Socialist realism

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Not to be confused with Social realism or Real socialism.

Socialist realism is a style of realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in various other socialist countries. Socialist realism is characterized by the glorified depiction of communist values, such as the emancipation of the proletariat, in a realistic manner.[1] Although related, it should not be confused with social realism, a broader type of art that realistically depicts subjects of social concern.[2] Socialist realism was the predominant form of art in the Soviet Union from its development in the early 1920s to its eventual fall from popularity in the late 1960s.[3] While other countries have employed a prescribed canon of art, socialist realism in Russia persisted longer and was more restricted than elsewhere in Europe.[4]


Socialist realism was developed by many thousands of artists, across a diverse empire, over several decades.[5] Early examples of realism in Russian art include the work of the Peredvizhnikis and Ilya Yefimovich Repin. While these works do not have the same political connotation, they exhibit the techniques exercised by their successors. After the Bolsheviks took control of Russia on October 25, 1917 there was a marked shift in artistic styles. There had been a short period of artistic exploration in the time between the fall of the Tsar and the rise of the Bolsheviks, but in 1917 Russian artists began to return to more traditional forms of art and painting.[6] Shortly after Bolsheviks took control, Anatoly Lunacharsky was appointed as head of Narkompros, the People's Commissariat for Enlightenment.[5] This put Lunacharsky in the position of deciding the direction of art in the newly created Soviet state. Lunacharsky created a system of aesthetics based on the human body that would become the main component of socialist realism for decades to come. He believed that "the sight of a healthy body, intelligent face or friendly smile was essentially life-enhancing."[6] He concluded that art had a direct effect on the human organism and under the right circumstances that effect could be positive. By depicting "the perfect person", Lunacharsky believed art could educate citizens on how to be the perfect Soviets.[6]

There were two main groups debating the fate of Soviet art; futurist and traditionalist. Futurist, many of whom had been creating abstract or leftist art before the Bolsheviks, believed communism required a complete rupture from the past and therefore so did Soviet art.[6] Traditionalist believed in the importance of realistic representations of every day life. Under Lenin's rule and the New Economic Policy, there was a certain amount of private commercial enterprise, allowing both the futurist and the traditionalist to produce their art for individuals with capital.[7] But by 1928, the Soviet government had enough strength and authority to end private enterprises thus ending support for fringe groups such as the futurists. At this point, although the term "socialist realism" was not being used, its defining characteristics became the norm.[8]

The first time the term "socialist realism" was officially used was in 1932. The term was settled upon in meetings that included the highest level politicians, including Stalin himself.[9] Maxim Gorky, a proponent of literary socialist realism, published a famous article titled "Socialist Realism" in 1933 and by 1934 the term's etymology was traced back to Stalin.[9] During the Congress of 1934 four guidelines were laid out for socialist realism.[10] The work must be:

  3. Realistic: in the representational sense.


Socialist-Realist sculpture in Vilnius

The purpose of socialist realism was to limit popular culture to a specific, highly regulated faction of creative expression that promoted Soviet ideals.[11] The party was of the utmost importance and was always to be favorably featured. The key concepts that developed assured loyalty to the party, "partiinost'" (party-mindedness), "ideinost" (idea- or ideological-content), "klassovost" (class content), "pravdivost" (truthfulness).[12] There was a prevailing sense of optimism, socialist realism's function was to show the ideal Soviet society. Not only was the present gloried, but the future was also supposed to be depicted in an agreeable fashion. Because the present and the future were constantly idolized, socialist realism had a sense of forced optimism. Tragedy and negativity were not permitted, unless they were shown in a different time or place. This sentiment created what would later be dubbed "revolutionary romanticism".[12]


Common images used in socialist realism were flowers, sunlight, the body, youth, flight, industry, and new technology.[12] These poetic images were used to show the utopianism of communism and the Soviet state. Art became more than an aesthetic pleasure, instead it served a very specific function. Soviet ideals placed functionality and work above all else, therefore for art to be admired it must serve a purpose. Georgi Plekhanov, a Marxist theoretician, states that art is only useful if it serves society "There can be no doubt that art acquired a social significance only in so far as it depicts, evokes, or conveys actions, emotions and events that are of significance to society."[14]

The artist could not, however, portray life just as they saw it; because anything that reflected poorly on Communism had to be omitted. People who could not be shown as either wholly good or wholly evil could not be used as characters.[15] This was reflective of the Soviet idea that morality is simple, things are either right or wrong. This view on morality called for idealism over realism[13] Art was filled with health and happiness; paintings showed busy industrial and agricultural scenes, and sculptures depicted workers, sentries, and schoolchildren.[16]

Creativity was not an important part of socialist realism, it was actually rejected. The styles used in creating art during this period were those that would produce the most realistic results. Painters would depict happy, muscular peasants and workers in factories and collective farms; during the Stalin period, they produced numerous heroic portraits of the dictator to serve his cult of personality – all in the most realistic fashion possible.[17] The most important thing for a socialist realist artist was not artistic integrity, rather adherence to party doctrine.[11]

Important groups[edit]

Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR)[edit]

Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR) was established in 1922 and was one of the most influential artist groups in the USSR. AKhRR worked to truthfully document contemporary life in Russia by utilizing "heroic realism".[7] The term "heroic realism" was beginning of the socialist realism archetype. AKhRR was sponsored by influential government officials such as Leon Trotsky and carried favor with the Red Army[7] In 1928 the AKhRR was renamed to Association of Artists of the Revolution (AKhR) in order to include the rest of the Soviet states. At this point the group had begun participating in state promoted mass forms of art like murals, jointly made paintings, advertisement production and textile design.[18] The group was disbanded April 23, 1932 by the decree “On the Reorganization of Literary and Artistic Organizations”[18]

Society of Easel Painters (OSt)[edit]

While the Society of Easel Painters (OSt) was also focused on the glorification of the revolution they, as per their name, worked individually as easel painters. The most common subjects of the OSt's works fit with the developing socialist realism trope. Their paintings consisted of sport and battle, industry and modern technology.[19] OSt broke up in 1931 due to some members' demand to transition to collective print and poster work.[19] Some prominent members include Aleksandr Deyneka, Yuri Pimanov, Aleksandr Labas, Pyotr Vilyams, all of whom were students or ex-students of Moscow's art school, Vkhutemas.[20]


A relief from the Soviet military cemetery in Warsaw showing workers greeting victorious soldiers.


In the 1990s many Russian artists used socialist realism characteristics in an ironic fashion.[21] This was a complete rupture from what existed only a couple of decades before. Once artists broke from the socialist realism mold there was a significant power shift. Artist began including subjects that could not exist according to Soviet ideals. Now that the power over appearances was taken away from the government, artists achieved a level of authority that had not existed since the early 20th century.[22] In the decade immediately after the fall of the USSR, artists represented socialist realism and the Soviet legacy as a traumatic event. By the next decade there was a unique sense of detachment.[23]

Western cultures often do not look at socialist realism positively. Democratic countries view the art produced during this period of repression as a lie.[24] Non-Marxist cultures view communism as a form of totalitarianism that smothers artistic expression and therefore retards the progress of culture.[25] Western cultures often look at socialist realistic works as propaganda rather than art.

Notable works and artists[edit]








The painter Aleksandr Deineka provides a notable example for his expressionist and patriotic scenes of the Second World War, collective farms, and sports. Yuri Pimenov, Boris Ioganson and Geli Korzev have also been described as "unappreciated masters of twentieth-century realism".[26] Another well-known practitioner was Fyodor Pavlovich Reshetnikov.

Socialist realism art found acceptance in the Baltic nations, inspiring many artist. One of such artist was Czeslaw Znamierowski (23 May 1890 – 9 August 1977), a Soviet Lithuanian painter, known for his large panoramic landscapes and love of nature. Znamierowski combined these two passion to create very notable paintings in the Soviet Union, earning the prestigious title of Honorable Artist of LSSR in 1965.[27] Born in Latvia, which formed part of the Russian Empire at the time, Znamierowski was of Polish nationality and Lithuanian citizenship, a country where he lived for most of his life and died. He excelled in landscapes and social realism, and held many exhibitions. Znamierowski was also widely published in national newspapers, magazines and books.[28] His more notable paintings include "Before Rain (1930)," "Panorama of Vilnius City (1950)," "The Green Lake (1955)," and "In Klaipeda Fishing Port (1959)." A large collection of his art is located in the Lithuanian Art Museum.[29]

Thol, a novel by D.Selvaraj in Tamil is a standing example of Marxist Realism in India. It won a literary award (Sakithya Akademi) for the year 2012.

Soviet Union[edit]

In conjunction with the Socialist Classical style of architecture, socialist realism was the officially approved type of art in the Soviet Union for nearly sixty years.[citation needed] All material goods and means of production belonged to the community as a whole; this included means of producing art, which were also seen as powerful propaganda tools.[citation needed]

In the early years of the Soviet Union, Russian and Soviet artists embraced a wide variety of art forms under the auspices of Proletkult. Revolutionary politics and radical non-traditional art forms were seen as complementary.[30] In art, Constructivism flourished. In poetry, the non-traditional and the avant-garde were often praised.

These styles of art were later rejected by members of the Communist Party who did not appreciate modern styles such as Impressionism and Cubism since these movements existed before the revolution and were thus associated with "decadent bourgeois art". Socialist realism was, to some extent, a reaction against the adoption of these "decadent" styles. It was thought by Lenin that the non-representative forms of art were not understood by the proletariat and could therefore not be used by the state for propaganda.[31] Alexander Bogdanov argued that the radical reformation of society to communist principles meant little if any bourgeois art would prove useful; some of his more radical followers advocated the destruction of libraries and museums.[32] Lenin rejected this philosophy,[33] deplored the rejection of the beautiful because it was old, and explicitly described art as needing to call on its heritage: "Proletarian culture must be the logical development of the store of knowledge mankind has accumulated under the yoke of capitalist, landowner, and bureaucratic society."[34] Modern art styles appeared to refuse to draw upon this heritage, thus clashing with the long realist tradition in Russia and rendering the art scene complex.[35] Even in Lenin's time, a cultural bureaucracy began to restrain art to fit propaganda purposes.[36] Leon Trotsky's arguments that a "proletarian literature" was un-Marxist because the proletariat would lose its class characteristics in the transition to a classless society, however, did not prevail.[37]

Socialist realism became state policy in 1934 when the First Congress of Soviet Writers met and Stalin's representative Andrei Zhdanov gave a speech strongly endorsing it as "the official style of Soviet culture".[38] It was enforced ruthlessly in all spheres of artistic endeavour. Artists who strayed from the official line were severely punished. Form and content were often limited, with erotic, religious, abstract, surrealist, and expressionist art being forbidden. Formal experiments, including internal dialogue, stream of consciousness, nonsense, free-form association, and cut-up were also disallowed. This was either because they were "decadent", unintelligible to the proletariat, or counter-revolutionary.



Portrait of Stalin by Isaak Brodsky





Trumpeter and standard-bearer by Mitrovan Grekov



Other socialist states[edit]








See also[edit]



  1. ^ Korin, Pavel, “Thoughts on Art”, Socialist Realism in Literature and Art. Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1971, p. 95.
  3. ^ Ellis, Andrew. Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920-1970. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 20
  5. ^ a b Ellis, Andrew. Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920-1970. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 17
  6. ^ a b c d Ellis, Andrew. Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920-1970. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 21
  7. ^ a b c Ellis, Andrew. Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920-1970. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 22
  20. ^ Nelson, Cary and Lawrence, Grossberg. Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. University of Illinois Press, 1988, p. 92
  21. ^ a b Evangeli, Aleksandr. "Echoes of Socialist Realism in Post-Soviet Art", Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920-1970. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 218
  26. ^ Bartelik,, Marek (1999). "Concerning Socialist Realism: Recent Publications on Russian Art (book review)". Art Journal. 
  27. ^ Alekna, Romas (24 May 1975). "Česlovui Znamierovskiui - 85" [Česlovas Znamierovskis Celebrates his 85th Birthday]. Literatūra ir menas [Literature and Art] (in Lithuanian) (Vilnius: Lithuanian Creative Unions Weekly)
  28. ^
  29. ^
  31. ^ Haftman, p.196
  38. ^ "1934: Writers' Congress". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. Retrieved 11 December 2013. 
  39. ^ Sergei V. Ivanov Unknown Socialist Realism. The Leningrad School, p. 29, 32 – 340. ISBN 5-901724-21-6, ISBN 978-5-901724-21-7.
  40. ^ Sergei V. Ivanov. The Leningrad School of painting 1930 – 1990s. Historical outline.
  41. ^ D.F. Markov and L.I. Timofeev, "Socialist Realism"
  43. ^ Library of Congress Country StudiesYugoslavia: Introduction of Socialist Self-Management

Further reading


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