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From Thaw to Meltdown: Soviet Painting of the 1950s-1980s

Examining themes of industrial work in Soviet painting of the 1950s-80s, this exhibition demonstrates the profound and lasting transformations that took place in society after Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. The decades following WWII saw a gradual relaxation of the tight ideological restrictions previously imposed by the Communist Party on the minds of Soviet citizens. The recognizably Stalinist painting aesthetic— highly idealized and formulaic—gave way to a more diverse thematic environment. In Soviet museums and galleries, politically loaded depictions of idealized socialist heroes were exhibited side-by-side with candid portraits of laborers taken from ordinary life. The approximately fifty-five works on the Main and Mezzanine levels—drawn from the collection of Raymond and Susan Johnson—exemplify the dramatic range of artistic styles and the evolution of artistic development as the Soviet Union advanced slowly towards oblivion.

Date(s): February 25, 2012 to September 15, 2012
Time(s): See website
Location:
Main and Mezzanine Galleries
5500 Stevens Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55419
USA
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Price: $7.00
Contact phone: (612) 821-9045
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