It is no secret that in Soviet times there was a fairly strict censorship, and therefore artists had to write "as it should be", that is, ceremonial portraits of leaders or extremely optimistic scenes from the life of ordinary people. But, on the other hand, there were many true masters of their craft, such as Alexander Deineka, Yuri Pimenov, Arkady Plastov, who managed to find their own unique style, and their best works did not resemble the standard Socialist Realist paintings.
Alexander Deineka. Bathers
Some "ordinary" artists, not so famous and favored by the authorities, went even further and painted anti-Soviet paintings, for which at that time it was quite possible to get, if not in prison, then in a hospital - well, overworked creative man at work, so let him lie down, rest in the appropriate institution and come to his senses. But even these risks could not stifle the understandable desire of artists to write what they considered really important, especially since each of them had personal motives. We will talk about the most famous anti-Soviet paintings in this article.
Egil Veidemannis. The Kremlin in winter.
Latvian artist Egils Veidemannis is famous for his paintings of Moscow and landscapes depicting the beauty of the Russian North. He participated in the Great Patriotic War, where he was severely wounded, then entered the art studio of WWII veterans, and in 1950 was admitted to the Union of Artists of the USSR. His career was successful, Veidemannis was a regular participant of various exhibitions, and he organized several personal exhibitions.
Egil Veidemannis. At the reservoir
But the memory of his unjustly shot father at the infamous Butovo polygon did not give rest. Tom just had the misfortune to work in the Latvian theater "Skatuve", and the Chekists suspected the workers of the theater in connections with German intelligence. Although it is difficult to find any justification for such mass shootings - over 20 thousand people.
Egil Veidemannis. "Butovo. Firing ground of the NKVD."
So Veidemannis wrote a picture about the events of those years, of course, not trying to publicize it in any way, but trusted friends and relatives surely knew about it. Later, already in the 90s, everyone learned about it. And the picture is really impressive - Veidemannis painted it in the spirit of expressionism, not particularly focusing on detail and external beauties - that's why it seems to be too simplistic, like a child's drawing. But this is not a subject where one should try to make something decorative, more important are sincere emotions and the feeling of inexpressible horror. The shooting itself for the firing squad resembles a monotonous and boring job, which is already boring both morally and physically. And this makes a truly oppressive impression.
Artist Nina Marchenko wrote a lot of interesting genre paintings. Some of them are quite capable of touching the soul, for example, the painting "Returned Childhood" shows how a soldier frees children from Buchenwald.
Nina Marchenko. Returned childhood
And this is a true hymn to life and freedom, an example of overcoming completely unimaginable circumstances. Perhaps, the artist embellished something and added drama, but who said that art should be strictly documentary?
In the 1970s, Marchenko painted sunny and optimistic pictures, which were really pleasant to look at - unpretentious, but very soulful genre paintings from rural life.
Nina Marchenko. "Gemini."
But since the mid-1980s, Marchenko has painted a series of openly anti-Soviet paintings. Some of them were devoted to forced collectivization and its tragic results - the famine of 1932-1933.
Nina Marchenko. "The Road of Sorrow."
The paintings make a strong impression - Marchenko very convincingly managed to convey the quiet horror of those years, when according to different data died from 1.5 to 8 million ordinary villagers. And it is impossible not to understand, not to forgive all those who were involved in this famine, as well as not to forget the tragic pages of our history.
There were many good things in the Soviet time, but there were also these tragic moments, and to turn a blind eye to them means to patronize all those guilty of them. And what do you think, whether it is worth raising such topics in the pictures - write in the comments.
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