Russian Revolution at Royal Academy

I was very tired when I went to this exhibition.  I wanted to think about how politics affects how people are represented.

The first room was painted red - quite a political statement.  Communist ideals originally required artists to make art fora everyday life - to be interpreted by a widely illiterate audience.  At first this artwork was innovative - film, photos, graphic arts - and applied arts: ceramics and textiles.  With the new politics, old floral textile print blocks (from Paris) were destroyed as too bourgeoise, and new repeat patterns like red spinner and Five years in Four were created to fit with the Monumental Propaganda.

Red Spinner fabric, Golubev 1932

I felt the exhibition should have included a clear definition of the word Propaganda.  It comes from the verb To Propagate - i.e. to multiply by division.  It is not necessarily Governmental or corrupt!

Hammer and sickle flag was meant to indicate industry and agriculture were equal in Russian Society - except it was not - industry was valued hugely higher.  Images of Shock Workers - showed muscular leviathans who promoted strength of Russian Industry, when actually many people were killed in industrial accidents.  Food was rationed by a hierarchy system - half a loaf a day for 'workers', a quarter of a loaf for domestic people, and one sixteenth for dependents!

There was much diverse work for avant grade artists at first but soon the diktat was for art to be representational and fit the Government agenda of the Socialist Realism style.

As usual all the stuff that I liked, was not available in postcard format.