DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17649#0299
ART IN THE SERYICE OF UTOPIA
On the political and propaganda functions
of the fme arts in Soviet Russia in 1917-1922
Summary
The subject of this book is Bolshevik visual propaganda of the years 1917-
-1922. The issues I touch upon, although they refer to the visual arts, havc been
presented from the point of vicw of an historian, not an art historian. The icono-
graphic sources uscd in this work have been discussed with respect to their po-
litical context and propagandistic message, their artistic value, for the most part,
not being taken into consideration. The book tries to show the role and function
of visual arts in the emerging and alrcady existing early-Soviet propaganda sys-
tem. I do not intend to describe Russian revolutionary art, the role of the avant-
garde, or the artistic life of Russia in the period under discussion. Biographical
data have been reduced to a minimum (also because therc cxists a rich literaturę
on this subject), and the size of the text devotcd to particular artists is not pro-
portional to their significance in the history of Russian or world art. My criteri-
on of choice is the contribution of particular persons to the development of vis-
ual propaganda. My intention is to present the point of view of the Soviet prop-
agandists: their approach to the role of art in society, and the way they implemented
their visions.
As early as the end of 1917, right after the Bolshevik coup, the new authori-
ties madę some important decisions in mattcrs of culture. It was thcn that the
Soviet „cultural policy'1 was bom.
In the year 1922, which closes the book, the authoritics made scveral impor-
tant movcs m the sphere of culture. In February, after a long break, an exhibition
of „the wanderers'1 (peredvizhniki) was opened, which provided an impulse for
the creation of The Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AChRR). This
authoritative decision put an effectwe stop to the free activity of avant-garde art-
ists. In June Glavlit was formed, i.e. an office combining all kmds of censorship.
In summer Vladimir Lenin signed a list of intellectuals who were subseąuently
expelled from Soviet Russia. The year 1922 put a stop to the period of the rcla-
tive tolerancc of the authorities towards unrestrained creativity. The system of
cultural control took a finał shape.
The notion „utopia" used in the titlc of this book needs some explanation. It
is not used in a strictly philosophical sense, derived from Thomas More. Nor do
I mean here an artistic utopia in the sense of „private", utopian ideas of particu-
lar creators or their groups. What I mean is a utopia in the sense of a vision of
a perfect society, like the visions that are born before and during any revolution.
233
On the political and propaganda functions
of the fme arts in Soviet Russia in 1917-1922
Summary
The subject of this book is Bolshevik visual propaganda of the years 1917-
-1922. The issues I touch upon, although they refer to the visual arts, havc been
presented from the point of vicw of an historian, not an art historian. The icono-
graphic sources uscd in this work have been discussed with respect to their po-
litical context and propagandistic message, their artistic value, for the most part,
not being taken into consideration. The book tries to show the role and function
of visual arts in the emerging and alrcady existing early-Soviet propaganda sys-
tem. I do not intend to describe Russian revolutionary art, the role of the avant-
garde, or the artistic life of Russia in the period under discussion. Biographical
data have been reduced to a minimum (also because therc cxists a rich literaturę
on this subject), and the size of the text devotcd to particular artists is not pro-
portional to their significance in the history of Russian or world art. My criteri-
on of choice is the contribution of particular persons to the development of vis-
ual propaganda. My intention is to present the point of view of the Soviet prop-
agandists: their approach to the role of art in society, and the way they implemented
their visions.
As early as the end of 1917, right after the Bolshevik coup, the new authori-
ties madę some important decisions in mattcrs of culture. It was thcn that the
Soviet „cultural policy'1 was bom.
In the year 1922, which closes the book, the authoritics made scveral impor-
tant movcs m the sphere of culture. In February, after a long break, an exhibition
of „the wanderers'1 (peredvizhniki) was opened, which provided an impulse for
the creation of The Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AChRR). This
authoritative decision put an effectwe stop to the free activity of avant-garde art-
ists. In June Glavlit was formed, i.e. an office combining all kmds of censorship.
In summer Vladimir Lenin signed a list of intellectuals who were subseąuently
expelled from Soviet Russia. The year 1922 put a stop to the period of the rcla-
tive tolerancc of the authorities towards unrestrained creativity. The system of
cultural control took a finał shape.
The notion „utopia" used in the titlc of this book needs some explanation. It
is not used in a strictly philosophical sense, derived from Thomas More. Nor do
I mean here an artistic utopia in the sense of „private", utopian ideas of particu-
lar creators or their groups. What I mean is a utopia in the sense of a vision of
a perfect society, like the visions that are born before and during any revolution.
233