The Artists' Union of the USSR (russian: Союз художников СССР, translit=Soyuz khudozhnikov SSSR) was a

creative union Creative unions () in the Soviet Union were voluntary societies that united Soviet citizens according to their creative (artistic) occupations. They were similar to Soviet trade unions; more specifically, in Soviet ideology and law they were a su ...

of the Soviet

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

s and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

s embracing the

Republics A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The Union was founded started in 1932 to supersede the

AKhRR The Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (russian: Ассоциация художников революционной России, ''Assotsiatsia Khudozhnikov Revolutsionnoi Rossii'', 1922–1928), later known as Association of Artists ...

. The integral Union was instituted in 1957. By January 1, 1976, the Union included 14,538 members. In was officially disbanded at its 8th Congress in January 1992 after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, with its rights distributed over the corresponding unions in the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

History

Prior to the Artists' Union of the USSR, there existed the Union of Soviet Artists (Союз советских художников, ''Soyuz sovetskikh khudozhnikov''), which was founded by Alexander Grigoriev in Moscow in spring 1930. It included Moscow and Leningrad artists along with former members of the

. The first exhibition of the Union of Soviet Artists was held on 15 April 1931 in Moscow at the exhibition hall of the co-operative society Khudozhnik. The Union of Soviet Artists ceased to exist in 1932 following a government decision. Following the resolution "On the Restructuring of Literary and Artistic Organizations" by the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on 23 April 1932, unions of Soviet artists were established in the Union and autonomous republics, in krais, in oblasts, and in cities to supersede previous organizations. The first Congress of the Artists' Union of the USSR was convened in February–March 1957. In

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

they built the Central House of Artists which was opened in 1979.

Chairmen of the Artists' Union of the USSR

Konstantin Yuon Konstantin Fyodorovich Yuon or Juon (russian: Константи́н Фёдорович Юо́н; – April 11, 1958) was a noted Russian painter and theatre designer associated with the Mir Iskusstva. Later, he co-founded the Union of Russian Ar ...

- 1957–58 * Sergei Gerasimov - 1958–64 *

Boris Ioganson Boris Vladimirovich Ioganson (russian: Борис Владимирович Иогансон, – 25 February 1973) also commonly known as B. V. Johanson, was a Russian and Soviet painter and educator. Biography Ioganson was born on in Moscow ...

- 1965–68 *

Yelena Belashova Yelena or Jelena is a feminine given name. It is the Russian form of Helen, written Елена in Russian. Notable people called Yelena * Yelena Afanasyeva (born 1967), former Russian athlete who competed in the 800 metres *Yelena Vladimirov ...

- 1968–71 *

Nikolai Ponomaryov Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nik ...

- 1971–88 *

Valeri Sidorov The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

- 1988–1992

Notes

References

Soviet art Civic and political organizations based in the Soviet Union 1932 establishments in the Soviet Union 1992 disestablishments in Russia Arts organizations established in 1932 Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century Trade unions in the Soviet Union {{Art-org-stub