Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Brion, Katherine
Area of Concentration
Art History
Abstract
Since 1851, international exhibitions have impacted millions with their awe-inducing splendor and gigantic displays of cultural and technological innovations. The 1937 iteration stands out from the crowd for the strong political implications of its displays as World War II loomed in the future, especially the tense confrontation between the German and Soviet Pavilions. This thesis considers how the U.S.S.R. used this event as an opportunity to propagate an idealized image of itself to the rest of the world via Vera Mukhina’s Industrial Worker and Collective Farm Woman, which crowned the Soviet pavilion. It more specifically examines how this sculpture functioned as propaganda that supposedly demonstrated the successful modernizing Russian state. It also highlights the way in which Mukhina drew on Classical iconography to suggest the U.S.S.R.’s rightful place among Western democracies, in spite of the harsh repression and brutal purges conducted under Stalin.
Recommended Citation
De Zotti, Cecile "C", "MODERN ART AS PROPAGANDA: VERA MUKHINA'S SOVIET PAVILION SCULPTURE AT THE 1937 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION" (2022). Theses & ETDs. 6215.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6215