1. Socialist Realism and Communist Propaganda
Lenin Art
Socialist Realism and Communist Propaganda

2. Socialist Realism
Artistic and literary doctrine of political censorship in the Soviet Union.1
"Socialist Realism is art that is realistic in form but Socialist in content.” --Aleksandr Gerasimov
1932- Party disbanded existing artistic organizations and set up party-led unions for individual art forms.2
After Stalin’s death, artists began to have more freedom.3

3. Lenin leading the Bolshevik Revolution by Mikhail Fedorovich Kholuev ( ) and Ludmila Sergeevna Manevich (1943- ). (Oil on canvas, 150 x 310 cm, 1973).

4. Lenin with the Marines by P. Mishchenko (1918- )
Lenin with the Marines by P. Mishchenko (1918- ). (Oil on canvas, 130 x 180 cm, 1971)

5. Lenin Speaking in Red Square Galina Alexsandrovna Neledva (1938)
Lenin Speaking in Red Square Galina Alexsandrovna Neledva (1938). (Oil on canvas, 130 x 180 cm, 1965)

6. Peasant's Dinner Lenin by Vladimir Fedoseevich Yatstenko (1915- )
(Oil on canvas, 127 x 144 cm, 1960)
“Painted shortly after Stalin's death, the painting depicts hope and rising expectations. Both old and young people are gathered around the table sharing a meal. This was the traditional way of propagating the ideals of communism.” --Visser

7. “Showing Lenin in this very romantic painting with two young friends as they strolled in nature is the highest level of propaganda. Such a man clearly could do no harm to others.” – Anne Visser
Fishermen by Nikolai Mikhailovich Shelyuto (Oil on canvas, 135 x 180 cm, 1959)

8. Lenin in the Park by Viktor Grigorevich Sevastianov (1923- ) and Mikhail Konstantinovich Poplavsky ( ). (Oil on canvas, 100 x150 cm, 1954)

9. Lenin on Park Bench

10. “Lenin is no longer depicted as a leader
“Lenin is no longer depicted as a leader. Rather he is shown relaxing with like any bourgeois family man. He no longer is the center of focus in the scene as all eyes are fixed on the young violinist. It's like the artist is trying to show Lenin as an outsider.” --Visser
The Musicians by Vyacheslav Vasilevich Tokarev (1917- ) (Oil on canvas, 120 x 160 cm, 1970)

11. Mikhail Khmelko: Greeting the First Cosmonaut Back to Earth (1961)Sketch for Greeting the First Cosmonaut, Iurii Gagarin, on his Return to EarthSource: Matthew Cullerne, ed.: Soviet socialist realist painting s. Oxford: Museum of Modern Art

12. References
1 A. Visser: Lenin in Art: The History of an Illusion, The Romanticism of Art After Stalin's Era ai142_folder/142_articles/142_lenin_art.html
D. Elliot: Socialist Realism. The Dictionary of Art. Vol
D. Elliot: Socialist Realism. The Dictionary of Art. Vol