to Ilya Repin, but this is not an imitation, but the influence of teachers who instilled in him a realistic style and a selfless love for art.

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Unofficial art of the USSR. Carnival in St. Petersburg. Mikhail Shemyakin.

Unofficial art of the USSR is a powerful tool in the struggle of progressive artists against the totalitarian Soviet regime

Unofficial art of the USSR (non-conformist, underground, alternative or underground) is a collection of works of fine and other types of art of the 50-80s of the twentieth century that did not fit into the system of Soviet cultural values ​​and were strictly banned for political and ideological reasons. The unofficial art of the USSR united representatives of various avant-garde movements of that time, and its supporters were constantly persecuted by the authorities and persecuted in the press. They were deprived of the opportunity to freely communicate with the mass audience through the organization of exhibitions or the presentation of their work in the media.

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Assay Office building in Moscow. Hallmarking silver in the USSR. 

Hallmarking of silver in the USSR has changed more than once in its history. Immediately after the revolution of 1917, most of the jewelry factories and workshops were closed in Russia. Fearing robberies, the owners of large and small enterprises fled abroad. Assay offices, which were previously engaged in hallmarking silver, ceased their work with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks.

Hallmarking of silver at the dawn of the USSR was of little concern to the Soviet government. The main goal of the authorities was the requisition of jewelry and their further sale abroad, since the state needed funds to finance the world revolution. The first steps to put things in order in the jewelry business were made in 1918, when a commission formed under the Council of People’s Commissars assumed control functions.

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Yuri Petrovich Kugach

Yuri Petrovich Kugach was born in 1917 in Suzdal.

In 1936 he graduated from the Moscow Fine Art School in memory of 1905. He studied under N. P. Krymov and K. F. Morozov. In 1942 he graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute, in the same place in 1945 postgraduate studies with S. V. Gerasimov, N. K. Maksimov, I. E. Grabar.

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Taras Guryevich Gaponenko

Taras Guryevich Gaponenko was born on March 5, 1906 in the village of Staraya Zavoron (Smolensk region) into a poor peasant family. Lost his parents early. His mother died when he was 5 years old, his father – when he was 8 years old. They stayed alone with their sister, who was 6 years older than Taras, and they went to the people. In the summer, my sister, a thin girl, labored in the surrounding villages, and Taras grazed pigs, receiving one measure of rye and 5-6 measures of potatoes per season. In winter, interrupted than necessary. One winter Taras had to drive two blind beggars, trampling down half of the country roads of the Elninsky district of the Smolensk province with his little sandals. Lapti Taras wove himself.

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