See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

3 used & new from £228.07
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Dream Factory Communism: The Visual Culture of the Stalin Era
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Dream Factory Communism: The Visual Culture of the Stalin Era [Illustrated] (Hardcover)

by Max Hollein (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from £313.47 2 used from £228.07

Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Hatje Cantz; illustrated edition edition (29 Sep 2003)
  • Language German
  • ISBN-10: 377571328X
  • ISBN-13: 978-3775713283
  • Product Dimensions: 29.1 x 23.6 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 943,481 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4.0 out of 5 stars Soviet art: more the Brothers than Karl, 12 Mar 2004
By Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      

Boris Groys, one of the editors of this comprehensive survey of Soviet art sets the scene in his essay Utopian Mass Culture by writing 'The most intriguing aspect of Socialist Realism is precisely that no one liked it when it was being produced. This art satisfied no existing tastes, fulfilled no existing social demands. It was produced in the relatively firm conviction that people would come to like it when they became better people, less decadent and less corrupted by bourgeois values than they were at present'. Well, as we all know now, such fanciful notions eventually ended up in the wheelie bin of history.

The book examines the presentation of the visual arts in the Soviet Union in ten essays but the writing is very academic, not helped I thought, because the English text has been translated from German. These essays (and artists biographies, chronology and bibliography) form the bulk of the book rather than colour reproductions that I would have expected, there are only eighty-four of these in the main display section. The poster section though does have a wonderful showing of thirty-eight examples, fortunately not dominated by Lissitsky or Rodchenko, they only get one each.

Boris Groys is right to say that no one really liked this art, the paintings seem uniformly dull and uninspiring and I suppose this was only to be expected when the output of art was almost exclusively controlled by the Union of Soviet Artists. They decided who was in favor or out and I expect they would have been shocked to see the ironic visual language used in the paintings of Komar and Melamid, the leaders of the Sots Art movement in the sixties and seventies.

This will probably be the standard reference book explaining Soviet art, despite the small number of works shown (and why no index?) and is completely different to a similar book on communist creativity, 'Chinese Propaganda Posters' (ISBN 3822826197) by Michael Wolf. A huge coffee-table book of three hundred colourful posters portraying the bright future for the folks in Mao's China.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]

   

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject
















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

›More info on Wish Lists

  

Train Hard...Play Hard

Nike, Gola, Converse, and more
Gear up with up to 60% off athletic and outdoor shoes.

›Shop now

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates