creative method literature and art, developed in the USSR and other socialist countries.

Its principles were formed by the party leadership of the USSR in the 20s and 30s. And the term itself appeared in 1932.

The method of socialist realism was based on the principle of partisanship in art, which meant a strictly defined ideological orientation of works of literature and art. They were supposed to reflect life in the light of socialist ideals and the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat.

The variety of creative methods characteristic of the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century - 20s was no longer allowed.

In essence, thematic and genre uniformity of art was established. The principles of the new method became mandatory for the entire artistic intelligentsia.

The method of socialist realism is reflected in all types of art.

After the Second World War, the method of socialist realism became mandatory for the art of a number of European socialist countries: Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia.

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SOCIALIST REALISM

creative method of socialist art, which originated at the beginning of the 20th century. as a reflection of the objective processes of artistic development. culture in the era of socialist revolution. Historical practice has created a new reality (hitherto unknown situations, conflicts, dramatic collisions, a new hero - the revolutionary proletarian), which needed not only political and philosophical, but also artistic and aesthetic comprehension and implementation, demanded renewal and development means of classical realism. First new method artist creativity was embodied in the work of Gorky, in the wake of the events of the first Russian revolution (the novel “Mother”, the play “Enemies”, 1906-07). In Soviet literature and art S. r. took a leading position at the turn of the 20-30s, theoretically not yet realized. The very concept of S. r. as an expression of the artistic and conceptual specificity of the new art was developed in the course of heated discussions, intense theoretical searches, in which many took part. figures of Soviet art. culture. Thus, writers initially defined the method of emerging socialist literature differently: “proletarian realism” (F.V. Gladkov, Yu.N. Libedinsky), “tendentious realism” (Mayakovsky), “monumental realism” (A. N. Tolstoy), “realism with socialist content” (V.P. Stavsky). The result of the discussions was the definition of this creative method of socialist art as “S. R.". In 1934, it was enshrined in the charter of the Union of Writers of the USSR in the form of a requirement for “a truthful, historically specific portrayal of life in its revolutionary development.” Along with the method of S. r. Other creative methods continued to exist in socialist art: critical realism, romanticism, avant-gardeism, and fantastic realism. However, on the basis of the new revolutionary reality, they underwent certain changes and joined the general flow of socialist art. In theoretical terms, S. r. means the continuation and development of the traditions of realism of previous forms, but unlike the latter, it is based on the communist socio-political and aesthetic ideal. This is what primarily determines the life-affirming character and historical optimism of socialist art. And it is no coincidence that S. r. involves inclusion in art. thinking of romance (revolutionary romance) - a figurative form of historical anticipation in art, a dream based on real trends in the development of reality. Explaining changes in society by social, objective reasons, socialist art sees its task in revealing new human relations within the framework of the old social formation, their natural progressive development in the future. The fate of the society and the individual appear in the production. S. r. in close relationship. Inherent in S. r. Historicism of figurative thinking (Artistic Thinking) contributes to a three-dimensional depiction of an aesthetically multifaceted character (for example, the image of G. Melekhov in the novel “ Quiet Don"M. A. Sholokhova), artist. the revelation of the creative potential of man, the idea of ​​the individual’s responsibility to history and the unity of the general historical process with all its “zigzags” and drama: obstacles and defeats on the path of progressive forces, the most difficult periods of historical development are interpreted as surmountable thanks to the discovery of viable, healthy principles in society and person, ultimately optimistic aspirations for the future (products by M. Gorky, A. A. Fadeev, development in Soviet art of the theme of the Great Patriotic War, covering the abuses of the period of the cult of personality and stagnation). Historical concreteness takes on the art of S. r. new quality: time becomes “three-dimensional,” which allows the artist to reflect, in Gorky’s words, “three realities” (past, present and future). In the totality of all the noted manifestations, the historicism of S. r. directly connects with the communist party in art. Artists' loyalty to this Leninist principle is conceived as a guarantee of the truthfulness of art (Artistic Truth), which does not at all contradict the manifestation of innovation, but, on the contrary, aims at a creative attitude towards reality, towards art. comprehension of its real contradictions and prospects encourages us to go beyond what has already been obtained and known, both in the field of content, plot, and in the search for visual and expressive means. Hence the variety of types of art, genres, styles, artists. forms Along with the stylistic orientation towards the life-likeness of form, secondary conventions are also used in a variety of ways in socialist art. Mayakovsky updated the means of poetry, the creativity of the creator " epic theater» Brecht in plural determined common face stage art of the 20th century, stage direction created poetic and philosophical-parable theatre, cinema, etc., About real opportunities for manifestation in art. the creativity of individual inclinations is evidenced by the fact of the fruitful activity of such different artists, like A. N. Tolstoy, M. A. Sholokhov, L. M. Leonov, A. T. Tvardovsky, - in literature; Stanislavsky, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and Vakhtangov - in the theater; Eisenstein, Dovzhenko, Pudovkin, G.N. and S.D. Vasilyev - in the cinema; D. D. Shostakovich, S. S. Prokofiev, I. O. Dunaevsky, D. B. Kabalevsky, A. I. Khachaturyan - in music; P. D. Korin, V. I. Mukhina, A. A. Plastov, M. Saryan - in fine art. Socialist art is international in nature. Its nationality is not limited to reflecting national interests, but embodies the specific interests of all progressive humanity. Multinational Soviet art preserves and increases wealth national cultures. Prod. Soviet writers (Ch. Aitmatova, V. Bykova, I. Drutse), works of directors. (G. Tovstonogov, V. Zhalakyavichyus, T. Abuladze) and other artists are perceived by Soviet people of different nationalities as phenomena of their culture. Being historically open system artistic and truthful reproduction of life, the creative method of socialist art is in a state of development, absorbs and creatively processes the achievements of world art. process. In recent art and literature, concerned with the fate of the whole world and man as a species being, attempts are being made to recreate reality on the basis of a creative method, enriched with new features, based on art. understanding global socio-historical patterns and increasingly turning to universal human values ​​(produced by Ch. Aitmatov, V. Bykov, N. Dumbadze, V. Rasputin, A. Rybakov and many others). Cognition and art. discovery of modern world, giving rise to new life conflicts, problems, human types, is possible only on the basis of a revolutionary-critical attitude of art and its theory to reality, contributing to its renewal and transformation in the spirit of humanistic ideals. It is no coincidence, therefore, that during the period of perestroika, which also affected the spiritual sphere of our society, discussions about the pressing problems of the theory of social revolution revived. They are caused by a natural need from a modern perspective to approach the understanding of the 70-year path traversed by Soviet art, to reconsider the incorrect, authoritarian-subjectivist assessments given to certain significant artistic phenomena. culture in times of personality cult and stagnation, to overcome the discrepancy between artists. practice, the realities of the creative process and its theoretical interpretation.

Socialist realism - artistic method Soviet literature.

Socialist realism, being the main method of Soviet fiction and literary criticism, requires from the artist a truthful, historically specific depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. The method of socialist realism helps the writer to promote the further rise of the creative forces of the Soviet people and overcome all difficulties on the path to communism.

“Socialist realism requires the writer to truthfully depict reality in its revolutionary development and provides him with comprehensive opportunities for manifestation individual abilities talent and creative initiative, presupposes the richness and diversity of artistic means and styles, supporting innovation in all areas of creativity,” says the Charter of the Union of Writers of the USSR.

The main features of this artistic method were outlined back in 1905 by V.I. Lenin in his historical work “Party Organization and Party Literature,” in which he foresaw the creation and flourishing of free, socialist literature under the conditions of victorious socialism.

This method was first embodied in the artistic work of A. M. Gorky - in his novel “Mother” and other works. In poetry, the most striking expression of socialist realism is the work of V.V. Mayakovsky (poem “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin”, “Good!”, lyrics of the 20s).

Continuing the best creative traditions of literature of the past, socialist realism at the same time, it represents a qualitatively new and higher artistic method, since it is determined in its main features by completely new social relations in a socialist society.

Socialist realism reflects life realistically, deeply, truthfully; it is socialist because it reflects life in its revolutionary development, that is, in the process of creating a socialist society on the path to communism. It differs from the methods preceding it in the history of literature in that it is based on the ideal to which it calls in its work Soviet writer, lies the movement towards communism under the leadership of the Communist Party. In the greeting of the CPSU Central Committee to the Second Congress of Soviet Writers, it was emphasized that “in modern conditions, the method of socialist realism requires writers to understand the tasks of completing the construction of socialism in our country and the gradual transition from socialism to communism.” The socialist ideal is embodied in a new type of positive hero, which was created by Soviet literature. Its features are determined primarily by the unity of the individual and society, impossible in previous periods of social development; the pathos of collective, free, creative, creative work; a high sense of Soviet patriotism - love for one’s socialist Motherland; partisanship, a communist attitude to life, brought up in Soviet people by the Communist Party.

Such an image of a positive hero, distinguished by bright character traits and high spiritual qualities, becomes a worthy example and subject of imitation for people, and participates in the creation of a moral code for the builder of communism.

What is qualitatively new in socialist realism is the nature of the depiction of the life process, based on the fact that the difficulties of development of Soviet society are difficulties of growth, carrying within themselves the possibility of overcoming these difficulties, the victory of the new over the old, the emerging over the dying. Thus, the Soviet artist gets the opportunity to paint today in the light of tomorrow, that is, to depict life in its revolutionary development, the victory of the new over the old, to show the revolutionary romance of socialist reality (see Romanticism).

Socialist realism fully embodies the principle of communist partyism in art, since it reflects the life of the liberated people in its development, in the light of advanced ideas expressing the true interests of the people, in the light of the ideals of communism.

The communist ideal new type a positive hero, a depiction of life in its revolutionary development based on the victory of the new over the old, nationality - these main features of socialist realism are manifested in infinitely diverse artistic forms, in the variety of styles of writers.

At the same time, socialist realism also develops the traditions of critical realism, exposing everything that interferes with the development of the new in life, creating negative images that typify everything that is backward, dying, and hostile to the new, socialist reality.

Socialist realism allows the writer to give a vitally truthful, deeply artistic reflection of not only the present, but also the past. Historical novels, poems, etc. have become widespread in Soviet literature. By truthfully depicting the past, a writer - a socialist, a realist - strives to educate his readers using the example of the heroic life of the people and their best sons in the past, illuminating our lives today with the experience of the past.

Depending on the scope of the revolutionary movement and the maturity of the revolutionary ideology, socialist realism as an artistic method can and does become the property of advanced revolutionary artists in foreign countries, at the same time enriching the experience of Soviet writers.

It is clear that the embodiment of the principles of socialist realism depends on the individuality of the writer, his worldview, talent, culture, experience, and skill of the writer, which determine the height of the artistic level he has achieved.

Gorky "Mother"

The novel tells not just about the revolutionary struggle, but about how in the process of this struggle people are reborn, how spiritual birth comes to them. “A resurrected soul will not be killed!” - Nilovna exclaims at the end of the novel, when she is brutally beaten by police and spies, when death is close to her. “Mother” is a novel about the resurrection of the human soul, seemingly tightly crushed by the unjust system of Life. This topic could be explored especially broadly and convincingly using the example of a person like Nilovna. She is not only a person of the oppressed masses, but also a woman on whom, due to her darkness, her husband takes out countless oppressions and insults, and, moreover, a mother who lives in eternal anxiety for her son. Although she is only forty years old, she already feels like an old woman. In the early version of the novel, Nilovna was older, but then the author “rejuvenated” her, wanting to emphasize that the main thing is not how many years she lived, but how she lived them. She felt like an old woman, having not truly experienced either childhood or youth, without feeling the joy of “recognizing” the world. Youth comes to her, in essence, after forty years, when the meaning of the world, man, own life, the beauty of our native land.

In one form or another, many heroes experience such spiritual resurrection. “A person needs to be renewed,” says Rybin and thinks about how to achieve such renewal. If dirt appears on top, it can be washed off; and “how to cleanse a person from the inside”? And so it turns out that the very struggle that often embitters people is the only one capable of purifying and renewing their souls. “Iron Man” Pavel Vlasov is gradually freeing himself from excessive severity and from the fear of giving vent to his feelings, especially the feeling of love; his friend Andrei Nakhodka - on the contrary, from excessive softness; “son of thieves” Vesovshchikov - from distrust of people, from the conviction that they are all enemies of each other; Rybin associated with the peasant masses - from distrust of the intelligentsia and culture, from the view of all educated people as “masters”. And everything that happens in the souls of the heroes surrounding Nilovna also happens in her soul, but it happens with special difficulty, especially painfully. From an early age she was accustomed to not trusting people, to fear them, to hide her thoughts and feelings from them. She teaches her son this too, seeing that he has entered into an argument with life that is familiar to everyone: “I only ask one thing - do not talk to people without fear! You have to be afraid of people - they all hate each other! They live by greed, they live by envy. Everyone is happy to do evil. As soon as you begin to expose and judge them, they will hate you and destroy you!” The son replies: “People are bad, yes. But when I found out that there is truth in the world, people became better!”

When Paul says to his mother: “We all perish from fear! And those who command us take advantage of our fear and intimidate us even more,” she admits: “I lived in fear all my life - my whole soul was overgrown with fear!” During the first search at Pavel's, she experiences this feeling with all its severity. During the second search, “she was not so afraid... she felt more hatred for these gray night visitors with spurs on their feet, and the hatred absorbed the anxiety.” But this time Pavel was taken to prison, and the mother, “closing her eyes, howled long and monotonously,” just as her husband had howled in animal anguish before. Many times after this, fear gripped Nilovna, but it was increasingly drowned out by hatred of her enemies and the consciousness of the high goals of the struggle.

“Now I’m not afraid of anything,” says Nilovna after the trial of Pavel and his comrades, but the fear in her has not yet been completely killed. At the station, when she notices that she is recognized by a spy, she is again “persistently squeezed by a hostile force... humiliating her, plunging her into dead fear.” For a moment, a desire flares up in her to throw the suitcase with leaflets containing her son’s speech at the trial and run. And then Nilovna inflicts the final blow on her old enemy - fear: “... with one big and sharp effort of her heart, which seemed to shake her whole, she extinguished all these cunning, small, weak lights, commandingly saying to herself: “Shame!” Don't disgrace your son! No one is afraid...” This is a whole poem about the fight against fear and victory over it!, about how a person with a resurrected soul gains fearlessness.

The theme of “resurrection of the soul” was the most important in all of Gorky’s works. In the autobiographical trilogy “The Life of Klim Samgin,” Gorky showed how two forces, two environments, fight for a person, one of which seeks to revive his soul, and the other - to devastate it and kill it. In the play “At the Bottom” and in a number of other works, Gorky depicted people thrown to the very bottom of life and yet retaining hope for revival - these works lead to the conclusion about the indestructibility of the human in man.

Mayakovsky's poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin""-hymn to the greatness of Lenin. Lenin's immortality became the main theme of the poem. I really didn’t want, in the poet’s words, “to descend to a simple political retelling of events.” Mayakovsky studied the works of V.I. Lenin, talked with people who knew him, collected material bit by bit and again turned to the works of the leader.

To show Ilyich’s activities as an unparalleled historical feat, to reveal all the greatness of this brilliant, exceptional personality and at the same time to imprint in the hearts of people the image of a charming, down-to-earth, simple Ilyich, who “loved his comrade with human affection” - in this he saw his civic and poetic problem V. Mayakovsky,

In the image of Ilyich, the poet managed to reveal the harmony of a new character, a new human personality.

The appearance of Lenin, the leader, the man of the coming days is given in the poem in inextricable connection with the time and business to which his whole life was selflessly given.

The power of Lenin's teaching is revealed in every image of the poem, in every line of it. V. Mayakovsky, with all his work, seems to affirm the gigantic power of influence of the leader’s ideas on the development of history and the fate of the people.

When the poem was ready, Mayakovsky read it to workers in factories: he wanted to know whether the images reached him, whether they bothered him... For the same purpose, at the request of the poet, the poem was read in V.V. Kuibyshev’s apartment. He read it to Lenin’s party comrades and only after that he sent the poem to print. At the beginning of 1925, the poem “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin” was published as a separate edition.

SOCIALIST REALISM(socialist realism), creative method, proclaimed official. owls aesthetics is fundamental to the domestic sphere. culture and art. The formation of the doctrine of social revolution, which dominated the USSR from the middle. 1930s, preceded by theoretical judgments of A.V. Lunacharsky(Article “Tasks of Social Democratic Artistic Creativity”, 1907, etc.), based on the meaning. degrees on V.I. Lenin’s article “Party organization and party literature” (1905), as well as activities Russian Association of Proletarian Writers(RAPP), Russian Association of Proletarian Artists(RAPH) and Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia(AHRR; which declared “heroic realism”). The concept of creativity. method, borrowed from Marxist aesthetics, in the end. 1920s took shape in opposition to “dialectical-materialistic. creative method" of proletarian literature to the "mechanistic method" of bourgeois literature, which in the beginning. 1930s was rethought as a confrontation between “affirmative”, “socialist” (“proletarian”) realism and “old” (“bourgeois”) critical realism.

The term "S. R." first used in print in 1932 by the chairman of the organization. Institute of the USSR SP I. M. Gronsky (“Literary newspaper” dated May 23). As a basis creative Sov method liters S. r. was approved at the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviets. writers in 1934 (including with the active participation of M. Gorky, A. A. Fadeev, N. I. Bukharin); formulations from the report of A.A. Zhdanova(the writer’s task is “to depict reality in its revolutionary development”; “the truthfulness and historical specificity of the artistic depiction must be combined with the task of ideological reworking and education of working people in the spirit of socialism”) were enshrined in the Charter of the SP. To the fundamental for S. r. the principle of partisanship in the middle. 1930s the principle of nationality was added (in the sense of the accessibility of art for the perception of the broad masses, a reflection of their life and interests), which became just as integral to the socialist realist doctrine. Other important for the works of S. r. The features were life-affirming pathos and revolutionary romanticism. heroism. As a result, S. r. turned literature and art into a powerful ideological tool. impact (cf. the statement attributed to J.V. Stalin about writers as “engineers of human souls”). Deviation from the principles of S. r. persecuted.

Literature

In literature, the first work of S. r. the novel “Mother” by M. Gorky (1906–07) was retrospectively named, to which the scheme of the image of a “positive hero” - a person experiencing a new birth during the revolution - owes its appearance. struggle. The novels “Chapaev” by D. I. Furmanov (1923) and “The Iron Stream” by A. S. are also recognized in retrospect as classics of the literary genre. Serafimovich(1924), “Cement” by F.V. Glad kova(1925), “Destruction” by A. A. Fadeev (1927). Vivid examples of socialist realism. the novels of F. I. Panferov, N. A. Ostrovsky, B. N. Polevoy, V. N. Azhaev became the literary novels; dramaturgy by V.V. Vishnevsky, A.E. Korneychuk, N.F. Pogodin and others. Fundamentals of S. r. shaken with the beginning of the “thaw” in the middle. 1950s, but will end. liberation from his principles occurred only with the collapse of the state whose ideology he served. S. r. was not exclusively a phenomenon of owls. liters: its aesthetic. the principles were also shared by some foreign writers, including L. Aragon, M. Pui manova, A. Zegers.

art

In the fine arts S. r. was reflected in the predominance of socio-historical. myths and solemn and representative techniques of their interpretation: idealization of nature, false pathos, historical. false, rationalistic organization of the narrative, exaggerated scale of many. works (A. M. Gerasimov, V. P. Efanov, Vl. A. Serov, B. V. Ioganson, D. A. Nalbandyan, S. D. Merkurov, N. V. Tomsky, E. V. Vuchetich and many others). Meeting the standards of S. r. recognized at the same time means. works of a number of Russians owl masters era (V.I. Mukhina, S.T. Konenkova, A.A. Deineka, S.A. Chuikova, S.V. Gerasimova, A.A. Plastova, P.D. Korina, M.S. Saryan and etc.). Isolation from the world art strengthened the dogmatism and intolerance of the Socialist Revolution, especially in the post-war years, when its principles extended to the art of communist countries. block. Directive implementation of the method of S. r. in all areas of art, the uncompromising struggle against any manifestations of “formalism” and “Westernism” led to the formation of a special form in the USSR totalitarian art, seeking to suppress the various. currents avant-garde, so-called unofficial lawsuit (including post-war underground in USSR). However, already from the middle. 1960s The development of art in the USSR is less and less connected with the dogmas of the Social Revolution, which soon became an anachronism. In history architecture the term "S. R." use preim. to designate Stalin's buildings neoclassicism in the USSR and Eastern countries. Europe.

Movie

In cinema, the aesthetics of S. r. formed in the 1920s. in the most significant poster films about the revolution for this time: “Battleship Potemkin” (1925), “October” (1927) by S. M. Eisenstein; “Mother” (1926), “The End of St. Petersburg” (1927) by V.I. Pudovkin, etc. It became dominant in the 1930s, when the departure from socialist realism. canon was already practically impossible: “Great Citizen” by F. M. Ermler (1938–39), “Baltic Deputy” (1937) and “Member of the Government” (1940) by I. E. Matveev, T. V. Levchuk, I. A. Gosteva et al.

Theater

In the theater the standards of S. r. introduced into the beginning 1930s with direct with the participation of M. Gorky, contrary to the logic of the development of directing systems early. 20th century and 1920s The ideologists of the CPSU(b) directed the Soviets. theater according to the pre-director model 19th century as an art secondary to literature, life-like, politicized, didactic. Method Moscow Art Theater in a simplified, false understanding, it was declared the only fruitful one for the development of socialism. External signs of verisimilitude were combined with crude ideology, schematization, and art. external character in performance, illustrativeness, stereotypes, pathos in directing. Revolution became mandatory. theme in a pseudo-historical interpretation (for example, “Man with a Gun” by N. F. Pogodin, Moscow Theater named after Evg. Vakhtangov, 1937). Gorky’s plays “Yegor Bulychov and Others” (Vakhtangov Theatre, 1932) and “Enemies” (MKhAT, 1935), staged taking into account the “class conflict”, are the standard of the method of S. r. The productions of the works of L. N. Tolstoy, W. Shakespeare, A. P. Chekhov, and others were brought into accordance with this “Gorky” model. In performances of the 1930s, with the inevitable declarative observance of the external signs of the method of S. r. (social typification, ideology), the creativity of outstanding artists and directors formed in the previous era could not be completely suppressed. The post-war situation (until the mid-1950s), with the introduction of the “theory of non-conflict”, was marked by an increase in the deceitfulness of theatrical art, its art. decline. Abroad, there is a unique understanding of S. r. in the 1950s expressed in the works of B.

The film “Circus” directed by Grigory Alexandrov ends like this: a demonstration, people in white clothes with shining faces march to the song “Wide is my native country.” This frame a year after the film’s release, in 1937, will be literally repeated in Alexander Deyneka’s monumental panel “Stakhanovites” - except that instead of a black child sitting on the shoulder of one of the demonstrators, here a white child will be placed on the shoulder of a Stakhanovite. And then the same composition will be used in the giant canvas “Noble People of the Land of the Soviets,” written by a team of artists under the leadership of Vasily Efanov: this is a collective portrait, where heroes of labor, polar explorers, pilots, akyns and artists are presented together. This is the genre of apotheosis - and it most of all gives a visual idea of ​​the style that almost exclusively dominated Soviet art for more than two decades. Socialist realism, or, as the critic Boris Groys called it, “Stalin style.”

Socialist realism became an official term in 1934, after Gorky used this phrase at the First Congress of Soviet Writers (before that there were random uses). Then it was included in the statutes of the Writers' Union, but it was explained in a completely unclear and very garish way: about the ideological education of a person in the spirit of socialism, about the depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. This vector - focus on the future, revolutionary development - could somehow be applied to literature, because literature is a temporary art, it has a plot sequence and the evolution of heroes is possible. But how to apply this to fine art is unclear. Nevertheless, the term has spread to the entire spectrum of culture and has become mandatory for everything.

The main customer, addressee and consumer of socialist realism art was the state. It viewed culture as a means of agitation and propaganda. Accordingly, the canon of socialist realism required the Soviet artist and writer to depict exactly what the state wants to see. This concerned not only the subject matter, but also the form and method of depiction. Of course, there might not have been a direct order, the artists created as if at the call of their hearts, but there was a certain receiving authority above them, and it decided whether, for example, a painting should be at an exhibition and whether the author deserves encouragement or quite the opposite. Such a power vertical in the matter of purchases, orders and other ways to encourage creative activity. The role of this receiving authority was often played by critics. Despite the fact that there were no normative poetics or sets of rules in socialist realist art, criticism was good at catching and transmitting the supreme ideological fluids. In tone, this criticism could be mocking, destructive, repressive. She held court and confirmed the verdict.

The state order system took shape back in the twenties, and then the main hired artists were members of the AHRR - the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. The need to fulfill the social order was written down in their declaration, and the customers were government bodies: the Revolutionary Military Council, the Red Army, and so on. But then this commissioned art existed in a diverse field, among many completely different initiatives. There were communities of a completely different kind - avant-garde and not quite avant-garde: they all competed for the right to be the main art of our time. AHRR won this fight because its aesthetics met both the tastes of the authorities and the mass taste. Painting that simply illustrates and records the subjects of reality is understandable to everyone. And naturally, after the forced dissolution of all artistic groups in 1932, it was this aesthetics that became the basis of socialist realism - mandatory.

In socialist realism, a hierarchy of painting genres is strictly built. At its top is the so-called thematic picture. This is a graphic story with correctly placed accents. The plot has to do with modernity - and if not with modernity, then with those situations of the past that promise us this beautiful modernity. As was said in the definition of socialist realism: reality in its revolutionary development.

In such a picture there is often a conflict of forces - but which force is right is demonstrated unambiguously. For example, in Boris Ioganson’s painting “At the Old Ural Factory” the figure of the worker is in the light, and the figure of the exploiter-manufacturer is immersed in shadow; Moreover, the artist gave him a repulsive appearance. In his painting “Interrogation of Communists” we see only the back of the head of the white officer conducting the interrogation - the back of the head is fat and folded.

Boris Ioganson. At the old Ural plant. 1937

Boris Ioganson. Interrogation of communists. 1933Photo by RIA Novosti,

Thematic paintings with historical and revolutionary content were combined with battle paintings and historical ones. The historical ones came out mainly after the war, and their genre is close to the apotheosis paintings already described - such an operatic aesthetic. For example, in Alexander Bubnov’s painting “Morning on the Kulikovo Field”, where Russian army waiting for the start of the battle with the Tatar-Mongols. Apotheoses were also created on conditionally modern material - such are the two “Collective Farm Holidays” of 1937, by Sergei Gerasimov and Arkady Plastov: triumphant abundance in the spirit of the later film “Kuban Cossacks”. In general, the art of socialist realism loves abundance - there should be a lot of everything, because abundance is joy, completeness and the fulfillment of aspirations.

Alexander Bubnov. Morning on the Kulikovo field. 1943–1947State Tretyakov Gallery

Sergey Gerasimov. Collective farm holiday. 1937Photo by E. Kogan / RIA Novosti; State Tretyakov Gallery

In socialist realist landscapes, scale is also important. Very often this is a panorama of the “Russian expanse” - like an image of the entire country in a specific landscape. Fyodor Shurpin’s painting “Morning of our Motherland” is a vivid example of such a landscape. True, here the landscape is only a background for the figure of Stalin, but in other similar panoramas Stalin seems to be invisibly present. And it is important that landscape compositions are horizontally oriented - not a directed vertical, not a dynamically active diagonal, but horizontal statics. This is an unchanging world, already accomplished.

On the other hand, hyperbolic industrial landscapes are very popular - giant construction sites, for example. Rodina is building Magnitka, Dneproges, plants, factories, power plants and so on. Gigantism and the pathos of quantity are also a very important feature of socialist realism. It is not formulated directly, but manifests itself not only at the level of theme, but also in the way everything is drawn: the pictorial fabric becomes noticeably heavier and denser.

By the way, former “jacks of diamonds”, for example Lentulov, are very successful in depicting industrial giants. The materiality characteristic of their painting turned out to be very useful in the new situation.

And in portraits this material pressure is very noticeable, especially in women’s portraits. Not only at the level of pictorial texture, but even in the surroundings. Such fabric heaviness - velvet, plush, fur, and everything feels slightly worn, with an antique touch. Such, for example, is Joganson’s portrait of the actress Zerkalova; Ilya Mashkov has such portraits - quite salon-like.

But in general, portraits, almost in an educational spirit, are seen as a way to glorify outstanding people who, through their work, have earned the right to be portrayed. Sometimes these works are presented directly in the text of the portrait: here academician Pavlov is thinking intensely in his laboratory against the backdrop of biological stations, here is the surgeon Yudin performing an operation, here is the sculptor Vera Mukhina sculpting a figurine of Boreas. All these are portraits created by Mikhail Nesterov. In the 80-90s of the 19th century, he was the creator of his own genre of monastic idylls, then he fell silent for a long time, and in the 1930s he suddenly found himself the main Soviet portrait painter. And the teacher was Pavel Korin, whose portraits of Gorky, actor Leonidov or Marshal Zhukov already resemble monuments in their monumental structure.

Mikhail Nesterov. Portrait of sculptor Vera Mukhina. 1940Photo by Alexey Bushkin / RIA Novosti; State Tretyakov Gallery

Mikhail Nesterov. Portrait of surgeon Sergei Yudin. 1935Photo by Oleg Ignatovich / RIA Novosti; State Tretyakov Gallery

Monumentality extends even to still lifes. And they are called, for example by the same Mashkov, epically - “Moscow food” or “Soviet bread” . The former “Jacks of Diamonds” are generally the first in terms of subject wealth. For example, in 1941, Pyotr Konchalovsky painted the painting “Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy visiting the artist” - and in front of the writer is a ham, slices of red fish, baked poultry, cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon, glasses for various drinks... But the tendency towards monumentalization is general . Everything heavy and solid is welcome. At Deineka's athletic bodies his characters become overweight and gain weight. By Alexander Samokhvalov in the “Metroconstruction” series and by other masters from the former association"Circle of Artists"the motif of a “large figure” appears - such female deities personifying earthly power and the power of creation. And the painting itself becomes heavy and dense. But thick - in moderation.

Because moderation is also important sign style. On the one hand, a brush stroke should be noticeable - a sign that the artist worked. If the texture is smoothed out, then the author’s work is not visible - but it should be visible. And, say, the same Deineka, who previously operated with solid color planes, now makes the surface of the painting more prominent. On the other hand, excess maestry is also not encouraged - it is immodest, it is sticking oneself out. The word “protrusion” sounds very menacing in the 1930s, when a campaign was being waged against formalism - in painting, and in children's books, and in music, and generally everywhere. It’s like a fight against wrong influences, but in fact it’s a fight in general with any manner, with any techniques. After all, the technique calls into question the artist’s sincerity, and sincerity is an absolute fusion with the subject of the image. Sincerity does not imply any mediation, but reception, influence - this is mediation.

However, there are different methods for different tasks. For example, a kind of colorless, “rainy” impressionism is quite suitable for lyrical subjects. It appeared not only in the genres of Yuri Pimenov - in his film “New Moscow”, where a girl rides in an open car in the center of the capital, transformed by new construction sites, or in the later “New Quarters” - a series about the construction of outlying microdistricts. But also, say, in the huge canvas by Alexander Gerasimov “Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov in the Kremlin” (popular name - “Two Leaders after the Rain”). The atmosphere of rain signifies human warmth and openness to each other. Of course, such impressionistic language cannot be used in the depiction of parades and celebrations - everything there is still extremely strict and academic.

Yuri Pimenov. New Moscow. 1937Photo by A. Saikov / RIA Novosti; State Tretyakov Gallery

Alexander Gerasimov. Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov in the Kremlin. 1938Photo by Viktor Velikzhanin / TASS Photo Chronicle; State Tretyakov Gallery

It has already been said that socialist realism has a futuristic vector - a focus on the future, towards the outcome of revolutionary development. And since the victory of socialism is inevitable, signs of the accomplished future are present in the present. It turns out that in socialist realism time collapses. The present is already the future, and one beyond which there will be no next future. History reached its highest peak and stopped. Deinekov’s white-robed Stakhanovites are no longer people—they are celestial beings. And they don’t even look at us, but somewhere into eternity - which is already here, already with us.

Somewhere around 1936-1938 this gets its final form. Here highest point socialist realism - and Stalin becomes the obligatory hero. His appearance in the paintings of Efanov, or Svarog, or anyone else looks like a miracle - and this biblical motif a miraculous phenomenon, traditionally associated, naturally, with completely different heroes. But this is how genre memory works. At this moment, socialist realism really becomes a great style, the style of a totalitarian utopia - only this is a utopia that has come true. And once this utopia has come true, then the style becomes frozen—monumental academization.

And any other art, which was based on a different understanding of plastic values, turns out to be a forgotten, “closet”, invisible art. Of course, artists had some kind of space in which they could exist, where cultural skills were preserved and reproduced. For example, in 1935, at the Academy of Architecture, the Workshop of Monumental Painting was founded, led by artists of old training - Vladimir Favorsky, Lev Bruni, Konstantin Istomin, Sergei Romanovich, Nikolai Chernyshev. But all such oases do not exist for long.

There is a paradox here. Totalitarian art in its verbal declarations is addressed specifically to man - the words “man” and “humanity” are present in all manifestos of socialist realism of this time. But in fact, socialist realism partly continues this messianic pathos of the avant-garde with its myth-making pathos, with its apology for the result, with the desire to remake the whole world - and among such pathos there is no place for the individual. And “quiet” painters who do not write declarations, but in reality stand in defense of the individual, small, human, are doomed to an invisible existence. And it is in this “closet” art that humanity continues to live.

Late socialist realism of the 1950s will try to appropriate it. Stalin, the cementing figure of the style, is no longer alive; his former subordinates are at a loss - in a word, an era has ended. And in the 1950-60s, socialist realism wants to be socialist realism with human face. There were some harbingers a little earlier - for example, Arkady Plastov’s paintings on rural themes, and especially his painting “The Fascist Flew Over” about a senselessly killed shepherd boy.

But the most revealing are the paintings by Fyodor Reshetnikov “Arrived on Vacation,” where a young Suvorov student salutes his grandfather at the New Year’s tree, and “Deuce Again,” about a careless schoolboy (by the way, on the wall of the room in the painting “Deuce Again” hangs a reproduction of the painting “Arrived on vacation” is a very touching detail). This is still socialist realism, this is a clear and detailed story - but the thought of state, which was the basis of all the stories before, is reincarnated into a family thought, and the intonation changes. Socialist realism is becoming more intimate, now it is about the life of ordinary people. This also includes the later genres of Pimenov, and the work of Alexander Laktionov. His most famous picture“Letter from the Front,” which was distributed in many postcards, is one of the main Soviet paintings. Here there is edification, didacticism, and sentimentality - this is such a socialist-realist bourgeois style.

“Socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the goal of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of man for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of the great happiness of living on the land that he, according to continuous growth his needs, wants to process everything as a beautiful home for humanity, united in one family” (M. Gorky).

This description of the method was given by M. Gorky at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934. And the term “socialist realism” itself was proposed by the journalist and literary critic I. Gronsky in 1932. But the idea of ​​the new method belongs to A.V. Lunacharsky, revolutionary and Soviet statesman.
A completely justified question: why was a new method (and a new term) needed if realism already existed in art? And how did socialist realism differ from simple realism?

On the need for socialist realism

A new method was necessary in a country that was building a new socialist society.

P. Konchalovsky “From the Mow” (1948)
Firstly, it was necessary to control the creative process of creative individuals, i.e. Now the task of art was to propagate state policy - there were still enough artists who sometimes took an aggressive position in relation to what was happening in the country.

P. Kotov “Worker”
Secondly, these were the years of industrialization, and the Soviet government needed art that would raise the people to “deeds of labor.”

M. Gorky (Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov)
M. Gorky, who returned from emigration, headed the Union of Writers of the USSR, created in 1934, which included mainly writers and poets of Soviet orientation.
The method of socialist realism required the artist to provide a truthful, historically specific depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, truthfulness and historical specificity artistic image reality must be combined with the task of ideological remodeling and education in the spirit of socialism. This setting for cultural figures in the USSR was in effect until the 1980s.

Principles of socialist realism

The new method did not deny the heritage of world realistic art, but predetermined the deep connection of works of art with modern reality, Active participation art in socialist construction. Each artist had to understand the meaning of events taking place in the country and be able to evaluate phenomena public life in their development.

A. Plastov “Haymaking” (1945)
The method did not exclude Soviet romance, the need to combine the heroic and romantic.
The state gave orders to creative people, sent them on creative trips, organized exhibitions, stimulating the development of new art.
The main principles of socialist realism were nationality, ideology and concreteness.

Socialist realism in literature

M. Gorky believed that the main task of socialist realism is to cultivate a socialist, revolutionary view of the world, a corresponding sense of the world.

Konstantin Simonov
The most significant writers representing the method of socialist realism: Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Alexander Tvardovsky, Veniamin Kaverin, Anna Zegers, Vilis Latsis, Nikolai Ostrovsky, Alexander Serafimovich, Fyodor Gladkov, Konstantin Simonov, Caesar Solodar, Mikhail Sholokhov, Nikolai Nosov, Alexander Fadeev , Konstantin Fedin, Dmitry Furmanov, Yuriko Miyamoto, Marietta Shaginyan, Yulia Drunina, Vsevolod Kochetov and others.

N. Nosov (Soviet children's writer, best known as the author of works about Dunno)
As we can see, the list also contains the names of writers from other countries.

Anna Zegers(1900-1983) - German writer, member of the German Communist Party.

Yuriko Miyamoto(1899-1951) - Japanese writer, representative of proletarian literature, member of the Japanese Communist Party. These writers supported socialist ideology.

Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeev (1901-1956)

Russian Soviet writer and public figure. Winner of the Stalin Prize, first degree (1946).
From childhood he showed a talent for writing and was distinguished by his ability to fantasize. I was fond of adventure literature.
While still studying at the Vladivostok Commercial School, he carried out orders from the underground Bolshevik committee. He wrote his first story in 1922. While working on the novel “Destruction,” he decided to become professional writer. “Destruction” brought fame and recognition to the young writer.

Still from the film “The Young Guard” (1947)
His most famous novel is “The Young Guard” (about the Krasnodon underground organization “Young Guard”, which operated in territory occupied by Nazi Germany, many of whose members were killed by the Nazis. In mid-February 1943, after the liberation of Donetsk Krasnodon Soviet troops, from the pit of Mine No. 5 located near the city, several dozen corpses of teenagers tortured by the Nazis, who were members of the underground organization “Young Guard” during the occupation, were extracted.
The book was published in 1946. The writer was sharply criticized for the fact that the “leading and directing” role of the Communist Party was not clearly expressed in the novel; he received critical remarks in the Pravda newspaper actually from Stalin himself. In 1951, he created the second edition of the novel, and in it he devoted more attention leadership of the underground organization by the CPSU(b).
Standing at the head of the Writers' Union of the USSR, A. Fadeev implemented the decisions of the party and government in relation to the writers M.M. Zoshchenko, A.A. Akhmatova, A.P. Platonov. In 1946, Zhdanov’s well-known decree was issued, which effectively destroyed Zoshchenko and Akhmatova as writers. Fadeev was among those who carried out this sentence. But human feelings they were not killed completely, he tried to help the financially distressed M. Zoshchenko, and also bothered about the fate of other writers who were in opposition to the authorities (B. Pasternak, N. Zabolotsky, L. Gumilyov, A. Platonov). Having such a hard time experiencing this split, he fell into depression.
On May 13, 1956, Alexander Fadeev shot himself with a revolver at his dacha in Peredelkino. “...My life, as a writer, loses all meaning, and with great joy, as a deliverance from this vile existence, where meanness, lies and slander fall upon you, I am leaving this life. last hope I wanted to at least say this to the people who rule the state, but for the past 3 years, despite my requests, they cannot even accept me. I ask you to bury me next to my mother” (Suicide letter from A. A. Fadeev to the CPSU Central Committee. May 13, 1956).

Socialist realism in fine art

IN fine arts In the 1920s, several groups emerged. The most significant group was the Association of Artists of the Revolution.

"Association of Artists of the Revolution" (AHR)

S. Malyutin “Portrait of Furmanov” (1922). State Tretyakov Gallery
This is a large association Soviet artists, graphic artists and sculptors were the most numerous, it was supported by the state. The association lasted 10 years (1922-1932) and was the forerunner of the Union of Artists of the USSR. The association was headed by Pavel Radimov, the last head of the Association of Itinerants. From that moment on, the Itinerants as an organization virtually ceased to exist. The AHR members rejected the avant-garde, although the 20s were the heyday of the Russian avant-garde, which also wanted to work for the benefit of the revolution. But the paintings of these artists were not understood and accepted by society. Here, for example, is the work of K. Malevich “The Reaper”.

K. Malevich “The Reaper” (1930)
This is what the AKhR artists declared: “Our civic duty to humanity is the artistic and documentary recording of the greatest moment in history in its revolutionary impulse. We will depict today: the life of the Red Army, the life of workers, peasants, leaders of the revolution and heroes of labor... We will give a real picture of events, and not abstract fabrications that discredit our revolution in the face of the international proletariat.”
The main task of the Association members was to create genre paintings on subjects from modern life, in which they developed the traditions of painting by the Wanderers and “brought art closer to life.”

I. Brodsky “V. I. Lenin in Smolny in 1917" (1930)
The main activity of the Association in the 1920s was exhibitions, of which about 70 were organized in the capital and other cities. These exhibitions were very popular. Depicting the present day (the life of the Red Army soldiers, workers, peasants, revolutionaries and labor), the artists of the Academy of Arts considered themselves heirs of the Wanderers. They visited factories, mills, and Red Army barracks to observe the lives of their characters. It was they who became the main backbone of the artists of socialist realism.

V. Favorsky
Representatives of socialist realism in painting and graphics were E. Antipova, I. Brodsky, P. Buchkin, P. Vasiliev, B. Vladimirsky, A. Gerasimov, S. Gerasimov, A. Deineka, P. Konchalovsky, D. Mayevsky, S. Osipov, A. Samokhvalov, V. Favorsky and others.

Socialist realism in sculpture

In the sculpture of socialist realism, the names of V. Mukhina, N. Tomsky, E. Vuchetich, S. Konenkov and others are known.

Vera Ignatievna Mukhina (1889 -1953)

M. Nesterov “Portrait of V. Mukhina” (1940)

Soviet sculptor-monumentalist, academician of the USSR Academy of Arts, folk artist THE USSR. Winner of five Stalin Prizes.
Her monument “Worker and Collective Farm Woman” was erected in Paris at the 1937 World Exhibition. Since 1947, this sculpture has been the emblem of the Mosfilm film studio. The monument is made of stainless chromium-nickel steel. Height is about 25 m (height of the pavilion-pedestal is 33 m). Total weight 185 tons.

V. Mukhina “Worker and Collective Farm Woman”
V. Mukhina is the author of many monuments, sculptural works and decorative and applied items.

V. Mukhin “Monument “P.I. Tchaikovsky" near the building of the Moscow Conservatory

V. Mukhina “Monument to Maxim Gorky” (Nizhny Novgorod)
N.V. was also an outstanding Soviet monumental sculptor. Tomsky.

N. Tomsky “Monument to P. S. Nakhimov” (Sevastopol)
Thus, socialist realism made its worthy contribution to art.