Socialist Realism 社会现实主义
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[edit] Global History
Socialist Realism has been the officially approved type of art at various points in the history of the former USSR and other communist countries, including the People's Republic of China. The creation of artworks came under the communist doctrine that all material goods, and the means of producing them, were the collective property of the community. Art was to be produced solely for the education and inspiration of the people. Optimistic images of work and the heroic worker celebrated the virtues of communism and patriotism, and glorified the state. In Soviet Russia, as in other countries run by one party, the government controlled all official artistic organizations. Many forms of artistic experimentation were condemned as a sign of decadent Western influence and, therefore, anticommunist principles. Although the term is used mainly with reference to painting, it can also apply to literature and music.[1]
Socialist realism became the official doctrine in the USSR in 1932 when Stalin's repressive government issued a decree ‘On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations’. Painters were expected to produce scenes of happy workers on collective farms, heroic portraits of Stalin and other leaders, and industrial landscapes, all painted with a straightforward naturalism. Novelists were expected to concentrate on uplifting stories and not concern themselves with subtleties of plot or characterization. Composers were to produce ‘vivid realistic music reflecting the life and struggles of the Soviet people’.[1]
After the death of Stalin in 1953, the official line in the Soviet Union became less harsh, but personal expression still remained difficult and dangerous (in 1974 a show of unofficial art in a field near Moscow was broken up with bulldozers and water-cannon), and socialist realism remained technically in force until the break-up of the USSR in 1991. Among the other countries to which socialist realism spread was China, where it became the norm in painting during the 1950s.[1]
[edit] Chinese Socialist Realism
[edit] History
What we think of today as Chinese Socialist Realism art has its roots in two main styles: the New Woodcut Movement of the 1930s and 1940s and the Socialist Realism Art of the Soviet Union.[2]
Leftist writer Lu Xun was a strong proponent of woodcut art, believing that it could be used to influence Chinese to change their society. Woodcuts were used in Japanese resistance propaganda and to criticize the ruling Nationalist party. Many of these artists participated in the Long March, a year-long 8,000-mile military retreat of the Red Army against the Nationalists in 1934 that ended in Yan'an, the city in the north-central province of Shaanxi Province that became their base. At Yan'an, the communists established the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts where many artists studied both woodcut and other techniques. Communist leader Mao Zedong's talks on "Art and Literature" in 1942 further influenced these artists to travel and study under folk artists to create artistic propaganda with the purpose of improving the nation.[2]
After the Communists won the Chinese civil war and founded the People's Republic of China in 1949, China invited Soviet experts to visit and advise them on the construction of a new nation; they also sent Chinese experts to study in the Soviet Union. Oil painting became a priority among these artists, who mixed the blockish feel of woodcuts with the Soviet style of Socialist Realism. From the start, the Chinese style of Socialist Realism differed slightly from the Soviet. The colors were brighter, and paintings included water-color like gradations in tone. The outlines of the subjects were also more clearly defined, perhaps due to the influence of woodcut art. In 1959, the Sino-Soviet split led to a return to more traditional Chinese styles, though the form of art continued. Socialist Realism saw a rebirth during the Cultural Revolution from 1966-1976 when many national art exhibitions were organized by Mao's wife Jiang Qing.[2]
[edit] Subject Matter
There was no such thing as art for art's sake within the guidelines of this style of painting. Art was only to be pursued in service to the nation. Subjects included larger-than-life depictions of peasants and workers, always smiling and happily building up the Chinese nation. Many Chinese policies such as the Great Leap Forward and collectivization of agriculture were presented to the public using Socialist Realism Posters. Often these posters included Communist expressions and slogans. The most commonly portrayed subjects included farmers, workers, soldiers, and students, as well as Chinese leaders and heroes. Themes included soldiers engaged in battle against capitalist enemies and farmers at work tilling the soil.[2]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0009311.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://chineseculture.about.com/od/artinchina/a/chineseposters.htm
