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FIRST STEPS IN MASTERING SOCIALIST REALISM: THE COLLECTIVE WORKING METHOD 1945-1955 (Pirmie soli socialistiska realisma apguve: Kolektiva darba metode 1945-1955)

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Konstante I.

Makslas Vesture un Teorija

2009

vol. 12

86-93

On 13 October 1944 Riga once again became the capital of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR). The political re-education of artists who now had to comply with tenets of Socialist Realism was resumed with new vigour. In 1934 the classical definition of the term was voiced at the 1st All-Union Writers' Congress - 'a truthful reflection of life in its historical and revolutionary development, national in form and socialist in content'. A wide gap opened up between normative idealisation and reality, involving a xenophobic opposition to Western art and literature LSSR Art Academy denounced apolitical, meaningless works which were to be replaced by 'true events from the life of the socialist country'. In 1950 the Artists' Union attempted to introduce team-work which had been known in the USSR since the start of collectivisation and socialist production. There were already numerous examples in Soviet art. The first collective work by Latvian artists was the decoration of the LSSR pavilion at the All-Union Agriculture Exhibition. Competitions were announced in 1951 and many teams were created as there was much interest in artists' circles with intrigues and fierce passions. However, when it came to the submission of sketches the number of approved artists declined significantly. Pathetic gestures in easel painting were far removed from the dramatic effect they attempted to convey and teams were unable to merge their approaches. Even if co-operation went smoothly, the outcome was far from satisfactory. Collectively created works sometimes emerged in later periods of Soviet art but they were no longer dictated by the state but by the artists' desire for commissions and solving some artistic problems more successfully.

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1 Makslas Vesture un Teorija

1 Konstante I.

1 2009

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FIRST STEPS IN MASTERING SOCIALIST REALISM: THE COLLECTIVE WORKING METHOD 1945-1955 (Pirmie soli socialistiska realisma apguve: Kolektiva darba metode 1945-1955)