The Story of Soviet Art: The 20th Century Movement Set to Rise

Art is how we tell the story of humanity to ourselves. It was the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, who wrote that "each period of culture produces an art of its own which can never be repeated." Yet, the story of Soviet art remains largely untold. It’s one shaped by resilience in the face of state control.

The early 20th century saw the rise of both the Russian Revolution, and Constructivism, an art movement which used geometric abstraction to represent a new vision of a socialist utopia. Early 20th-century Soviet art was as revolutionary as its politics, with artists seeking to combine the two.

But with Stalin’s rise to power in the 1920s, this freedom was crushed by the doctrine of Socialist Realism. Artists were ordered to produce idealised visions of Soviet dream - heroic workers and glorious leaders. Individual expression was abandoned for state propaganda. Socialist Realism became an artistic straitjacket.

After Stalin’s death, censorship loosened, but the Soviet art market remained virtually nonexistent. The state was the sole patron of art, leaving no room for a free market to emerge. There were no galleries competing for artists, no collectors driving demand, and no auction houses pushing prices up.

Yet even under these conditions, Soviet artists found ways to defy the regime. An underground movement known as the "Second Russian Avant-Garde" emerged in the late 1950s, continuing the legacy of early 20th century avant-garde artists like Kandinsky, Chargill and Rodchenko - but with a sharper edge, shaped by years of repression. Their art offers a rare glimpse into a society shaped by an ideology far removed from the West, capturing raw and unfiltered Soviet life beyond state-sanctioned stories.

Movements like Severe Style, with its raw portrayals of Soviet life, Nonconformism, which rejected official aesthetics altogether, and Sots Art, a satirical take on Socialist Realism, were defiant of state-imposed artistic norms. Artists like Ilya Kabakov and Vitaly Komar risked persecution, exile, or worse, to create some of the most striking and subversive works of the 20th century.

A defining moment was the "Bulldozer Exhibition" of 1974, where Soviet authorities bulldozed an unsanctioned art exhibition in Moscow’s Belyayevo forest. Avant-garde artists like Oscar Rabin, Alexander Melamid, and Evgeny Rukhin were among those targeted in the regime’s desperation to crush creativity. Lieutenant Avdeenko even shouted at the artists, "You should be shot! Only you are not worth the ammunition"

Even after the fall of the Soviet Union, decades of isolation left the world largely unaware of the depth and diversity of artistic expression that lay behind the Iron Curtain. But that is changing. In 2018, Sotheby’s held its second ever dedicated auction of Soviet nonconformist art. But, while Western art movements are well-represented in private collections and museums, Soviet artists had only one buyer in the USSR - the state.

Today, major Russian institutions like the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg hold the vast majority of Soviet art. The few Soviet artworks that can be found in Western galleries and collections, like The Norton Dodge Collection, were smuggled out of the USSR in the 1970s and 80s. 

Soviet art presents a rare opportunity for collectors. The historical significance and artistic merit of Soviet art offers an opportunity to acquire artworks at prices far below their Western counterparts. The art world is just now beginning to acknowledge the cultural weight of Soviet art. It stands as one of the most consequential and undervalued art movements of the 20th century.

Where to buy Soviet Paintings, Prints and Posters

When buying Soviet art, my advice is simple: purchase what you love, do your research, and buy from reputable sources. Here are the galleries I recommend.

1. COMRADE Gallery: COMRADE is the home of Soviet art. COMRADE started in 2018 with the purchase of a single poster in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2021, founder Stephane Cornille spent a year travelling across many of the former Soviet republics, meeting with artists and their heirs. The result is a collection of some of the finest Soviet artworks around. You can browse Soviet artworks here, or if you're interested in selling your collection, please get in touch here.

2. Gagosian: The most famous art dealer in the world and the son of Soviet Armenian parents, Larry Gagosian opened his first gallery for modern and contemporary art in 1980 in Los Angeles. Today, Gagosian employs more than three hundred people, and has nineteen exhibition spaces across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Visit Gagosian

3. Sovcom: Auction house and gallery, Sovcom specialises in Russian classical, Soviet and modern art. They have sold more than 50,000 artworks, although have not replied to any of my email enquiries. Visit Sovcom

4. Auction Houses: Major auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's occasionally hold Soviet auctions. In July, 1988, Moscow hosted a Western-style art auction. Organised by Sotheby’s, it would become the most controversial art event of the Soviet era. Their most recent auction of Soviet Nonconformist art was held in 2021. Visit Sotheby’s / Christies

5. Online Marketplaces: Platforms like 1stDibs and Artsy sell Soviet artworks listed by verified art dealers on their platforms. Visit 1stDibs / Artsy

Note: The absence of an established, independant domestic or international art market in the USSR sometimes makes it difficult to trace the provenance of many Soviet artworks. Please keep this in mind when buying from any of the above galleries.

COMRADE stands behind the authenticity of every artwork we sell. You can read more about our dedication to authenticity, our respect for the art community, and our commitment to keeping our customers’ trust here.