Soviet Art

Before the long journey (Nadezhda Krupskaya and Vladimir Lenin). 1973. Painting by Soviet artist Sergei Yakovlevich Dunchev (October 24, 1916 – October 1, 2004)

Soviet artist Sergei Yakovlevich Dunchev

Born 24 October 1916 in Baku, Sergey Yakovlevich Dunchev studied at the fine art department of the Azerbaijan Art College(1934-1939), workshop of S.I. Kulikov. Veteran of two wars – with the White Finns and the Great Patriotic War, he defended Moscow. And as part of the 16th Army, fought in the Smolensk direction. In 1943, after graduating from the three-month courses of the commander of the Navy, he became the junior lieutenant and a commander of the infantry platoon. In battles during the liberation of Smolensk he received a severe wound. Aawarded the Order of the Red Star, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and medals “For the defense of Moscow”, and “For victory over Germany”. After recovery, he received a disability. Demobilized in late 1944.
Since 1944 he lived in Sergiev Posad.
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Painting by Mikhail Chepik (1872 – 1920). Flowers to Stalin. 1951. Oil on canvas. Thank you comrade Stalin for our happy childhood

Thank you comrade Stalin for our happy childhood
The history of this phrase dates back to July 6, 1936, when a delegation from the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR arrived in Moscow. The first secretary of the regional committee, Mikhei Yerbanov, headed it, along with the Minister of Agriculture Ardan Markizov with his wife (then a student of the Moscow Medical Institute). Also, with them was their daughter Gelya, who wanted to see the “leader of all nations”. So, at the meeting in Kremlin Gelya handed Stalin a bouquet of flowers with the words: “These flowers are from the children of Buryat-Mongolia.” The deeply touched Stalin took the girl in his arms and kissed her. This moment, captured by a lot of present photographers and newsreelists, became iconic. Besides, the photo, signed “Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!” appeared in all the newspapers of the USSR. The government and citizens liked the words so much that later they began to paint pictures from the legendary photo. Such an iconic image adorned children’s institutions, produced in posters and even in sculptural compositions.
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RSFSR in precious stones. Industry of Socialism precious mosaic map of USSR. Located in the Central Research Geological Prospecting Museum of Academician FN Chernyshev, St. Petersburg, Russia

Industry of Socialism precious mosaic map of USSR

This magnificent mosaic is a monumental monument of the imperial style of the times of the Soviet Union. Created in 1937 for a fantastic period of 5 months, the map and the arms of 11 union republics appeared at international exhibitions in Paris and New York. By creating a giant mosaic panel of gems, which would reflect all the victories of the Social Industry, the authorities decided to celebrate the Communist Party of the USSR on the 20th anniversary of October. In fact, this idea belonged to G. K. Ordzhonikidze, People’s Commissar of Heavy Industry of the USSR.
Laid out from thousands of precious and semiprecious stones, the map first shone in 1937 at the World Exhibition in Paris. It amazed the imagination of Europeans along with the gigantic monument of “Worker and Collective Farmer”.
In particular, the mountains on the map are from jasper, and next to them are lazurite seas and rivers, cities are solid rubies. All in full geographical accordance with the original.
However, tThe most expensive stones – emeralds – marked the objects of industry. Impressive is not only the art of artists who created a panel of gems, but also the cost of the work. In the 1940s, the map, taken to an exhibition in New York, was insured for $ 137 million. And it’s hard to imagine how many panels can cost today.
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Still life with garlic. 1962. Oil. State museum of art of peoples of the east. Soviet Armenian artists paintings

Soviet Armenian artists paintings
Akop Tigranovich Akopyan (1923-2013), Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR, born in Alexandria (Egypt). He studied at the Art Academy in Cairo from 1943 to 1947, and in the art studio of Gran Chaumieu in Paris from 1952 to 1954. In 1952 he moved to Yerevan. Author of thematic paintings, landscapes, still lifes. Gazing closely at nature, Akop Tigranovich Akopyan seeks to reproduce it with an almost illusory accuracy. However, his creative method is far from naturalism. Reality with its particular weight, concreteness becomes its peculiar formula, a certain metaphor that emphasizes the stability of the world, the certainty of feelings. “Still Life With Garlic” (1962) is a typical example of strong-willed, vigorous handwriting of the artist. Lived and worked in Yerevan.
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Athletes, 1938. Soviet Kyrgyz painter Gapar Aytiev 1912-1984

Soviet Kyrgyz painter Gapar Aytiev

One of the first professional Kyrgyz artists, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Aitiev followed the classical Russian tradition of landscape painting. At the same time, he is truly a national artist in the aesthetic perception of various life phenomena and deep connections with the spiritual culture of the Kirghiz people. Born September 28, 1912 in the village of Tuleiken, near the city of Osh, he became the Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR and People’s Artist of the USSR.
In the work of Aitiev, the thematic composition does not occupy an equivalent position with the landscape, although the artist himself attached great importance to it. In his canvases, a coloristic and composition-spatial solution along with a carefully thought out motive is an important creative problem.
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A set of match labels issued in 1984 in the USSR. 1961 – Yuri Gagarin – first man in space, and construction and development of BAM (Baikal-Amur Railway). The heroic way of the Komsomol matchbox labels

The heroic way of the Komsomol matchbox labels

In the above photo – “The heroic way of the Komsomol” set of match labels issued in 1984 in the USSR. It is the work by the artist M.D. Griberg, for Balabanovo Experimental Factory, Kaluga Region. The match labels show episodes of the working life of the Communist Youth League, its slogans and achievements. And now, some information on the history of Soviet Komsomol after the WWII.
November 18, 1958 the newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” looked unusual. The issue opened with an appeal: “Give communist labor brigade!”, “Leninsky Komsomol Communist teams met seven years!” From the pages of the newspaper to the reader looked perky faces of the workers, who proposed on the eve of the XXI Congress of the CPSU to start a new competition – the movement for communist labor. Thus a new, higher stage of socialist competition arose. And the first (in October – November 1958) who most clearly and fully formulated the tasks of the new competition, were young communists and Komsomol members. In particular, workers of the depot Moscow-sorting Kazan Railway, innovators of the Leningrad Metal Plant, and several advanced collectives, among whom were miners of Ukraine, Baku oil, and Belarusian builders. At their suggestion, a competition for the title of collectives of communist labor began. They put forward the motto: “Learn, live and work in a communist way.”
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New boots. 1967. Painting by Soviet artist Valentina Mikhaylovna Avdysheva (March 29, 1931 – December 27, 1975)

Soviet artist Valentina Mikhaylovna Avdysheva

Born March 29, 1931 in the Siberian village of Poltavka, Omsk region, Valentina Avdysheva was a painter, graphic and theater artist. She studied at the Leningrad Art and Graphic Pedagogical School (1947-1951). After graduating from the institute, she immediately went to Petrozavodsk, Karelia. Since 1953, she participated in all the annual republican exhibitions of Soviet Art. Meanwhile, Zaonezhie land, and, in particular, Kizhi became her main inspiration. “Clouds over Kizhi”, “Boyarschyna Village”, “Zaonezhsky Islands”, “Evening in Zaonezhye” – creative milestones of her trips to the ancient land of epic story-tellers.
Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1968), she led a great public work, being a deputy. Chairman of the Board of the Union of artists, she created the Club of amateur artists of Petrozavodsk. Besides, she worked as the main artist in the Finnish Drama Theater in Petrozavodsk in the late 1960’s and 1970. She created several stage decorations for performances: “Will you accept me, Karelian land” based on the play of A. Timonen, “Ordinary story” by A. Goncharov, and others.
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