The State And Cultural Change 1917-53

Question 1

What did Soviet leaders believe about art?

Summarise the changes 17-53?

Answer 1

That it was a powerful tool for winning over the public

1917-53: soviet art changed dramatically—
From radical avant-garde works to more traditional socialist realism

Question 2

What was proletkult?

Answer 2

Following the October Revolution, some commies tried to stimulate the growth of a TRULY PROLETARIAN form of art.

Anatoly Lunacharsky— new People’s Commissar of Enlightenment— established Proletkult— the proletarian culture movement— help nurture artistic talent among working people

By 1920– proletkult:
• set up 300 studios across Russia
• published Gorn— monthly magazine, showcases work of proletarian artists.

Lunacharsky hoped his changes would lead Workers to make art reflecting their own experiences and the values of the new society.

Question 3

Why was Lenin against proletkult?

Answer 3

(Critical of it and Lunacharsky’s philosophy)

Lenin argued that the best culture was universal: neither bourgeois nor proletarian; rather, it reflected the human spirit

ALSO:
• believed the work produced under proletkult was tooooo avant-garde for working people to understand
• proletkult independent of Party control- worried Lenin

Question 4

What happened to proletkult bc of Lenin?

Answer 4

October 1920–

Proletkult lost its independence, became part of the Commissariat for Education

Funds for radical projects were cut,
Money diverted to traditional arts eg. Ballet

Question 5

What was the avant-garde?

Answer 5

The revolution led to a new movement among painters, sculptors, film-makers— they were inspired, experimented with new styles and techniques to generate a new, revolutionary art— experimented with a variety of influences:
• chance 
• geometric shapes 
• technology 
• influence of dreams

Question 6

How did avant-garde artists collaborate with the Communist government?

Answer 6

Produced propaganda:
• Vladimir MAYAKOVSKY— simple graphic posters during the civil war
• Alexander RODCHENKO— most famous a-g photographer: used techniques such as photomontage to make posters celebrating the revolution
• Dziga VERTOV— experimental film maker, used experimental techniques such as slow motion to produce a series of documentary films called Kino-Pravda (film-truth)

Question 7

What were Stalin’s views on art?

Answer 7

Strong.

Suspicious of the avant-garde and experimental techniques.

Argued that art should use the traditional techniques to serve the government.

Early 1930s, this approach became known as “Socialist Realism”

Question 8

What happened to painting under socialist realism?

Answer 8

realistic— like photographs

Socialist— paintings of factory construction/ workers producing raw materials

Question 9

What were the implications for literature under socialist realism?

Answer 9

Novels:

• had to have a plot that ordinary people could follow
• had to focus on a subject related to building socialism

Fyodor Gladkov 1924 Cement— held up as an example:
A group of workers who, after having played a major role in the civil war, reconstruct a cement factory

Question 10

What impact did socialist realism have on the cult of personality?

Answer 10

Lenin and Stalin became the focus of paintings & art

Fedor Shurpin — Morning of Our Motherland (1949)— Stalin standing in a landscape transformed by collectivisation and industrialisation

Question 11

Sum up soviet art 1917-53

Answer 11

Transformed:

1) FREE, EXPERIMENTAL, INDEPENDENT
2) dominated by GOVERNMENT CONTROL, highly CONSERVATIVE in style