4. Socialist realizm
English version | Wersja polska
Socialist Realism, compulsory in Poland from 1949 to 1956, was imposed by the communist authorities aiming to depict reality in an optimistic manner, show the construction of a “new and better world,” and the triumph of socialist ideology. The Socialist Realist doctrine, proclaimed in Poland in 1949, clearly defined the boundaries of what could be considered as art. Artists were obliged to create works that were meant to inspire the masses to work for the new system in the spirit and in accordance with the ideas of Marxism and Leninism. At this time, in 1950, as a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Andrzej Wróblewski founded a Self-Education Group, the members of which included, among others, Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Strumiłło, Witold Damasiewicz, Przemysław Brykalski. The group began the struggle to fully respect the principles of Socialist Realism. It was a spontaneous initiative fueled by the energy of youth in the attempt to respond to the reality of the time in an honest and authentic way. They intended to create art that would become an encouragement to working people by giving them hope and faith in a better future. Their goal was to portray socialism as an idea of brotherhood and equality giving each man a place and a chance for a decent life. This answer was, of course, unsuccessful. Despite fierce determination, the group was unable to realize such a vision in a political reality far from its presumed ideals, in which any attempt to go beyond a strictly defined framework was muffled. As a result, although Wróblewski's commitment to changing the nature of the Academy was significant, his naive faith in the new disposition of power quickly passed. The artist began to see that his understanding of Socialist Realism was definitely different from the rules and preferred solutions imposed by the system. In 1957 he wrote “Confessions of a Discredited Former Communist” in which he expressed his disappointment with the ideology.
He said: „Thus, neither ideologies, nor their common elements, possess anything that would have the character of a norm and could justify the disruption of the social functions of particular groups, the disruption of natural social conditionings, etc. There is no ideology, nor any element of an ideology, that could legitimise actions in conflict with the personal will of man – any substantial and generalised social endeavours could only be the result of the combined interests of the group and the individual.”
One of the most famous paintings of the Socialist Realist trend in Andrzej Wróblewski’s work is Break at Work in Nowa Huta of 1954. However, it is difficult to consider this painting as a faithful realization of the movement’s principles. The young workers aren’t represented in the process of achieving 300% of the norm but resting during a break. They are chatting, playing, flirting, reading newspapers. Nowa Huta - symbol of its times - a communist industrial city of the future, meant to become the epitome of modernity and progress, was the center of intense labor and construction of the new living conditions. In the 1950s it was a frequent subject of paintings which immortalized workers restlessly erecting new walls, sometimes even at night, under the light of streetlights, in the unceasing act of creating a new Poland. Wróblewski, subversively, represents the break – time off, that brief moment when life goes on beyond the duty of work. The artist shows people in a completely different light than the standards of socialist realism propaganda and portrays them as fully entitled and genuine participants in life with its joys and moments of respite. It's an approach taken but no one else at the time but Wróblewski.
Wróblewski has often been called a close observer of reality, a brutal realist, an uncompromising reviewer of the postwar, mutilated world. At the same time, the inner imperative to leave a convincing testimony to the unbearable present in painting did not allow him to miss any of its details; thus the gigantic legacy of meticulously recreated events from the daily lives of the artist, friends, family and the entire society submerged in trauma. Created with the skilled hand of the young artist, thousands of sketches, gouaches, drawings stopped the “here and now” of time, which for us today is a complicated story of the nation and individuals, caught up in the wheels of history. There is also a numerous group of grotesque works, full of a sublime sense of humor and lightness of wit, with a whole plethora of personalities, colorful characters, caricatures such as those presented in this room Mr. President, Limping, Enough to Make a Horse Laugh. The latter iconic composition is a work full of sarcasm and not devoid of bitter reflection on the reality of the 1950s. The title of the painting is an ironic commentary on socialist ideas and the new social order which were treated almost as sacred dogma. What was supposed to be sublime and noble is absurd and grotesque in the artist’s eyes and the very idea of communist equality, distorted by the experience of oppression, becomes the object of derision. The sense of humor used by Wróblewski is a natural outlet that can relieve tension in suffocating and unbearable times, but it is also a reminder that in the face of brutalities humor is only a bitter, temporary escape that does not change the reality.
Referring to Wróblewski’s subversion of Socialist Realism, Mieczysław Porębski wrote in a letter to Tadeusz Różewicz in 1962 as follows: “He was the only one who really wanted to do Socialist Realism. By the principle of provocation, anti-art, rejection, aggressive resignation. It could not catch. It was just as unnecessary and not in line as 'modern art.' Soon that too was over. Compromise wasn't needed either. What was needed was crap.”
