Life as It Is, Life as It Is Becoming' : Socialist Realist Paintings of Collectivization, 1934-1941

Soviet Socialist Realism in painting, although often viewed as a derivation from literary practice, played its own independent role in Soviet society during the Stalinist period. Socialist Realist painting is often seen as merely representing a vision of the future; however, the argument that will be put forth in this dissertation is that it displays not only the future of Soviet society but, at the same time, presents a reflection of contemporary society. Conversely, Socialist Realist paintings have typically been seen by western art historians as examples of retrograde art and by scholars of Soviet history simply as propaganda. The contention being postulated in this scholarship is, however, that Socialist Realism was an extensive program of skillful artistic practice coupled with masterful propaganda. Further, Socialist Realist painting generally has been seen as mass art-in other words, not considered to be of the caliber of high art such as traditional oil painting. Yet, painting was indeed a form of mass art and, at the same time, qualifies as being considered high art. Socialist Realist painting was neither one thing exclusively nor the other, but will be explored as having developed as a continual and constant interplay among three complimentary threads: representations of the future and the present; legitimate art and adroit propaganda; and a configuration of both mass art and high art. Did Socialist Realist paintings present the storied future or the contemporary milieu? How, and in what way, did these paintings depict a here-and-now reality and, at the same time, propagate the mythic elements of future Soviet achievements? What enabled Socialist Realist paintings to be fine art and concurrently function as tools of propaganda? How did Socialist Realism operate as both high art and mass art? These are the main questions that will be answered in this dissertation through relevant images of collectivization, one of the two major branches of Stalin's five-year plans. The dissertation will concentrate on the years 1934-41, which encompass the period from the First All-Union Writer's Congress to the advent of World War Two.