Rouge Art Et Utopie Au Pays Des Soviets 1917-1953

Exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, 20 March - 1st July 2019

In 1917, October Revolution caused an overturning of social principles, the repercussions of it being decisive for artistic creation. Numerous artists joined the Communist project and wanted to be part through their works to the building of a new society.
But from the end of the 1920s, Stalin led to the progressive instauration of Socialist realism, aesthetic doctrine which regulated all the fields of creation.

In Western Europe, notably in France, Germany and Italy, these debates were followed with attention: multiple artistic exchanges began with the Soviet Union, attracting artists and intellectuals curious to discover the "fatherland of Socialism", while Soviet artists showed their works in Paris, Berlin or Venice.

Through major works coming from great Russian museums and from the Centre Pompidou, this catalogue illustrates this period of politization of art and its place in the society.