Wystawa "100 lat realizmu w sztuce polskiej" w Akademii Sztuk Pięknych ZSRR w Moskwie (1952) w kontekście polsko-radzieckich stosunków kulturalnych w latach 1949-1955

Abstract

The article analyses the exhibition named „100 lat realizmu w sztuce polskiej” [100 Years of Realism in Polish Art] at the Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow in 1952 and its reception in the artistic environment of USSR in the context of Polish-Soviet artistic relations in 1949–1955. The exposition, prepared by the Committee of the International Cultural Cooperation with and the Ministry of Culture and Art, consisted of the Polish art of the 19th century and the art of a few previous years. It was supposed to present to the Soviet party the progress of the implementation of Socialist Realism in Poland on the basis of the Soviet example and Polish tradition of realistic art. However, the implementation of the scheme deviated from the official declarations due to both including in the exhibition the turn of the century, as well as presenting the issues of modernism and the selection of modern pieces, resulting from the specific emphases in the cultural policy of the time. The contemporary department was composed of pieces of artists from the ‘Sopot School’, combining in its art the Socialist Realism doctrine with elements of colourism. Opening the method onto elements of the Impressionism tradition was dictated by a need to break the deadlock which the Polish art found itself in soon after the 1st OWP. The exhibition caused a reaction in the environment of Soviet critics and artists, exposing differences in attitude towards art in the two countries, which, in the conditions of the political dominance of USSR, had been deepened further with time, impinging on the artistic relations dynamics.