HISTORY OF MODERN ART IN EASTERN EUROPE - I

LIFE HAS BECOME HAPPIER…
THE GREAT ILLUSION: ART, ARCHITECTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY AND CINEMA IN STALINIST RUSSIA

The main course objective is to provide the basic tools for understanding the aesthetics of Socialist Realism and its two functions: propaganda and the creation of “bright future” myth. The figurative culture of the Stalinist period will be considered as a whole, with particular attention to figurative arts, architecture, photography and cinema in the in the USSR.
Knowledge: the development of Socialist Realism in the USSR will be examined chronologically, from the 1920s until the death of Stalin. Different media will be considered, including: plastic arts, architecture, cinema, graphic design and photography.
Communicative skills: each student will be able to clearly communicate and substantiate the contents of the course.
Critical skills: each student will be able to critically evaluate the historical evolution of Russian art in the period under study and to identify representative works of different artistic trends not only in terms of historical period, but also of characteristic features.
Outcomes: the learning outcomes will be assessed by an exam.

None

The course module will provide a chronological overview of the emergence of Socialist Realism in the USSR since its origins, with a focus on its most representative artists and artworks.
1. The October Revolution and the birth of the USSR
2. The 1920s and the end of the avant-gardes
3. 1932 and the birth of Socialist Realism
4. The greatest spectacle in the world: the palace of the Soviets and paper architecture
5. Life has become happier: Stalin’s wonderful world in painting, graphic design and film
6. USSR-Hollywood: true stories of fake photographs

Notes from the lessons

AA. VV., Realismi socialisti: grande pittura sovietica 1920-1970, Milano, Skira, 2011.

Barbieri G., Burini S. (eds.), Russie!Memoria/Mistificazione/Immaginario. Arte russa del 900 dalle collezioni Morgante e Sandretti, exh. cat., ed. Terra Ferma, Vicenza, 2010.

Benjamin W., L'opera d'arte nell'epoca della sua riproducibilita tecnica. Arte e societa di massa, Einaudi, Torino, 2000, pp.17-56.

Bonnell V.,Iconography of Power. Soviet Political Posters under Lenin and Stalin, University of California Press, Berkeley,1997.

Burini S., Realismo socialista e arti figurative. Propaganda e costruzione del mito, "Esamizdat", 2005 (III) 2-3, pp. 65-85

Golomchtok I., Il realismo socialista nelle arti palstiche, in Storia della letteratura russa, vol III, Einaudi, Torino 1991, pp 33-42, 725-736

Golomchtok I., Le arti plastiche sovietiche dal 1945 ai nostri giorni, in Storia della letteratura russa, vol.III, Einaudi, Torino, 1991, pp 725-36;

Groys B. , Lo stalinismo ovvero l'opera d'arte totale, Garzanti, Milano 1992.

Piretto G., Il radioso avvenire. Mitologie culturali sovietiche, Einaudi, Torino 2002

Piretto G. Gli occhi di Stalin, Raffaello Cortina Editore, MIlano, 2010

The slides commented in class are available in the Teaching material (Materiali ISA) of the instructor's page.


Bibliographical integrations for NON-ATTENDING students:

AA.VV., Art and power.Europe under the dictator 1930-45, Oktagon, London, 1995.

King D., The commissar vanishes, Henry Holt and Company, New York 1997

Golomstock I., Arte totalitaria, Leonardo, Milano, 1990

Tumarkin N., Lenin Lives. The Lenin Cult in Soviet Russia, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1997?

written

Non-attending students may sit the exam based on the bibliographical integrations indicated above by the instructor
The exam consists of three open questions and the identification of three artworks.
Incomplete answers will result in a fail grade.

Lectures with projected images and screening of movies.
Lectures by guest scholars

Italian

Paintings and images commented in class are available in the Learning Materials section (Materiali ISA) of the instructor's page.

• Lecture notes, material for reference or for self-assessment available online or as e-book