THE BOLSHEVISM IDEOLOGY AND LEADER IMAGE IN THE SOVIET ART

Abstract

The article presents the evolution of the ideological complex of chiefdom in the ideology of the Bolshevik Party and the reflection of this idea in political posters, drawings, paintings dedicated to the leaders. The images were studied mainly by I.V. Stalin without connection with the evolution of the ideology of the Bolsheviks. The chronological framework of their works was limited to the years 1930-1950. The chronological framework of this study covers the period from 1917 to the early 1950s. The article examines the prerequisites for the emergence of the cult of the leader in the public consciousness after the February Revolution and in the ideology of the Bolshevik Party. In this ideology, the complex of leadership emerged gradually. At the beginning of his revolutionary activity, Lenin justified the need for leaders for the party. After coming to power in the country, Lenin characterized their role as dictators in the management of the economy. In the 1930s, Stalin came to the conclusion that in Russia the need for a leader lies in the traditional views of the Russian people. This idea was political realism and at the same time a departure from Lenin’s class position. During his lifetime and soon after Lenin’s death, artists presented his image in a friendly and humorous spirit. Later, his image in the visual arts is canonized, the cult of Lenin develops. Images of Stalin have undergone an even greater evolution. In the 1930s, the ideological complex of his cult was formed in literature and embodied in a number of works of fine art. The evolution of the image of the leader in the visual arts in the 1930s and 1940s followed the same path as the entire party-state ideology — from radical concepts and ideas to the revival of traditional ideas and images for Russia.

Keywords

• v.i. lenin
• joseph stalin
• revolution
• leadership
• poster
• ideology
• cult of personality
• image
• gesture