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Abstract:

Despite radical changes in everyday life, the estate and dacha locus in the literature and art of Socialist Realism was very stable. The analysis of a large number of easel paintings has shown the persistence of the tradition of depicting both the dacha-complex created by I.I. Brodsky and the dacha-landscape setting developed by S.Yu. Zhukovsky. Artists reproduced these compositional decisions, building a mode of engagement in which the viewer could identify with both the tenant and the guest of the dacha. Also, the art of Socialist Realism, as illustrative, followed the literary narrative of both actual and possible adventures at the dacha, which was served by the utmost asymmetry and opacity of the composition. This adventurous element served to idealize the dacha and to embed it in an educational Soviet project that demanded a healthy life- style. At the same time, the type of inhabitant of a large dacha and estate was perfectly shaped in this art: it was usually a writer or artist who determined the functions of the house and thus the modes of use and emotional treatment of the house.