I (Don’t) Feel Ashamed for the Great State. Soviet Reception of Vasily Vereshchagin

Abstract

The article examines the reception of Vasily Vereshchagin’s art during the Soviet era. Art history texts, historical documents, and speeches by party officials adopt a rational approach to his work, enabling us to trace the development of the Soviet cult of Vereshchagin. A different type of “recycling” of his art can be found, for example, in the famous eastern/ostern movie “White Sun of the Desert.” This form of reception is largely automatic, instinctive, and hidden. The article explains why Vereshchagin became one of the most important and difficult figures for the Soviet appropriation of Russian 19th century art. Among his contemporaries, Vereshchagin was arguably the only artist who openly identified as a realist and even published an article titled “Realism.” However, in the same text he explicitly expressed his rejection of socialism, although, in the 19th century, realist art arose in alliance with leftist political ideas. Therefore, the inclusion of Vereshchagin in the Soviet pantheon of realism necessitated some falsification of his views. Another key aspect of Vereshchagin’s art — namely, his successful service to the imperial, military and foreign policy interests of the Russian state —is also very ambiguous. While loyalty to a monarchical state was discouraged in the Soviet era, Soviet apologists for Vereshchagin were fascinated by his pro-state ideas.