Red Paint Collections

Red Paint Collections An on-line and pop-up gallery for socialist realism and revolutionary art from the former Soviet Uni

Thinking of Ukraine. "Liberation of Kharkiv”Vsevolod Parchevsky1965155 cm x 270 cmOil on canvas This piece is very simil...
05/03/2023

Thinking of Ukraine.

"Liberation of Kharkiv”
Vsevolod Parchevsky
1965
155 cm x 270 cm
Oil on canvas

This piece is very similar to a previous piece by the artist; "Defenders of Stalingrad," which was painted in 1950. Notably, this piece, although similar in storyline is not focused on Stalingrad but Kharkiv. It is also notable that "Defenders of Stalingrad" was painted in 1950 during Stalin's reign. In 1953 Stalin passed away and was replaced by Khrushchev who set about consolidating his position and unwinding much of the Stalin legacy including the "rehabilitation" of the Chechen nation--and turning Crimea over to the Ukraine SSR in an effort to improve relations between Ukraine and Moscow. As part of the thaw between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian artists gained some respite and in the late 1950s and 1960s were able to paint more "Ukrainian" topics, perhaps leading to Parchevsky's "Liberation of Kharkiv." The battle for Kharkiv was actually four battles; 1941, 1942, February 1943 and August 1943. Given the depiction of Soviet forces attacking the city, Parchevsky is likely referring to the fourth battle of Kharkiv in August 1943. Soviets refer to this battle as the Belgorod-Kharkiv offensive operation in which Soviet forces liberated Kharkiv from the Germans for the final time. Also, the summer uniforms and vegetation support the notion of a summer operation.
-Kharkovoffensiveoperation

Homeward bound after a quick trip to the mid century modern mecca that is Palm Springs.
01/29/2023

Homeward bound after a quick trip to the mid century modern mecca that is Palm Springs.

Straight from Shanghai. A closer look at the latest acquisitions.
01/21/2023

Straight from Shanghai. A closer look at the latest acquisitions.

With artist Song Ruxin (1946- ) in his home/studio in Yan'an, sometime between 2000-2005. I first met Song in 1999 while...
12/09/2022

With artist Song Ruxin (1946- ) in his home/studio in Yan'an, sometime between 2000-2005. I first met Song in 1999 while researching for a documentary film. He introduced me to his work, much of it produced during the second half of the Cultural Revolution.
Song told me that at that time art was produced for the sake of the party. Years later when the Yan'an Art Studio was being renovated, he recalls going dumpster diving to save as many pieces as he could--pieces that had sat well into the post Cultural Revolution period. That art is the foundation of the Masses Art Collection, our most prominent collection here at RP.

From the Masses To Masses Art CollectionSong Ruxin (1946-)“Song of Hoes”March 1974Woodblock print. Produced towards the ...
12/07/2022

From the Masses To Masses Art Collection

Song Ruxin (1946-)
“Song of Hoes”
March 1974
Woodblock print.

Produced towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, this piece depicting workers from Yan’an is unframed and has never been exhibited outside of China. Unlike most of Song’s other woodblock prints from this period, it is notable that he indicates that this is no. 8 of 20. It is very likely that he made the notation years after they were created.

SONG RUXIN (1946- ) Yan’an, China“Picking up the New Movie” early 1970swoodcut, 21” x 31”This print depicts the film bri...
11/23/2022

SONG RUXIN
(1946- ) Yan’an, China

“Picking up the New Movie” early 1970s
woodcut, 21” x 31”

This print depicts the film brigade that is responsible for distributing propaganda films around the commune, an activity often undertaken by urban intellectual youth that were “sent down” to the countryside to live and work with the peasants.  The architectural style is typical of the northern Shaanxi yaodong (cave home) that peasants lived in and the young man’s white headdress indicates that he is a local peasant while the two young girls wear more modern clothes typical of the urban youth sent to the countryside.

SONG RUXIN (1946- ) Yan’an, China “Come Back” 1971 woodcut, 24 1/4” x 20 3/8” Song’s woodcut depicts an older peasant wa...
11/13/2022

SONG RUXIN (1946- ) Yan’an, China
“Come Back” 1971 woodcut, 24 1/4” x 20 3/8”
Song’s woodcut depicts an older peasant walking arm-in-arm with a young intellectual youth. They are returning from a conference on Mao’s Colleted Works held for activists. Both wear buttons commemorating the event. Song illustrates the close relationship between the urban intellectual youth “sent down” to the countryside and the rural peasants of Shaanxi. The government sent youth to the countryside in the early 1960s to be rusticated and promote Mao’s socialist ideology. A second wave of “sent down” youth occurred in 1969 at the height of the Cultural Revolution.

It isn’t social realism but this photo exhibit of industrial structures shot between the 1960s and 1980s in black and wh...
09/10/2022

It isn’t social realism but this photo exhibit of industrial structures shot between the 1960s and 1980s in black and white was really interesting.

Close up: “Portrait of an Army Friend,” name unknown.The third of nine portraits of fellow Soviet Ukrainian soldiers pai...
04/20/2022

Close up: “Portrait of an Army Friend,” name unknown.
The third of nine portraits of fellow Soviet Ukrainian soldiers painted by their comrade in arms and Ukrainian artist A. Kurennoi during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
1942-1945
7” x 5”
Oil on Cardboard

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