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Born in the USSR |
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Ann Kodicek's introduction to the catalogue
| "Socialist historic art is enjoying something of a renaissance. Collectors are being driven by the growing understanding that this was a genuine movement, indeed, perhaps the most important in 20th century Realism". Matthew Cullerne Bown The Times, 11th February 2004. |
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Collecting Socialist paintings became fashionable in the West in the early nineties - the period after the fall of the Iron Curtain. A wave of present interest has much deeper roots and the diversity of Soviet art is being revealed.
The naturalism of 1930-1940 was followed in 1953 (the year of Stalin's death) by the extension of stylistic and thematic diversification. During this period, up-and-coming artists were obliged to attend the disciplinary academies of art. It was clear that artistic survival within the system called for patience and a creative spirit. There was an escape towards the "natural" subject matters of landscape, portraits, nudes, still-life, ballet and genre scenes.
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In search of their artistic freedom, painters realized that an impressionistic brush stroke served their choice of subject matter best.
Launched at in the Pheonix Gallery, Edinburgh in June 2006, displayed at the Royal College of Art, the next opportunity to see this touring exhibition of over 100 paintings will be at the West of England Royal Academy of Arts, Bristol, from 28th September to 30th October 2007.
| "the painters who reflected the upsurges of patriotism commanded by Stalin in the 1930s and during the Second World War, paintings that though basely political and propagandist are often of a startling quality''. Brian Sewell, Evening Standard, 10th December 2004 |
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This exhibition represents works by Grygoriy Shyshko, Leonid Kudryavtzev, Oleksa Zakharchuk, Petro Magro, Andriy Yalanskyi and Panas Tytenko. Here visitors will get to see the inheritance of socialist realist painting, the beauty of colour and light that is so particularly characteristic of Ukrainian art, as well as the powerful originality of these artists' apprehension of impressionist and post-Impressionist techniques.
A private view will be held on Sunday 7 October 2007 from 2pm until 5pm.
The entire exhibition online |
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The West of England Royal Academy of Arts, Queen's Road, Clifton, Bristol
28th Sept – 30th October 2007
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