A SEMIOTIC READING OF HYPERREALISM IN THE SOVIET UNION: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SOVIET URBANSCAPE IN THE 1970S AND 1980S AS A NEW FORM OF CRITICAL REALISM by MARIA CRISTINA MORANDI A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School – New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Art History written under the direction of Professor Jane A. Sharp New Brunswick, New Jersey October 2019 ©2019 Maria Cristina Morandi ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Semiotic Reading of Hyperrealism in the Soviet Union: the Representation of Soviet Urbanscape in the 1970s and 1980s as a New Form of Critical Realism By MARIA CRISTINA MORANDI Dissertation Director: Jane A. Sharp In the 1950s and 1960s, the Western-established dichotomy between style and ideology, embodied by modernism and realism, was dominant. This dichotomy tended to suppress, marginalize or ostracize realism in the Soviet Union by reducing it to the leftist political project. This dissertation presents a critical reassessment of realism in the Soviet Union by challenging its representation as a monolithic phenomenon through the analysis of hyperrealism in the 1970s and 1980s. My analyses of Ando Keskküla, Jaan Elken, Semyon Faibisovich and Sergei Sherstiuk’s hyperrealist artworks, based on Yuri Lotman's semiotic theory of culture, show the influence on their artistic production of the social and cultural system of signs of the Soviet society, as displayed in architecture, means of transport, and housing, along with the artist’s personal agenda. Rather than the idealized conditions promoted by official doctrine, these artists adopted a unique strategy to subvert the predominant Socialist realist political rhetoric by representing the actual ii conditions of decay and collapse of Tallinn and Moscow’s urban environment as a powerful metaphor for the existential condition of alienation and seclusion experienced by the population in the last years of the Soviet era. While Keskküla, Elken, Faibisovich, and Sherstiuk remained committed to a figurative style they also tested and broadened the boundaries of realism, by breaking its rules through means and visual strategies which included the concepts of mimesis, original creativity, the artists’ agency, use of quotation and technical reproduction. In doing so, they problematized the discourse on the perception of reality in a totalitarian society, while introducing a critical third way distinct from the socialist realism and the formalist praxis of non-conformist artists of their time. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii List of illustrations iv Introduction: Framing the cityscape: Hyperrealism in the Soviet Union 1 I. The Dialogue Between Photography and the Artist’s Agenda in Hyperrealist Painting 12 II. Methodology 21 II.1 A Semiotic Approach 21 II.2 The City as a Reflection of the Soviet Society 23 II.3 The Artistic Precedents: Peredvizhniki and Surovyi stil 32 II.4 Socialist Realism and Hyperrealism: Points of Contact and Divergence 36 III. The position of Hyperrealism within the Second Avant-Garde in the 1970s and 1980s 44 Chapter One: An Introduction to Hyperrealism’s Historical, Artistic and Social Context 51 1.1 The Development of Realism in Russia 55 1.1.1 The Critical Realism of Peredvizhniki in the 19th Century 55 1.1.2 The Birth of Socialist Realism: Lenin's Theory of Reflection 60 1.1.3 Socialist Realism From the 1930s to the 1950s 64 1.1.4 The Thaw as a New Cultural Phase, and the period of Stagnation 72 afterwards 1.1.5 The Official Art of the 1950s: the Surovyi stil 79 1.2 The Non-Conformist Art Sphere 87 1.2.1 The Russian Non-Conformist Movements in the 1960s 89 1.2.2 From Conceptualism to AptArt: the last phase of the Soviet Non- Conformist Movements 95 1.2.3 Introduction to Estonia's Historical and Cultural Background 102 1.2.4 The Estonian Avant-Garde in the 1960s – 1970s 108 1.3 The development Soviet Urbanscape from the 1950s to the 1970s 117 1.3.1 The Concept of the City as a Semiotized Space 122 1.3.2 The Raising of Mikroraions 127 1.3.3 Everyday Life in Soviet Suburbs 131 1.4 The New-Soviet Photography in the 1960s-1980s 137 Chapter Two: Four Urban Painters 145 2.1. Hyperrealism in Estonia in the 1970s 147 2.2. Ando Keskküla’s Intellectual Approach to Tallinn’s Urbanscape 159 2.3. Jaan Elken’s Personal Dialogue with Tallinn’s Architecture 172 2.4. Hyperrealism in the 1980s in Soviet Russia 180 2.5. Sergei Sherstiuk: A Look Behind the Curtain of Soviet Domestic Life 184 2.6. Semyon Faibisovich’s Hyperrealism with a Human Face 200 2.7. Conclusions 212 Chapter Three: Ando Keskküla and Jaan Elken: The Representation of 214 Tallinn’s Urbanscape as an Abandoned and Alienated Space 3.1 Ando Keskküla’s Metaphorical Realism 222 3.2 The Representation of the Loss of “Estoniana” by Sovietization in Jaan 246 Elken’s Hyperralism Chapter Four: Sergei Sherstiuk and Semyon Faibisovich: A Window on the 270 Russian Byt in the 1980s 4.1 Sergei Sherstiuk: The Presence of the State’s Control in Soviet Apartments 281 4.2 Semyon Faibisovich: The Intersubjectivity Between Individuals and Public 305 Space in the Soviet Society in the 1980s Conclusion 335 Bibliography 347 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Semyon Faibisovich, After Work, 1986. 2. Georgii Kichigin, Still Life with Sink, 1981. 3. Romanas Vilkauskas, Interior X, 1981. 4. Jaan Elken, Väike-Õismäe, 1981. 5. Ando Keskküla, Construction, 1976. 6. Semyon Faibisovich, Outskirts, 1984. 7. Jaan Elken, On the Corner of Koidula and Leineri Street, 1978. 8. Ando Keskküla, Evening, 1975. 9. Sergei Sherstiuk, Come In!, 1982. 10. Vasili Perov, Commissary of Rural Police Investigation, 1857. 11. Ilya Repin, Bargemen on the Volga, 1870-73. 12. Viktor Popkov, Builders of Bratsk, 1961. 13. Aleksandr Smolin, Polar Explorers, 1960. 14. Pavel Nikonov, Geologists, 1962. 15. Semyon Faibisovich, Line Up For the Wine at Last, 1987. 16. Semyon Faibisovich, In the Line For Vodka, 1990. 17. Yury Pimenov, New Moscow, 1937. 18. Georgy Nissky, Under the Muscovy, 1958 19. Viktor Popkov, Interior, 1962. 20. Valerian Loik, Port of Tallinn in Winter, 1963. 21. Leonhard Lapin, New Skyline of Tallinn, 1978. 22. Sirje Runge, Proposal For the Design of Areas in Central Tallinn, (details), 1975. 23. Ando Keskküla, Industrial Interior, 1976. 24. Jaan Elken, No Title, 1978. 25. Jaan Elken, Tartu Highway in the Evening, 1981-82. 26. Semyon Faibisovich, Double Portrait of the Artist at Work, 1987. 27. Semyon Faibisovich, In the Adjacent Subway Car, 1985. 28. Ivan Kramskoi, Inconsolable Grief, 1884. 29. Nikolai Yarosenko, Life is Everywhere, 1888. iv 30. Ilya Repin, They Did Not Expect Him, 1884-1888. 31. Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible Killing His Son, 1885. 32. Vasily Petrov, F.M. Dostoevsky , 1872. 33. Nikolai Yarosenko, The Stoker, 1878. 34. Sergei Gerasimov, A Kolkhoz Celebration, 1937. 35. Fyodor Shurpin, The Morning of Our Motherland, 1948. 36. Aleksandr Laktionov, The New Apartment, 1952. 37. Pavel Nikonov, Our Working Days, 1960. 38. Tahir Salahov, Repairmen, 1960. 39. Viktor Ivanov, Family. 1945, 1958-1964. 40. Pavel Nikonov, Meat, 1960-61. 41. Oscar Rabin, Barrack with Moon, 1959. 42. Oscar Rabin, Moscow Building n. 150,1963 43. Oscar Rabin, Rubbish bin No. 8 , 1958. 44. Mikhail Roginsky, Kerosene Stove 1-2-3, 1965. 45. Eric Bulatov, Krasikov Street, 1977. 46. Komar&Melamid, Our Goal is Communism, 1972. 47. Eric Bulatov, Danger, 1972. 48. Kaljo Pollu, Memories, 1968. 49. Aili Vint, Sunset, 1969. 50. Malle Leis, Three Boxes, 1967. 51. Leonhard Lapin, Poster For the Exhibition SOUP’69, 1969. 52. Andres Tolts, Ando Keskkula, Poster For the Independent Student Work Exhibition, 1968. 53. Aleksandras Macijauskas, Village Market n. 55, 1972 – 1984. 54. Aleksandras Macijauskas, In the Veterinary Clinics, 1977 – 1994. 55. Antanas Sutkus, People of Lithuania, 1970-1985. 56. Vitas Luckus, In Bashkiria, 1981. 57. Zenta Dzividzinska, Untitled VII, 1968. 58. Boris Savelev, Metro Girl, Moscow, 1985. 59. Boris Mikhailov, Untitled, 1978. v 60. Kristjan Teder, Estonian Landscape, 1947. 61. Sagrits Richard, Autumn, 1954. 62. Jaan Elken, Tallinn. Kopli Depot, 1982. 63. Ando Keskküla, Still Life with View of the City, 1976. 64. Jaan Elken, In the Kalinin District, 1978. 65. Ando Keskküla, A Lighting at the Construction Site, 1978. 66. Harku 1975, exhibition view. 67. Tõnis Vint, Mandala House, 1978. 68. Jaan Elken, Men's Section, 1980. 69. Tõnu Virve, Estonian Woman, 1975. 70. Lemming Nagel, Radio and Shadow, 1975. 71. Heitti Polli, Mother and Child, 1975. 72. Ando Keskküla, Kuiv Tanav, 6A I, 1978-80. 73. Ludmilla Siim, Radio Building, 1970. 74. Ludmilla Siim, In the City Center, 1973. 75. Juri Palm, The Flow of Lights, 1973-74. 76. Ando Keskküla, Northern Estonian Landscape, 1974. 77. Ando Keskküla, Beach, 1976. 78. Ando Keskküla, Summer Still Life, 1975. 79. Jaan Elken, Triumphal Arch with Pobeda, 1981. 80. Jaan Elken, Upstairs, Downstairs, 1978. 81. Sergei Geta, Women, 1983 82. Sergei Bazilev, Doll, 1983. 83. Sergei Sherstiuk, Look Who is Here!, 1982. 84. Sergei Sherstiuk, Hey, We are Waiting for You!, 1982. 85. Sergei Sherstiuk, Islands, 1982. 86. Sergei Sherstiuk, The Flash, 1983. 87. Sergei Sherstiuk, The Man of One Family 1941, 1985. 88. Sergei Sherstiuk, The Man of One Family 1945, 1985. 89. Sergei Sherstiuk, The Poet, 1984. 90. Sergei Sherstiuk, The Television Set, 1983. vi 91. Sergei Sherstiuk, Oleg, 1983. 92. Sergei Sherstiuk, Lola, 1983. 93. Semyon Faibisovich, Garbage Dump Next Door #1, 1987. 94. Semyon Faibisovich, Garbage Dump Next Door #2, 1988. 95. Semyon Faibisovich, Garbage Dump Next Door #3, 1988. 96. Richard Estes, Telephone Booths, 1967 97. Semyon Faibisovich, Lobnia Station, 1985. 98. Semyon Faibisovich, Boy,1985.