Russia's Rich Cultural Heritage

Russia's rich cultural heritage represents the best of human creativity. Its literature, music, visual and performing arts and architecture are among the most profound, compelling and beautiful expressions of the human spirit.

Much of this rich heritage is well known in the United States, such as the writing of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, the music of Peter Tchaikovsky, Serge Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky, the painting of Ilya Repin and Vassily Kadinsky, the architecture of the Kremlin and State Hermitage Museum and the dance of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Less well known in this tradition of creativity is the painting of the Russian Impressionist period, lasting from approximately 1930 to 1980. Russian Impressionism made an important contribution to the cultural heritage of Russia, but until recently, little has been known of its beauty and quality and its leading artists because of Soviet isolationism. During this period much of the cultural life in the Communist Soviet Union was denied Western exposure. The demise of Communism, the lifting of the Iron Curtain and the movement towards freedom and democracy of the newly formed Commonwealth of Independent States has allowed the world the opportunity to experience a unique and important historical past through the art work.

It is now being collected and recognized by art historians, museum directors, curators and collectors as some of the best art produced in the twentieth century.

The Russian Vision

Impressionists in Russia celebrated the common people, depicting their lives, hopes, dreams and emotions in an intimate manner. Instead of incorporating twentieth century western artistic innovations, artists focused deeply on land, people and the new social experiment founded in Mother Russia. Their art was meant to enrich the lives of all people.

As V. Kostin wrote:

"We want our art, like the art of the classics, to evoke excitement and love, so that in it people will find an immense vitality of theme, a true mastery of form, force and beauty. Our painting must be rich, sonorous, varied. It must speak of the fate of human beings, their struggles, their remarkable aims. It must assist the birth of great human consciousness, great ideas and strong emotions."

There are three primary stylistic branches: Classical - Most literature characterize this painting mode as Soviet academy art. This smooth and low-keyed manner is what we generally believe Soviet art to be like, but in fact this aspect of it might be the least significant. This method produced the smallest number of paintings, though several important artists worked in this style, which held greater influence before the 1950s. Working-Class Impressionism - This gestural manner was typical for most Soviet painters. As it was positive and accessible to the masses, it tended to be the most effective Socialist Realist mode. The window to this world, covers a range of subject matter that includes bucolic vistas and industrialized scenes along with sensitive portraits and still life's. Many of the works glorify the common laborer: steel workers, farmers, milkmaids, builders and loggers. Others depict landscapes, family and social life and a few portray political figures. It reached its zenith during the 1950s and 60s. Rough or Severe Style - Sometimes called ugly or schematic realism, in a sense it was a revival of Modernist elements melded into a generally Realist format imbued with a socialist statement.

Intellectual and Stylistic Influences

Stylistically, Russian Impressionism was deeply influenced by many of the characteristics of French Impressionism, including a sense of freedom, spontaneity and vibrant emotion, using heavy brush strokes, light palette, plein aire style and bold color, all translated into a strong, purely Russian sensibility. Depictions of the laboring peasantry by French artists Francois Millet and Gustave Courbet as well as the works of Eugene Boudin and Edouard Manet also influenced the subject matter of Russian Impressionism. Emotionally and intellectually, it grew out of the reactions of Tolstoy, Mussorgsky, Repin and other influential artists to the political upheavals of nineteenth century Czarist Russia and the deplorable living conditions of the common people. A comparison can be drawn to the development of French Impressionism in which the subject matter and style of Courbet, Millet, Manet and other early Impressionists was influenced by social and political upheaval in Western Europe. The result is an increasingly valuable and collectable genre created by outstanding Russian Impressionists. This body of work carries forward the rich cultural heritage of Russia in a style that is historically significant, original in composition and form and beautiful in its depiction of the human spirit.

— Vern G. Swanson, PhD

Russian Treasures

Until the last decade, Russian Impressionist art was unknown to even the most seasoned collectors and art historians. The art, dating from 1930-1980, was virtually unknown outside the Soviet Union. It wasn't until Perestroika in the early '90s that Westerners discovered its beauty. Given the opportunity now to examine these special paintings, some may be put off by the appellation "Socialist Realism." It conjures up visions of stiff and moribund art that glorified Mother Russia.

A careful look at the images, however, challenges such assumptions.

The artists were sheltered from Western modernism. Initially they were influenced by 19thcentury French Impressionism. Ultimately they developed a new genre. Uniquely Russian in subject, style and execution, this brand of Impressionism dominated the Soviet art scene for five decades. It yielded one of the most inspired and significant bodies of 20th-century art. Striking sensitivity and expression, our gallery artists captured the souls of a people striving to redefine themselves in an era of great optimism. Whether through the toils of labor, the unadorned beauty of everyday life, or the strength and resilience of her people, Russian painters from the mid-'30s until the mid-'80s left an indelible impression. Dr. Vern Swanson, leading authority on Russian art, called it "the 20th century's leading school of realistic art." In the late 1980s Jim Dabakis, John O'Brien and Alex Dimitriev recognized the artistic and historic merits of Russian Impressionism. They were pioneers in bringing the art to world attention. As owners of the Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery, along with Thomas McCarthey, they have established an international reputation as a source of superior quality Russian Impressionist paintings.

Now, as Russian Impressionism passes through the sales rooms of Asia, Europe and North America and finds its way into the world's museums, the Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery is proud to present some of the world's finest examples of Russian Impressionist paintings.

— Thomas Kearns McCarthey

Additional Articles

• “Soviet Socialist Realism in Utah” - Fine Art Connoisseur  October 2007 
• “Why is Russian Art Hot”-  Fine Art Connoisseur February  2006  
• “The New Art Czar”- Departures Magazine, May 2008  
• “Soviet Artistic Training and Patronage”  
• “Concerning Socialist Realism: Recent Publications on Russian Art” 
• “Yuri Kugach” – LA Times  
• “Russian Art Goes Boom,”  RA Magazine  
• “The return of Socialist Realism” – St. Petersburg Times