“Window to a lost world”: Carlton gallery presents scenes from the old Soviet Union

This month, Carlton’s Bridget McDonnell Gallery presents Scenes from the Old Soviet Union: Painting 1940-1980, taking a step back in time to the unfamiliar landscape of the USSR.

For the past 30 years, English art dealer John Barkers has been slowly accumulating Soviet art. Year by year, Barkers visited studios of professional artists painting throughout the USSR, carefully building a collection dedicated to tracing everyday life behind the Iron Curtain.

Now, Mr Barkers is visiting Melbourne, with Bridget McDonnell Gallery opening his collection up to public viewing while he is in the city in Scenes from the Old Soviet Union: Painting 1940-1980.

This evocative exhibition revolves around the average person – working, studying, and living amid the political turmoil associated with this era. City scenes and interiors capture daily life as the artists themselves saw it, acting as a “window to a lost world.”

“They are a record of a time that is gone forever – socialist realist artists painting society during the greatest social experiment of all time: the USSR,” Mr Barkers said.

Each painting included holds a quiet emotional depth conveyed via striking technical skill, capturing daily life with sensitivity to give voice to the average citizens hopes and anxieties.

A variety of famous names in the art world are included, with Vladimir Yarkin, Valentina Kharaborina, Galina Rumiantseva, Irina Kovaleva, Vladamir Kolesnik and Grigori Shponko all featured. Many artists featured trained at the USSR’s most respected academies.

As the name of the exhibition suggests, these works were painted between 1940 and 1980, with most having been unseen by anyone outside their country of origin. Today, these paintings are not just powerful works of art, rich in detail and atmosphere, but a rare chance to experience everyday life as shown by people who were there, living and working throughout this fascinating and unfamiliar landscape.

There is an opportunity to not just view but collect painting from this often-overlooked chapter of art history, remarkable for its craftsmanship, emotional resonance, and unique cultural insight, with this exhibition running until June 28.

Bridget McDonnell Gallery is located at 130 Faraday St, Carlton and is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm. •