Collective Farm in Bloom

Колгосп у цвіту

Year1935

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions140 x 272 cm

LocationUnknown

Svitlytskyi's best-known Soviet-period landscape, a flowering orchard turned into an image of collectivised abundance only three years after the Holodomor. It shows how his lyrical light painting was recruited to the required optimism of the 1930s.

Image: reproduction sourced from art-catalog.ru. The work itself is in the public domain.

public-domain

About the Artist

Hryhorii Svitlytskyi

1872–1948

A Ukrainian painter and trained musician born and died in Kyiv, who studied under Murashko, Repin and Kuindzhi. Nicknamed the 'Poet of Moonlit Nights,' he was a lyrical landscapist and in 1946 became the first People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

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Movements

Social Realism

Social Realism is an international art movement—spanning painting, photography, literature, and film—that emerged in the mid-19th century and peaked in the 20th century to expose the harsh socio-political conditions of the working class. It functions as a critical, unidealized depiction of poverty, labor struggles, and structural inequality to challenge power structures. Key Characteristics and Context Purpose: To draw attention to the everyday hardships of the poor and working classes, often functioning as a critique of capitalist, industrial, or governmental systems. Origin: The movement grew from 19th-century French and Russian realism, reacting against romanticism and bourgeois art styles. Resurgence: It thrived between the World Wars and during the 1930s Great Depression, particularly in the U.S. and Mexico, focusing on themes of labor, community, and resilience. Style: It emphasizes subject matter over form, often using a descriptive, gritty, and direct visual language.

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Also part of

Impressionism

Related Works

1910

Winter

A small early-period winter landscape, consistent with his lyrical landscape work.

1910

Spring Night

BEST SUBSTITUTE for the requested «Місячна ніч.

public-domain

1912

Musicians

A group of hired village musicians, painted by an artist who was himself a professional violinist and composer. With To the City and On Earnings it belongs to the socially attentive strand of his pre-revolutionary work.

public-domain

1915

Moonlit Night

Captioned on the source page as «Лунная ночь.

public-domain