Astrid Weguelin
Choosing a particular period from 1750 to the present, in what ways has illustration responded to the changing social and cultural forces of that period? The direction of movements in art has always reflected greatly on the dynamics of society at the time, either by embracing the changing culture or reacting against it. The rise of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia had an enormous impact on the direction of art, due to the desire of the state to strive towards a fairer system for all. Nicholas II who conducted a society that involved a huge disparity between the poor and the rich, where the poor were deprived of education and had very little rights, ruled Russia, before the revolution. This spurred on Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, to start campaigning ideas of Marxism which spread through the working class people and started an uprising – the Bolshevik Revolution. Once Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin came into power, he began the start of communism, a society where everyone would work together towards a collective, what was made in industry and farming produce, was then shared out between everyone – it was a much fairer system and hugely beneficial for the working class. This uprising was evident in the art beginning to be created, figurative art was rejected; and anything before the revolution was dismissed as ‘decadent bourgeois art’, artistic types sought to create a new visual language that illustrated the new political regimes being brought into place. During the revolution, and then the civil war following, the art movement of constructivism came about. Constructivism aimed to abolish any personal feeling and emotion from the art and approach it more scientifically, with a certain detachment from the work so to then work together with fellow constructivists to create pieces that would help contribute to society such as; architecture, fashion, theatre, film and design. Those involved in this movement rejected the idea of art for arts sake, which was primarily made to be bought and sold to the rich or displayed in galleries; constructivism was essentially art for the people that also reflected the political turmoil at the time. Often artists who were part of this movement widen their practise into architecture, furniture building, fashion; they would use their sketches to plan out constructions. Two pioneers in this movement were Aleksandr Rodchenko and Lyubov Popova; they experimented with design using their earlier abstract, geometric paintings, which in turn influenced new ideas of constructivist architecture. One example of these constructivist sketches is Popova’s ‘Study for Space Force Construction’ 1921 [1] which at first glance appears to be just a collection of straight and curved lines arranged on a page, and brings a sense of instability to the piece but it also has a certain heaviness and depth to it which suggests that it is a construction design, adding purpose to the sketch. Russian architect Nikolai Ladovskii described constructivism as a ‘combination of organised material elements according to a specific plan for the attainment for force effects…without superfluous materials and elements’ [Defining Constructivism pg.18] which I think relates well to Popova’s piece which appears to be of a thought process, and uses her materials solely for what they are needed for rather than also adding colour, texture etc. which was considered ‘mere decoration’ [Tate 2009] by many constructivists. Popova stated that “all the experiments shown [in the sketches] are pictorial and must be considered only as a series of preparatory experiments for concrete constructions” 1921. She was using art as something with a purpose to then create off the canvas, which shows how she, and many others at the time, were looking into architectural and three-‐dimensional designs. The lines are drawn with such mechanical accuracy and strength and there seems to be a definite indication of movement upwards, off the page which suggests it might be a piece that towers above; but also I feel that it mirrors the aims of constructivism – to continually strive up and out for a new vision.
Astrid Weguelin The up rise of the revolution therefore meant that the arts had to similarly respond to society in a way that too was revolutionary, this brought about a new found recognition and focus on the functionality of materials. It also led to the rejection of bourgeois ideas of composition as it was considered subjective and too personal to the artist, also abandoned was the traditional notion that emotion and the meaning behind them should dictate pieces of art, and that the materials used are there only to communicate these said feelings. Instead it was agreed on that the material is what manipulates which direction the piece takes, this is clearly seen in Rodchenko’s series ‘Black on Black’ 1918 [2]. It is a series of very visually strong pieces which is due to how Rodchenko approached the work by eliminating all colour and instead directing his attention to the surface of the canvas and how it is altered after the application of paint, but also the different versions of black and how the paint reacts with different light, so that the painting becomes much more physical and interactive with the world surrounding it. The paint is applied in a range of different ways which in turn draws attention to the differing quality of the surface, for example the smooth sweeping, intense black in the curve is clearly contrasting with the more roughly applied, scratchy texture of the background. Rodchenko moved on from drawing and painting free hand, deeming delicate brushwork and expressive drawing skill a thing of the past that can only really be used in traditional figurative art where it is needed to recreate objects from our world. Instead he tuned to using mechanical devices; ‘the brush became an insufficient and imprecise instrument in the new, non-‐ objective painting, and it was crowded out by the press, the roller, the ruling pen, the compass’ [Rodchenko 1921]. By mechanically applying the paint to this series he gives the piece a certain ‘industrial impersonality’ [Rachel Aspden 2009] which detaches itself completely from traditional views that art should be emotional, it pushes away from any theories about what the meaning behind piece might be and directs to contemplation about the material in the piece and what it might be constructed in to. Constructivism also followed the new ideology of gender equality; which was led by the Communists – women were granted complete economic, political and sexual equality to men following the November Revolution of 1917. It became one of the first times in history where female artists were regarded and valued the same as men; it was considered the ‘art that transcended gender differences’ [Tate 2009] This new found vision drew artists together to collectively create something that is progressive and innovative, that will also be beneficial for everyday life. This new way of thinking was not limited to the arts; it progressed into politics where the Bolshevik party used the constructivist/suprematist geometric style in propaganda posters. Artist Vladimir Mayakovsky said “Art must be everywhere – on the streets, in trams, in factories, in workshops, in workers apartments” [King 2012 pg.6] and this was done through the art in the posters. Those involved had plenty of firsthand experience of what life was like at the time, the posters captured the feeling of the people – how desperate they were to progress, revolt against the past and progress onto something more innovative. They were used to encourage people to carry on throughout the Civil War, for example in El Lissitsky’s famous piece ‘Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge’ 1920 [3]. It is related more to the suprematism movement rather than the constructivist; which is focused more on using geometric forms to depict artistic feeling rather than objects, whereas constructivism utilises the art into something more, suprematism is an anti-‐utilitarian philosophy and uses the art forms to convey feeling. The poster is seen as an illustration of the revolution; the big red wedge being the Bolshevik’s ‘Red Army’ and it is piercing into the heart of the anti-‐communist forces, or the ‘White Army’. The colour scheme is very symbolic in this piece; the red being the colour of
Astrid Weguelin communism as well as the colour of the revolutionary people, the black surrounding the white circle being the out-‐dated, nationalistic ideals that are now being overthrown by the red revolts who strive for a more progressive state, who are backed by the white background on the left which suggests the promise of a bright future for the communists. The positioning of the red triangles and the white circle being pierced on the right of the page gives the sense of movement from the reds; it creates the vision of war. Propaganda posters often involved figures alongside determined, striving quotes; encouraging people of revolt, but Lissitsky’s piece is non-‐figurative and composed in a simple yet dynamic way, which made it accessible to everyone as there was a huge drop in literacy rates during the Civil War. Many artists during the revolution turned to creating posters, informing the world about what was going on ‘it may well be said that the first years after the revolution, the poster was the main or at least the most necessary art form. It was journalism in pictures’ [Guerman 1979 pg 89]. During the years of the Civil War from 1918 to 1921 was when most of the posters were being produced, ‘over two hundred poster artists and designers sympathetic to socialism created an avalanche of political posters’ [King 2012 pg.6] it was thought that over 3200 posters were printed and stuck up around Russia during this time, much of which were torn down but the persistence of those supporting the Communists was strong so the message continued to be spread around. Organiser of propaganda art Vyacheslav Polonsky stated “the poster is a weapon of mass persuasion, a device for constructing a collective psychology” [Guerman 1979 pg.7] the posters told a story which came from first hand experience from the artists, they were all experiencing the hostilities of the cold and famine that the Civil War brought with it and used this to encourage people to still have faith in the ideals of Communism. This idea of encouraging the people to keep working together is clearly seen in Dmitri Moor’s poster ‘Death to World Imperialism’ 1920 [4] Lenin believed Imperialism to be the highest form of capitalism, and being a communist he was strongly against the idea of domination of people over other people. Imperialism was occurring all around the world, economies were being monopolised leaving nothing for the workers, who were in turn being exploited by the dominant economical powers. Communism follows that the people should be able to work together to manufacture produce which is then shared out between everyone, so Lenin believed that the up rise of the Revolution in Russia would encourage workers in other countries experiencing this unfair system to break out and also revolt. So this poster is depicting this incentive, the intimidating green serpent is personifying the idea of imperialism as it wraps itself around the industrial factories. The imperialist serpent wants to exploit the workers and take all the produce made, for itself. This takes up the majority of the poster, but down at the bottom is the most effective part as it depicts the workers all uniting together to fight this beast ‘staged as if it were the grand finale of some fabulous opera’ [King 2012 pg.8], there are only 6 workers shown in the illustration but the use of the red (being the colour of the revolutionary people) curving around the back of the serpent gives the sense that there are many more workers unseen who are preparing to fight. It is a promising poster with an underlying sense that the workers are determined to win, and is encouraging the idea that they may have to stick together and help fellow workers abroad in this situation. Writer Victor Schlovsky wrote ‘the city lived, it burned with the red flame of Revolution’ [Schlovsky in Guerman 1979 pg12] which I think is very relevant to the work created during this time; though it was a period of desperation, the posters helped stimulate hope among the people. The Revolution posters became essential for keeping record of what life was like, as once Stalin came into power in the mid 1920s after Lenin passed away, the ideals of communism and what the
Astrid Weguelin revolution stood for started to become corrupted. Stalin became paranoid about another revolution breaking out with aims to overthrow him, he became obsessed with power and turned the state into much more of a dictatorship; which had a huge effect on the arts. Stalin started what was called the ‘personality cult’, where he took control of what people were allowed to read, write, learn; he revised parts of recorded history that painted him in a bad light and he even controlled what art they could create, and those who challenged him were severely punished. The style of architecture, which during the revolution was some of the most innovative and radical architecture that had ever been created, but was reduced back to neoclassicism, and the only art approved, was Socialist Realism. Stalin completely rejected constructivism deeming it decadent, as it was non-‐representative art. Socialist Realism was very traditional, figurative art; Stalin used it as a form of propaganda by pushing artists to paint Russia in a very idealistic way that also presented him in an admirable light. Even this art form came with many limitations being that it could not contain anything erotic, surrealist, expressionist, abstract or religious as it would be counter-‐revolutionary or the proletariat (the workers) would not be able to make sense of it. This drastic change in the arts is evident in Boris Vladimirski’s ‘Roses for Stalin’ 1949 [5] which depicts a heroic looking Stalin standing on a beautiful hill top surrounded by children gazing admirably up at him. It has been painted with very soft, non-‐ expressive brushstrokes in a romanticised, idealistic fashion, where the luscious green setting presents Russia in a very alluring manner. The colour scheme is also important, with Stalin all dressed in white, presenting him as rather angelic which became notably common during the personality cult, as Stalin began commissioning towering statues and paintings to be made of him which depict him as dominant and God-‐like. The children gathered around him are positioned in a way that arouses appreciation and pride in their leader, which is ironic as many of their parents would have been around for the Revolution and would have expected an entirely different outcome from it, not a state that involved so much restriction and censorship on freedom and creativity. During the Revolution most of the art created was filled with the colour red, being the colour of communism, and of the people; there are still hints of it in this painting so to still communicate the original ideals of communism but not nearly to the same effect. ‘Roses for Stalin’ is a typical socialist realism piece with no meaning or aim behind it other than to encourage a love for Stalin and for Russia. In conclusion, I feel it is evident how much of a radical effect the Russian Revolution and the Civil War had on art and creativity in general during that historical period, only to be brought back and restricted 20 years later. Socialist Realism was the art of Russia, there was a slight ease on the restrictions after Stalin’s death in 1953 but it wasn’t until 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union, that the people were free of this censorship on creativity. The work created during this creative period I find to be so fascinating and innovative; it is a tragedy how easily it was to wash out such ground-‐ breaking new visions an force people back into place. However it is clear, from how the Soviets reacted to the brief introduction of freedom, that art is integral to our way of life, it is needed for people express themselves as well as being essential for historical documentation, learning, informing and progressing into new visions of society. “We had visions of a new world, industry, technology and science. We simultaneously invented and changed the world around us. We authored new notions of beauty and redefined art itself” [Rodchenko 1928] even though the movements of constructivism, suprematism etc. were short-‐lived, it definitely did have a notable effect on how we view art today, how all the creative paths can link together and how art can be used to bring people together through the use of propaganda.
Astrid Weguelin Bibliography REFERENCES Aspden, R 2009, ‘Constructing a New World’, NewStatesman 22nd January http://www.newstatesman.com/art/2009/01/rodchenko-‐popova-‐artists-‐ red?quicktabs_most_read=1 (Accessed 9th January) Cohen, JL. and Lodder, C. (2011) Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915 – 1935, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd King, D. (2012) Russian Revolutionary Posters: From Civil War to Socialist Realism, From Bolshevism to the End of Stalinism, London: Harry N. Abrams Guerman, M. (1979) Art of the October Revolution, Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers Tupitsyn, M. (2009) Rodchenko and Popova: Defining Constructivism, London: Tate Publishing ONLINE SOURCES The Tate. 2009. Rodchenko and Popova Defining Constructivism Exhibition [Online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-‐on/tate-‐modern/exhibition/rodchenko-‐popova (Accessed 10th January 2014) MoMA, the Collection. Alexandr Rodchenko [Online] (Updated 2014) Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78848 (Accessed 10th January) Design is History. El Lissitzky [Online] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/el-‐lissitzky/ (Accessed 18th January 2014) A Soviet Poster a Day. Death to World Imperialism [Online] (Updated 2009) Available at: http://sovietposter.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/death-‐to-‐world-‐imperialism.html (Accessed 20th January) The Socialist Party of Great Britain. Russian Imperialism [Online] (Updated 2014) Available at: http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-‐standard/1940s/1948/no-‐524-‐april-‐1948/russian-‐ imperialism (Accessed 18th January) UofC Performance. Stalin, Socialist Realism, and Heart Attack [Online] (Updated 2014) Available at: http://uttaps.wordpress.com/actor-‐prepares/stanislavski-‐stalin-‐meyerhold-‐a-‐tale-‐of-‐two-‐or-‐three-‐ russians/stalin-‐socialist-‐realism-‐and-‐heart-‐attack/ (Accessed 20th January) Case, H 2013, ‘The Tyrant as Editor’, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7th March, http://chronicle.com/article/Stalins-‐Blue-‐Pencil/142109// (Accessed 20th January) IMAGES [1] Study for Space Force Construction 1921 MutualArt.com, http://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Ljubov-‐Popova/87EB6A44D0A0F99C/Artworks (Accessed 10th January)
Astrid Weguelin [2] Black on Black 1918 MoMA, US, http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78848 (Accessed 10th January) [3] Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge 1920 WikiPaintings, http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/el-‐ lissitzky/beat-‐the-‐whites-‐with-‐the-‐red-‐wedge-‐1920 (Accessed 18th January) [4] Death to World Imperialism 1920 tumblr, http://robinwinters.tumblr.com/post/4031855851/death-‐to-‐world-‐imperialism-‐1920-‐by-‐d-‐moor (Accessed 20th January) [5] Roses for Stalin 1949 UofC Performance, http://uttaps.wordpress.com/actor-‐ prepares/stanislavski-‐stalin-‐meyerhold-‐a-‐tale-‐of-‐two-‐or-‐three-‐russians/stalin-‐socialist-‐realism-‐and-‐ heart-‐attack/ (Accessed 20th January)
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