Editing Socialist realism (section)

=== Development ===
[[File:Kulturpalast Dresden Wandbild, Ausschnitt.jpg|thumb|Detail, ''Der Weg der Roten Fahne'', [[Kulturpalast (Dresden)|Kulturpalast]] [[Dresden]], Germany]]
Socialist realism was developed by many thousands of artists, across a diverse society, over several decades.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 17">Ellis, Andrew. ''Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920–1970''. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 17</ref> Early examples of realism in [[Russian art]] include the work of the [[Peredvizhniki]]s and [[Ilya Yefimovich Repin]]. While these works do not have the same political connotation, they exhibit the techniques exercised by their successors. After the [[Bolsheviks]] took control of Russia on October 25, 1917, there was a marked shift in artistic styles. There had been a short period of artistic exploration in the time between the fall of the [[Tsar]] and the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Shortly after the Bolsheviks took control, [[Anatoly Lunacharsky]] was appointed as head of [[Narkompros]], the People's Commissariat for Enlightenment.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 17" /> This put Lunacharsky in the position of deciding the direction of art in the newly created Soviet state. Although Lunacharsky did not dictate a single aesthetic model for Soviet artists to follow, he developed a system of aesthetics based on the human body that would later help to influence socialist realism. He believed that "the sight of a healthy body, intelligent face or friendly smile was essentially life-enhancing."<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 21">Ellis, Andrew. ''Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920–1970''. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 21</ref> He concluded that art had a direct effect on the human organism and under the right circumstances that effect could be positive. By depicting "the perfect person" ([[New Soviet man]]), Lunacharsky believed art could educate citizens on how to be the perfect Soviets.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 21" />

==== Debate within Soviet art ====
[[File:First Lenin statue in USSR 1924.jpg|thumb|First Lenin statue built by the workers in [[Noginsk]]]]
There were two main groups debating the fate of Soviet art: futurists and traditionalists. [[Russian Futurism|Russian Futurists]], many of whom had been creating abstract or leftist art before the Bolsheviks, believed communism required a complete rupture from the past and, therefore, so did Soviet art.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 21" /> Traditionalists believed in the importance of realistic representations of everyday life. Under [[Lenin]]'s rule and the [[New Economic Policy]], there was a certain amount of private commercial enterprise, allowing both the futurists and the traditionalists to produce their art for individuals with capital.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 22">Ellis, Andrew. ''Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920–1970''. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 22</ref> By 1928, the Soviet government had enough strength and authority to end private enterprises, thus ending support for fringe groups such as the futurists. At this point, although the term "socialist realism" was not being used, its defining characteristics became the norm.<ref>Ellis, Andrew. ''Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920–1970''. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 23</ref>

According to the ''[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]]'', the term was first used in press by chairman of the organizing committee of the [[Union of Soviet Writers]], [[Ivan Gronsky]] in ''[[Literaturnaya Gazeta]]'' on May 23, 1932.<ref>Социалистический реализм. In: Большая российская энциклопедия, 2015, pp. 75–753</ref> The term was approved in meetings that included politicians of the highest level, including [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 37">Ellis, Andrew. ''Socialist Realisms: Soviet Painting 1920–1970''. Skira Editore S.p.A., 2012, p. 37</ref> [[Maxim Gorky]], a proponent of literary socialist realism, published a famous article titled "Socialist Realism" in 1933.<ref name="Ellis, Andrew 2012, p. 37" /> During the Congress of 1934, four guidelines were laid out for socialist realism.<ref>Juraga, Dubravka and Booker, Keith M. ''Socialist Cultures East and West''. Praeger, 2002, p. 68</ref> The work must be:
# [[Proletariat|Proletarian]]: art relevant to the workers and understandable to them.
# Typical: scenes of everyday life of the people.
# Realistic: in the representational sense.
# Partisan: supportive of the aims of the State and the Party.