Socialist realism was the official cultural doctrine of the Soviet Union that mandated an idealized representation of life under socialism in literature and the visual arts. The doctrine was first proclaimed by the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934 as approved method for Soviet cultural production in all media. Following World War II, socialist realism was adopted by countries politically aligned with the Soviet Union. The primary official objective of socialist realism was "to depict reality in its revolutionary development" although no formal guidelines concerning style or subject matter were provided.
Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician and ideologue. He has been described as the Soviet Union's "propagandist-in-chief" in the 1940s, and was responsible for developing the Soviet cultural policy, the Zhdanov Doctrine, which remained in effect until the death of Joseph Stalin. Zhdanov was considered Stalin's most likely successor but died before him.
Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov was a Russian–American conceptual artist, born in Dnipropetrovsk in what was then the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. He worked for thirty years in Moscow, from the 1950s until the late 1980s. After that he lived and worked on Long Island, United States.
Soviet nonconformist art was Soviet art produced in the former Soviet Union outside the control of the Soviet state started in the Stalinist era, in particular, outside of the rubric of Socialist Realism. Other terms used to refer to this phenomenon are Soviet counterculture, "underground art" or "unofficial art".
Oleg Vassiliev was a Russian painter associated with the Soviet Nonconformist Art style. Vassiliev emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City in 1990 and later lived and worked in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Post-socialist art or post-communist art is a term used in analysis of art arriving from post-socialist (post-communist) countries taken as different in their nature from Western, Postmodern art.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Kaneev was a Soviet Russian painter and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad, a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, regarded as a known representative of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for his cityscapes of Leningrad and ancient Russian towns.
Abram Borisovich Grushko was a Soviet painter and art teacher that lived and worked in Leningrad. He was a member of the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation and was one of the representatives of the Leningrad school of painting. He was most famous for his many landscape paintings.
Boris Mikhailovich Lavrenko was a Russian Soviet realist painter, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, professor of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of the major representatives of the Leningrad school of painting.
Igor Petrovich Veselkin was a Russian Soviet realist painter, graphic artist, scenographer, stage designer, and art teacher, professor of the Repin Institute of Arts, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, and regarded as one of the representatives of the Leningrad school of painting.
Piotr Petrovich Belousov was a Ukrainian and Russian graphic artist, painter, art teacher, professor of the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, People's Artist of the USSR, corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, who lived and worked in Leningrad. He was regarded as one of the brightest representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, being most famous for his portraits and historical paintings.
Soviet art is the visual art style produced after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the existence of the Soviet Union, until its collapse in 1991. The Russian Revolution led to an artistic and cultural shift within Russia and the Soviet Union as a whole, including a new focus on socialist realism in officially approved art.
The Leningrad School of Painting is a phenomenon that refers to a large group of painters who developed in Leningrad around the reformed Academy of Arts in 1930–1950 and was united by the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists (1932–1991).
Anton Vidokle is an artist and founder of e-flux. Born 1965, Vidokle lives in New York and Berlin.
The year 1953 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.
The year 1969 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.
The year 1972 was marked by many events that left an imprint on the history of Soviet and Russian Fine Arts.
Pavel Pepperstein is a Russian artist and writer.
Liu Ding is a Chinese artist and curator based in Beijing. Liu’s artistic practices range from installation, painting, photography, and theatre set design and production, whereas his professional skills vary from magazine editorial, television production, and curatorial work.
Georgy Kiesewalter is a Russian conceptual artist, photographer and essayist. As an artist, he uses a wide range of media to communicate his concepts to the public – from painting to graphic art, from installations to conceptual photography and digital art.
