Soviet Art

Memory. 1983. Autolithography. V.S. Vilner. Soviet graphic artists Illustrations and drawings

Soviet graphic artists Illustrations and drawings
First of all, the Soviet graphics – a big era, which refers to the period from 1917 to 1991. Also, it includes post-revolutionary, pre-war, military (1941-1945), post-war, thaw (1960s), and stagnation (1980s) periods. Traditionally, the graphics itself realized itself in various forms – illustration, portraits, prints, ex-libris, emblems, drafts of banknotes, stamps, etc. In addition to engraving, traditional types of graphics continued to exist – pencil, charcoal, and pastel.
Numerous portraits of Lenin, the workers, determined to fulfill the plan, occupied prominent places on the pages of newspapers and magazines. But graphic art is diverse, from a newspaper drawing to a book illustration, made in classical techniques of pencil, coal; and subtle, refined color harmonies of watercolors, gouaches and pastels.
Meanwhile, in graphic art appeared a unique image, a personal beginning, caused by the desire for a comprehensive depth of analysis of spiritual processes in the life of modern man. The development of author’s techniques is evidence of the complication of the figurative system in the work of this or that artist.
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Various types of passenger cars and trucks. Photos from “The Soviet Union” magazine #37, 1953. The Soviet Union automobile industry

The Soviet Union automobile industry in 1953

The appearance of an article on various types of passenger cars and trucks that the USSR produced was welcomed by foreign readers of the magazine “The Soviet Union”. In particular, the article of the prominent Soviet scientist Academician E. Chudakov and several photographs showing the production.
The automobile industry of the USSR can rightfully be called the offspring of Soviet power. In tsarist Russia there was no automobile industry, except for attempts to organize the production of cars at the Russo-Baltic plant – an attempt that ended in failure: for 6 years this enterprise produced … 450 cars.
However, created in the Soviet Union a new branch of industry, the enterprises of which, for example, in 1937, produced more than 200,000 cars, overtaking England, France and Germany in truck production. In the same year 1937, the USSR’s road transport by tonnage of the cargo transported was ahead of the railway transport. The growth of road freight transportation continues at a very fast pace.
Noteworthy, the motorization of the Soviet Union was carried out in an extremely short time. In the first years after the Great October Socialist Revolution, the general state of industry made it impossible to seriously raise the question of automobile production on a scale corresponding to the needs of the national economy. First of all, there was no necessary metallurgical base. Nevertheless, a small production of cars started. And the Moscow plant AMO produced the first Soviet cars, the one-and-a-half-ton cargo brands AMO-F-15, in 1924.
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The Soviet Union, 1953 magazine. Photo B. Utkin. The Soviet female vocal ensemble Fyodorov Sisters on the stage

Soviet female vocal ensemble Fyodorov Sisters
In March 1953, along with a report on the death of Stalin, the magazine “The Soviet Union” published this photo and an enthusiastic article about the Fedorov sisters. The natives of the village of Stary Borok of the Pskov region, Sisters Fyodorovs – Soviet female vocal ensemble, performers of Russian folk songs, who created their band in the mid-1940s. In particular, the sisters Ekaterina (born in 1924), Nina (born 1926), Ninel (born 1928), and Anastasia (born 1931) Ivanovna Fedorova. After three years of concert performances, since 1948 the band has become a professional ensemble. In addition, the youngest of the sisters – Galina Ivanovna Fedorova joined the quartet in 1955.
However, because of Ninel Fedorova, who emigrated to Switzerland in 1972, the ensemble’s performances ceased. Emigration caused the ban on broadcasting the ensemble’s records on radio and television. Radio funds of the country received an unspoken instruction about the destruction of all phonograms of the Fedorov sisters. In addition, at the same time, a rumor was launched about the death of the entire ensemble in the plane crash. The fans soon forgot the names of the sisters and their further performances were possible only in rural clubs of the Leningrad region.
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Workers of the Moscow plant named after S. Ordzhonikidze during a mourning five-minute stoppage of the enterprise. Funerals of Stalin in the magazine Soviet Union (1953)

Funerals of Stalin in the magazine Soviet Union (1953)
First of all, Sovetsky Soyuz, or “The Soviet Union”, was a monthly magazine published in 1930-1990 in Moscow. Noteworthy, the magazine, distributed in the USSR and abroad, in addition to Russian language, was available in 18 languages. In particular, in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Serbian-Croatian, Urdu, Hindi, Finnish, Romanian, Hungarian, Mongolian, Bengali, Vietnamese, and Italian. Founded by Maxim Gorky, until 1950 the magazine was called “USSR on the construction site”.
However, of all the issues released in the period of 1930-1990s I have chosen only No. 3 (37) released in March of 1953. It was a historical issue, which, alongside with traditional articles on socialist achievements, published information about the death of Joseph Stalin (died 5 March 1953).
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Painting by Soviet artist Tamara Fyodorovna Nedoshevenko. Romance. 1977. One-picture Soviet art gallery

One-picture Soviet art gallery
The author of the above painting – born 2 November 1950 in the Volyn region of Ukraine, Tamara Fyodorovna Nedoshevenko. She graduated from the Kiev State Art Institute (1975). And then, continued her art education in Moscow, in the creative workshops of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1978). Her teachers were prominent Soviet artists V. Shatalin and S. Grigoriev. Mainly, she worked in the field of easel and monumental painting.
Alongside with Tamara Fyodorovna Nedoshevenko, this post features various Soviet artists who worked in the time of the USSR. Besides, most of these artists were members of the USSR Union of artists.
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Valerian Loik (20 May 1904, Tallinn – 26 September 1986, Tallinn). The song of protest. 1963. One-picture artists of Soviet period

One-picture artists of Soviet period

In the above picture – painting by Soviet Estonian artist, Member of the USSR Union of Artists, Honored Artist of the Estonian SSR, Professor Valerian Tynuyevich Loik. This post is a continuation of the theme of artists, authors of one painting from my private collection. The images scanned from publications of the Soviet period – books, illustrated albums, magazines and catalogs of exhibitions of Soviet art.

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A.N. Volkov. Girls with cotton. 1932. Soviet Art Gallery of one-picture artists

Soviet Art Gallery of one-picture artists

For the lovers of art, and in particular, the Soviet period, I propose to get acquainted with another collection of works by artists of the period of the USSR. All images – scanned from Soviet catalogs, books and illustrated albums on Soviet fine arts, which I have been collecting for many years. In particular, the gallery includes works by artists of the Soviet period, performed in different genres – portraits of workers and artists, urban and industrial landscapes, still lifes and genre painting. However, they all belong to the art of socialist realism,
characterized by a close connection with life, social development through unique, individualized images of people and events. And, most importantly, reflecting the life of glorious Soviet past and present, they charged with the revolutionary romanticism and historical life-affirming optimism.
However, the method of socialist realism did not mean uniformity, although it assumed a single ideological and aesthetic basis of art. On the contrary, there is a diversity of individualities, genres, styles, artistic forms and national characteristics. Just look, for example, at the above picture – “The girls with cotton”, created in 1932 by Soviet artist A.N. Volkov.
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