The Story In Soviet Art
https://artachieve.com/free-art-lessons-for-kidsWhen the Communist revolution swept the tsar from power in Russia in 1917, the new regime needed a story to support its legitimacy: a story that would win popular approval of the new system and garner support for Russia’s effort to industrialize.
The regime cast their story in melodramatic terms, complete with heroes and villains:
-
The villains: The aristocracy, anyone with wealth, and the church.
-
The heroes: the proletariat - the workers who would now lead the Soviet system to shining industrial glory.
With this story in mind, an Orthodox monastery in Soviet-dominated Kharkiv, Ukraine, for example, was transformed into a museum to honor the triumph of Sputnik. Sputnik, as you may remember, was the first manned satellite ever to circle the globe - a Soviet industrial triumph.
The story used a new art form that glorified workers, those heroes of the new narrative. One could find this art on walls and monuments in cities across the Soviet empire. On building after building, were pictures with the words,
Слава труду - “Slava Trudu" - Glory to the Workers
The color choice, RED, first of all, was important. In Russian, the word for red is красная (krahs-na-yah).
In Russian culture, red was considered the most beautiful color. The Russian word for something especially beautiful is прикрасная (preh-krahs-na-yah)
So, to give glory to the workers, the state-sponsored art was almost always painted in RED.
There are other characteristics of this wall art honoring the workers.
-
It glorified the present and filled it with carefree people. Everyone beams with smiles.
-
It looked forward to an ideal, optimistic, almost heavenly future.
-
Its figures were energetic, full of life, and tended to look unconquerable and often aggressive.
How did the story these images told compare to the truth? How glorious were the lives of the glorified workers?
It is telling that the bright RED pictures were often painted on otherwise drab, grey buildings, so already on the buildings where they appeared the pictures presented a striking contradiction.
Secondly, if you peel beneath the happy facade of the pictures, you notice that none of the people are individuals. They are idealized, generic workers, and it was the generic nature of the image that might hold the most truth, because the real workers depicted by the idealized images were treated as generic cogs of the state machine.
The happy images mask the harshness of life under the regime, a life of shortages, bread lines, and the threat of a run-in with authorities. Real people tended to avert their eyes when on the street, looking down, not up or outward like in the artwork. Art doesn’t always tell the truth.
Learn to tell your own story through art! Start here with free art lessons for kids.
Reference: 19 Fascinating Examples Of Soviet Space Propaganda Posters - https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/19-fascinating-examples-of-soviet-space-propaganda-posters?sub=2603978_1636592&utm_term=.ge0wYYJ4p#.aavPrr7mk
https://artachieve.com/free-art-lessons-for-kidsWhen the Communist revolution swept the tsar from power in Russia in 1917, the new regime needed a story to support its legitimacy: a story that would win popular approval of the new system and garner support for Russia’s effort to industrialize.
The regime cast their story in melodramatic terms, complete with heroes and villains:
-
The villains: The aristocracy, anyone with wealth, and the church.
-
The heroes: the proletariat - the workers who would now lead the Soviet system to shining industrial glory.
With this story in mind, an Orthodox monastery in Soviet-dominated Kharkiv, Ukraine, for example, was transformed into a museum to honor the triumph of Sputnik. Sputnik, as you may remember, was the first manned satellite ever to circle the globe - a Soviet industrial triumph.
The story used a new art form that glorified workers, those heroes of the new narrative. One could find this art on walls and monuments in cities across the Soviet empire. On building after building, were pictures with the words,
Слава труду - “Slava Trudu" - Glory to the Workers
The color choice, RED, first of all, was important. In Russian, the word for red is красная (krahs-na-yah).
In Russian culture, red was considered the most beautiful color. The Russian word for something especially beautiful is прикрасная (preh-krahs-na-yah)
So, to give glory to the workers, the state-sponsored art was almost always painted in RED.
There are other characteristics of this wall art honoring the workers.
-
It glorified the present and filled it with carefree people. Everyone beams with smiles.
-
It looked forward to an ideal, optimistic, almost heavenly future.
-
Its figures were energetic, full of life, and tended to look unconquerable and often aggressive.
How did the story these images told compare to the truth? How glorious were the lives of the glorified workers?
It is telling that the bright RED pictures were often painted on otherwise drab, grey buildings, so already on the buildings where they appeared the pictures presented a striking contradiction.
Secondly, if you peel beneath the happy facade of the pictures, you notice that none of the people are individuals. They are idealized, generic workers, and it was the generic nature of the image that might hold the most truth, because the real workers depicted by the idealized images were treated as generic cogs of the state machine.
The happy images mask the harshness of life under the regime, a life of shortages, bread lines, and the threat of a run-in with authorities. Real people tended to avert their eyes when on the street, looking down, not up or outward like in the artwork. Art doesn’t always tell the truth.
Learn to tell your own story through art! Start here with free art lessons for kids.
Reference: 19 Fascinating Examples Of Soviet Space Propaganda Posters - https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/19-fascinating-examples-of-soviet-space-propaganda-posters?sub=2603978_1636592&utm_term=.ge0wYYJ4p#.aavPrr7mk
https://artachieve.com/free-art-lessons-for-kidsWhen the Communist revolution swept the tsar from power in Russia in 1917, the new regime needed a story to support its legitimacy: a story that would win popular approval of the new system and garner support for Russia’s effort to industrialize.
The regime cast their story in melodramatic terms, complete with heroes and villains:
-
The villains: The aristocracy, anyone with wealth, and the church.
-
The heroes: the proletariat - the workers who would now lead the Soviet system to shining industrial glory.
With this story in mind, an Orthodox monastery in Soviet-dominated Kharkiv, Ukraine, for example, was transformed into a museum to honor the triumph of Sputnik. Sputnik, as you may remember, was the first manned satellite ever to circle the globe - a Soviet industrial triumph.
The story used a new art form that glorified workers, those heroes of the new narrative. One could find this art on walls and monuments in cities across the Soviet empire. On building after building, were pictures with the words,
Слава труду - “Slava Trudu" - Glory to the Workers
The color choice, RED, first of all, was important. In Russian, the word for red is красная (krahs-na-yah).
In Russian culture, red was considered the most beautiful color. The Russian word for something especially beautiful is прикрасная (preh-krahs-na-yah)
So, to give glory to the workers, the state-sponsored art was almost always painted in RED.
There are other characteristics of this wall art honoring the workers.
-
It glorified the present and filled it with carefree people. Everyone beams with smiles.
-
It looked forward to an ideal, optimistic, almost heavenly future.
-
Its figures were energetic, full of life, and tended to look unconquerable and often aggressive.
How did the story these images told compare to the truth? How glorious were the lives of the glorified workers?
It is telling that the bright RED pictures were often painted on otherwise drab, grey buildings, so already on the buildings where they appeared the pictures presented a striking contradiction.
Secondly, if you peel beneath the happy facade of the pictures, you notice that none of the people are individuals. They are idealized, generic workers, and it was the generic nature of the image that might hold the most truth, because the real workers depicted by the idealized images were treated as generic cogs of the state machine.
The happy images mask the harshness of life under the regime, a life of shortages, bread lines, and the threat of a run-in with authorities. Real people tended to avert their eyes when on the street, looking down, not up or outward like in the artwork. Art doesn’t always tell the truth.
Learn to tell your own story through art! Start here with free art lessons for kids.
Reference: 19 Fascinating Examples Of Soviet Space Propaganda Posters - https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/19-fascinating-examples-of-soviet-space-propaganda-posters?sub=2603978_1636592&utm_term=.ge0wYYJ4p#.aavPrr7mk
