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Metadata
Artist |
Aslamazian, Mariam |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Collective Farm Abundance |
Date |
1962 |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Dimensions |
34 x 54 in. (86.4 x 137.2 cm) |
Accession Number |
3009.0.0 |
Credit line |
Acquired from Grosvenor Gallery/Sevenarts Ltd. |
About This Work |
Mariam Aslamazian’s bright, vividly colored still life, Collective Farm Abundance (1962), idealizes the bounty of the Soviet collective farm, known as kolkhoz. Although the saturated colors, flattened space and decorative motifs of the painting reflect the influence of Western modernists, such as Matisse and Cézanne, the content is typically Soviet. Aslamazian conformed to the official style of the day—Socialist Realism, an approach that championed Soviet ideals and goals in the 1930s and 40s, and was more experimental in terms of form, color and perspective in the many still lifes in the style of Collective Farm Abundance that she executed in the 1950s and 60s. Strict Socialist Realist works commonly depicted such subjects as robust workers tending to collective farms, monumental portraits of Vladimir Lenin or Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, or Soviet achievements in education and technology, among others. While her subject matter was in line with Soviet ideology, the freedom evident in her later style may have resulted from a 1930s Stalinist slogan that was applied to artists in the non-Russian republics, such as Armenia, where Aslamazian was from: "socialist in content but national in form." For Aslamazian and earlier avant-garde artists who worked in a modernist idiom, the vocabulary of modernism that shared qualities with what was understood as naïve or folk art was tolerated and was a way to circumvent limitations of Socialist Realism. Aslamazian never faced criticism for her painting style and enjoyed a successful career in the Soviet system, earning recognition through official channels. She also received funding to travel internationally throughout her life. While travel was extremely restricted for most citizens, individuals, like athletes, scientists, writers, and artists, who represented Soviet achievements, were sent abroad as ambassadors of Soviet culture. From the Eastern Bloc to the Bronx: Early Acquisitions from the Art Collection, May 5-August 25, 2019, exhibition label. |
Search Terms |
Grosvenor Gallery |
Legal Status |
The artist or artist's estate retains all copyrights to their work. |