Ideology of Expressiveness in the Post-War Ukrainian Sculpture

Abstract

Aim. The study reveals the new facts about intervention of the ideology of socialist society into the creative process of Ukrainian sculptors during the post-war era. During this period, the style, later became known in the art history as the socialist realism, came to dominate in the main areas of art—sculpture, fine art, and graphics. One the objectives of the research was illustrating the forcible intervention of ideology in the creativity of Ukrainian artists of the period. Methodology of the study employs historical-logical, comparative methods, and interviewing. The sources in the previously classified archives allowed to discover little-known facts and to analyze the modes of behavior of the artists in non-free society. Scientific novelty of the research is providing a better understanding of the processes taking place in the circle of Ukrainian plastic artists during the 1940s to the 1960s. The article presents the real picture of artistic and social aspects of life of the sculptors in the Ukrainian SSR. Conclusions. The style labeled as socialist realism, which the sculptors ought to follow, was in fact almost photographic naturalism with the tendency for literary descriptiveness and theatricality. The teachers at the departments of sculpture expected students to create large-scale works, thus directing the young generation towards monumental sculpture. Such large, sometimes enormously large works later on would be commissioned for big and small cities. Ideological control played the main role in creating sculptural images. There were many multi-figured sculptural compositions produced, however, their number still did not match the number of multi-figured paintings. The party line prevailed over the artistic quality. The main and only figure for sculptors to depict was a Soviet hero. And since such hero was also depicted in the other fields and genres of art (fine art, literature, music, cinema and theatre), it could be safely said that Ukrainian sculpture of the period pursued the Soviet ideological path. The myth about the leading role of the party policy, forcibly introduced by the party ideologists, did not leave sculptors space and opportunities to create some other images. Socialist realism was considered to be the one and only style, supported by the society.