Introductory description

This module will survey the artistic and cultural production in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union from1880 to the 1930s, focusing, in-depth, on the post-revolutionary years of 1917-1925. The course will examine the interplay between art, politics, and society during this transformative period, highlighting the impact of revolutionary ideologies, rapid industrialisation, and cultural policy on artistic output.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Introduction: A Revolution in Culture
2. Critical Realism: The Academy and its Artist Rebels
3. Anarchism & Abstraction
4. Suprematism: From Studio to Home to Street
5. The Constructivist Line
6. Class Trip: Avant-Garde books in the British Museum
7. Into Production! Textile & Clothing Design
8. Photomontage, Photography, Factography
9. Architecture & Agitation
10. Socialist Realism: Art under Stalin

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of key works of art produced in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union between 1880 and 1936.
• Examine the historical context of the Russian Revolution, the underlying factors which led to the collapse of the Imperial dynasty, and the guiding ideologies of the Bolshevik regime.
• Evaluate the relationships between relevant artworks and the changing cultural policies of the Imperial, early Soviet, and Stalinist regimes.
• Compare and criticise the different methodological and theoretical approaches that scholars have developed to interpret the visual culture of this period.

Indicative reading list

Blakesley, Rosalind, The Russian Canvas: Painting in Imperial Russia 1757-1881 (Yale University Press, 2016)

Buchloh, Benjamin, ‘From Faktura to Factography’, October, 30 (Autumn 1984): 82-119.

Brunson, Molly, Russian Realisms: Literature and Painting, 1840–1890 (Cornell University Press, 2016)

Bowlt, John. Russian Art of the Avant-garde: Theory and Criticism, 1902-34 (Viking Press, 1976).

Bowlt, John, Russia's Silver Age: Moscow and St Petersburg, 1900-1920 (Thames and Hudson, 2010)

Glebova, Aglaya, Aleksandr Rodchenko: Photography in the Time of Stalin (Yale University Press, 2023)

Gough, Maria, The Artist as Producer: Russian Constructivism in Revolution (University of California Press, 2005)

Gurianova, Nina, The Aesthetics of Anarchy: Art and Ideology in the Early Russian Avant-Garde (University of California Press, 2012)

Johnson, Samuel, El Lissitzky on Paper: Print Culture, Architecture, Politics, 1919–1933 (University of Chicago Press, 2024)

Kiaer, Christina, Collective Body: Aleksandr Deineka at the Limit of Socialist Realism (University of Chicago Press, 2024)

Kiaer, Christina, Image No Possessions: The Socialist Objects of Russian Constructivism (MIT Press, 2008)

Lodder, Christina, Russian Constructivism (Yale University Press, 1983)

Perloff, Nancy, Explodity: Sound, Image and Word in Russian Futurist Book Art (Getty Research Institute, 2016)

Romberg, Kristin, Gan's Constructivism: Aesthetic Theory for an Embedded Modernism (University of California Press, 2019)

Sharp, Jane A., Russian Modernism Between East and West: Natalia Goncharova and the Moscow Avant-Garde (Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Taroutina, Maria, The Icon and the Square: Russian Modernism and the Russo-Byzantine Revival (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018)

Interdisciplinary

This course content will provide interdisciplinary overlap for students in the departments of History and Modern Languages and Culture.

Subject specific skills

1. Historical Contextualisation
   Ability to situate artworks within the political, social, and cultural changes of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union (1880–1936).
   Understanding how revolutionary ideologies shaped artistic movements during this period

2. Visual Analysis and Critical Interpretation
   Developing skills to closely analyse artworks and interpret them via a range of methodological approaches

3. Historiographical Awareness
   Evaluating how different scholars have interpreted the art of this period and region across time. Understanding the impact of Cold War ideologies on the study of revolutionary art in Western and Russian scholarship.

4. Archival and Source Analysis
   Developing the ability to analyse primary sources, particularly artist’s manifestos

Transferable skills

1. Critical Thinking and Analysis
   Evaluating complex relationships between art, politics, and society, fostering the ability to assess diverse perspectives. Synthesising information from multiple sources to form coherent arguments.

2. Research Skills
   Conducting in-depth research using a variety of sources, including primary documents, scholarly texts, and visual materials. Developing the ability to identify reliable information and assess its relevance to specific topics.

3. Written Communication
   Crafting clear, structured, and persuasive written arguments. Marshalling evident effective in support of a specific position

4. Visual Literacy
   Interpreting visual materials to extract meaning, a skill relevant to media analysis, marketing, and design.

5. Time Management and Organisation
   Balancing research, reading, and writing deadlines effectively.