Since art tend to have subjective value, what was the art market like in the Soviet Union. Would you basically "queue" for art and then be forced to live with what you got? Could people buy art from dealers with any extra rubles they had?
The planned economy interests me and I'd love to know how there artistic goods were handled in the Soviet Union.
In a sense, yes.
Art in all its forms was controlled by the government in funding, education, censorship, etc. The first iteration was the All-Soviet Committee of Art since 1936 (Власть и художественная интеллигенция. Документы. 1917-1953 / Составители Андрей Артизов и Олег Наумов) that transformed into the Ministry of Culture in 1953.
The following were part of the domain of the Committee (and then the ministry):
The last 2 were related to the rest of the list, not national manufacturing and logistics.
So, art was officially very much part of the planned economy.
Here’s my crappy translation of Lenin’s quote:
“Art belongs to the People. It should lead with its roots into the thickness of the laboring masses; it should be understood by these masses and loved by them. It should reflect the feelings, thoughts, and will of these masses and to elevate them. It should awaken in them the artists and develop them.” The main goals of Soviet Art are to “serve the people, defend the common goal of the struggle for Socialism and Communism, carry the truth to the People, and birth in them their creative beginnings”. (V. I, Lenin, On Literature and Art).
There were various movements that were supported by the government, including the well-known Soviet Poster Art, Avant Garde, Socialist Realism, Soviet Graphic Art, etc.
However!
There were several movements of unofficial and non-conformist art that were forced out of public artistic life by various censors due to their political and ideological noncompliance. A notable incident occurred in 1962, when Khrushchev visited an Avant Garde exhibition of the “New Reality” studio. After walking through several rooms, Khrushchev commented
“What are these faces? What, you can’t draw? Even my grandson can draw better! What is this? Are you men or pederasts, how can you paint like this? Do you have any morals“?
He raved and raged against abstract and formalist art and pretty much pushed it underground.
Another notable incident was the “Bulldozer Expo” in Moscow in 1974. Artists held an open air gallery show, which was raided by the authorities that employed water cannons and bulldozers. This received some coverage in Western press as well - http://agora8.org/pulsepro/data/img/gallery/Kmb-ch1/4bulldozer.jpg
As far as the average citizen buying art, it wasn’t as complex as you may imagine. Mass consumption art (like an oil painting of a vase) was fairly easy to obtain. There were no galleries to sell art like there are in the US, but you could go to a market and buy a painting, either from a reseller or the artist directly (both an artist within the system, and an outsider). Price was negotiated. It’s oddly similar to how you’d buy an original painting in NYC on the street. But we’re veering away from history and into personal experience here.
