Sculpture in Socialist Realism—Soviet Patterns and the Polish Reality

Socialist realism was more than just a trend in art. It was also, and perhaps predominantly, a method of educating the new post-revolutionary society in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In socialism, the state became the commissioner, consumer, and critic of art, treating it as a major propaganda tool. It is thus not surprising that the socialist realism patterns were imposed on artists working in those countries which found themselves in the Soviet sphere of influence after the end of the Second World War. In Poland, which was the Soviet Union’s closest neighbour and one of the larger countries in the post-war “Eastern Bloc”, socialist realism was the only permitted creative method in the years 1949–1956. The ideologists of the new art assigned a special role to sculpture, which, next to posters and murals, was considered the most socially accessible form of artistic expression due to the possibility of placing it in public space. Monuments as material carriers of ideology were used as an expression of power, but they also marked the places of strengthening collective identity. During the period of socialist realism in Poland, sculptural activity followed the main three directions: heroic, portrait, and architectural–decorative. Therefore, this paper aims to present theoretical and ideological assumptions relating to socialist sculpture and their confrontation with realisations in Poland during the period of the Soviet artistic doctrine. The paper also presents the aesthetic paradigms of socialist sculptures and their relationships with the canons of European art, and, for Poland, also with the native art, mainly sacral.

Inspiracje sztuką i kulturą Podhala w powojennej galanterii i biżuterii polskiej

Abstrakt: Zainteresowanie sztuką ludową Podhala wśród polskich artystów i badaczy sięga lat osiemdziesiątych XIX wieku. Wynikało ono z dostrzeżenia artystycznej wartości tworzonych tam dzieł oraz poszukiwań tzw. sztuki narodowej i rodzimej, tak bardzo ważnych dla polskiej kultury i tożsamości. Inspiracje kulturą materialną i artystyczną Podhala przyczyniły się m.in. do wielkiego sukcesu polskiej ekspozycji na Wystawie Sztuki Dekoracyjnej w Paryżu w 1925 roku. Zainteresowanie to nie zmniejszyło się po 1945 r., ale przybrało inne formy. W tym czasie powstawały w Polsce liczne spółdzielnie, których zadaniem było tworzenie przedmiotów codziennego użytku i dzieł sztuki ludowej, zgodnie z lokalną tradycją rękodzielniczą, ikonograficzną, zdobniczą itp. Pewną część produkcji stanowiła tzw. metaloplastyka – sprzączki do pasków, spinki do koszul, zatrzaski do torebek, noże, okucia fajek i in., których forma była inspiracją dla artystów tworzących dzieła biżuterii – bransoletki, broszki, wisiory itp. Asortyment ten uzupełniony został także o inne elementy – wykonywane z blachy, kości bydlęcej, galalitu i drewna broszki, wisiorki i breloki, które były przede wszystkim pamiątkami przywożonymi z tego bardzo popularnego regionu turystycznego. Summary: The interest in the folk art of the Podhale region among Polish artists and researchers dates back to the 1880s. It resulted from the perception of the artistic value of the works created here, as well as the search for the so-called national and native art, very important for Polish culture and national identity. Inspiration with the material culture of Podhale came from, among others a great effect in the form of the success of Polish art at the Exhibition of Decorative Art in Paris in 1925. This interest did not diminish after 1945, but took other forms. At that time, numerous cooperatives were established in Poland, whose task was to create everyday objects and works of folk art, in line with the local tradition in terms of technology, iconography, ornaments, etc. In Podhale, among many produced works, a certain part was the so-called metalwork – belt buckles, shirt clips, purse fasteners, knives, etc., the shape of which was an inspiration for artists creating bracelets, brooches, pendants, etc. This assortment was supplemented with other items – made of sheet metal, bovine bone, galalite and wood, brooches, pendants, and key rings, which were primarily souvenirs brought from this very popular tourist region.

Native Art and Comedy from a Dine’ Perspective

Rdzenna sztuka i komedia z perspektywy plemienia Dine’ Niniejszy artykuł jest analizą rdzennej sztuki i komedii z odmiennego niż współczesny, zachodni punkt widzenia. Jest to interpretacja sztuki Dine’ z perspektywy członka plemienia Dine’. Wyjaśniamy powody powstania tej sztuki, jej szczegóły i prywatny charakter. Artykuł ilustruje również atrakcyjność rdzennej komedii zarówno dla rdzennych, jak i nierdzennych jej odbiorców oraz różnice w jej postrzeganiu. Analizy są oparte na osobistym kontakcie ze sztuką i komedią plemienia Dine’, jednego z 574 rozpoznanych plemion Ameryki Północnej.

A Brief Discussion on the Construction of Artistic Theory Subject from the Perspective of Cultural Research

Through the past years of development, Chinese native art theories have formed a relatively stable discipline system. In the continuous development process of art, theories for cultural studies have become highly significant. As a matter of fact, since culturalstudies has not had a significant impact at present, itstill has a strong reference significance for the theoretical development of art theory. Combined with the author’s practical experience, it is mainly discussed in this study how to construct the theory of art from the perspective of cultural studies, so as to provide reference for all scholars and readers.

The importance of «interprint» in the development of Ukrainian graphics

The article studies Ukrainian graphic art of the late twentieth century, undergoing changes caused by political events in Eastern Europe. Two iconic exhibitions became the turning point for native art as they revealed the Ukrainian graphic arts, and broke through the "iron" curtain of the totalitarian regime. The ideological seclusion of the USSR focused solely on the themes celebrating the life of a happy worker, peasant, or intellectual, did not let the works of another content to be displayed in public. Moreover, all areas of art creativity were controlled by the Union of Artists of Ukraine, headed by people with party membership cards. This prohibition referred especially to works of national-patriotic, conceptual, abstract, or surrealistic nature. The idea to hold an international exhibition that would present Ukrainian graphics to the world arose in the heads of a few independent politicians. At the state level, that idea certainly did not gain any support, but some people contributed to its implementation. Interestingly, the first exhibition of graphics "Interdruk'90" took place just before the collapse of the USSR, and the second, "Interdruk'92", in an already independent Ukraine. The exhibitions showed a high level of Ukrainian graphics, which equaled and sometimes surpassed the works of foreign masters. Among the exhibited art were works by such masters of national graphics as Valeriy Demya- nyshyn, Oleg Denysenko, Mykhaylo Alexandrov, Volodymyr Gumenny, Konstantin Kalinovich, Ivan Kravetz, Pavlo Makov, Mychaylo Moskal, Volodymyr Pinigin, Igor Podolchak, Yuriy Pshenychny, Roman Romanyshyn, Yevgen Ravsky, Alexander Aksinin et al. Their works reflected the whole spectrum of current life themes, which were seen and interpreted in new ways, imaginative technical and formal solutions. Most of those national artists had been exhibited abroad and won the most prestigious graphic contests, yet they were little known in their Motherland. On the other hand, the Ukrainian audience got a chance to learn about the works and achievements of graphic artists from France, Great Britain, Argentina, Korea, Israel, Spain, Holland, Poland, Canada, Russia, Japan, Italy and other countries. We may state that those two exhibitions of printmaking art opened the way to the development of graphics in independent Ukraine.

Agafonov’s Early Kharkiv Creative Period: Dialogue with the Theatre

This article is dedicated to the study of the nature of E. Agafonov’s creative ties with the theater – a topic that has been insufficiently covered in the native art history. The author’s field of view is set in the artist’s early Kharkiv period, marked as the years of 1905–1913. The article focuses on the exceptional role of E. Agafonov in the organization and the artistic practice of the first modernist theater “Blakytne Oko” in Kharkiv (1909–1911). Agafonov belonged to the constellation of masters who was very sensitive to the problem of evolving the artistic speech. He viewed the theater as a convincing platform for promoting and approving of the latest artistic values, discovered by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Experiments in easel art (with color, plastic, line, techniques, materials, etc.), largely inspired by the work of D. Burliuk (1906–1908), were directly reflected in Agafonov’s stage practice, namely in numerous designs of the modernist productions based on plays by M. Maeterlinkc, A. Schnitzler, S. Pshybyshevsky and O. Blok. In turn, it was established that theatrical motives were reflected in E. Agafonov’s easel art, as well as in the art of the students of his artistic studio – O. Rybnikov, I. Terentyev, M. Sinyakova, and K. Storozhnichenko. In this regard, a special attention is given to the linocuts by F. Nadezhdin. It was found that the program of “total” design of theatrical space (stage and auditorium), as well as the implementation of production ideas in the cabaret theater “Blakytne Oko” were the result of the master’s fascination with the concepts of artistic synthesis, actualized in the era of Modern. Agafonov moved from dramatization of paintings (of A. Beklin, F. Malyavin, and O. Rodin) to staging experimental show-programs like “The Evening of Autumn”, “Visiting Pierrot” and “In the Middle of Nowhere”, partial reconstruction of which was undertaken for the first time by the author of the article. Agafonov was close to the idea of artistic synthesis, identified by him in F. Malyavin’s paintings, in V. Komissarzhevska’s theatre and I. Duncan’s choreography. The study of E. Agafanov’s theatrical art expands the understanding of the history of formation and development of Ukrainian scenography at the beginning of the twentieth century.