Propaganda in paintings, or about Russian battle painting in the past and today

The lecture is devoted to the theme of battle in Russian painting. From the “opening to the West” under Peter I, throughout the 18th century, and especially in the 19th century, battle painting in Russia played an important role. Artists were chroniclers of war campaigns, battles, propagandists of the empire and its conquests. The situation changed little after the fall of the tsar. In the Soviet Union, already in the interwar period, a group of painters-battalions was created, centered around Mitrofan Grekov. The Second World War and the times of post-war triumphalism caused a rapid development of battle warfare. Socialistic, propaganda canvases were an essential part of Soviet painting during Stalinist totalitarianism, but also later — until the collapse of the USSR. After Vladimir Putin came to power, this type of painting returned to favor and is again strongly supported by the authorities. In his lecture, Prof. Łukasz M. Sadowski will try to show how the martial arts function and develop in contemporary Russia, as well as how artists work and function in the propaganda machine, creating for the needs of the armed forces and state authorities.

dr Łukasz M. Sadowski, professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź: art historian (studies at the University of Lodz), Doctor of Humanities in History (PhD at USKW in Warsaw), lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts named after Włukasz M. Sadowski Strzeminski in Łódź, professor of this university. In the years 2011-2016 and again from 2020, head of the Department of Theory and History of Art. President of the Łódź Branch of the Association of Art Historians, member of the Association of Lovers of Old Arms and Colour since 1991.