This book, which covers new ground, is a study of high and low art, official and unofficial, in the Soviet Union and the West in the Cold War years, 1945–62. It is a paradox that the Soviet Union, a nation born of revolution, should have encouraged 'official' art which was conservative and conformist, whereas Western Europe, and the USA in particular, should preach traditional values, but have a high art which spoke of dissent. Other curious contradictions and parallels emerge—Soviet 'official' art was predominantly realist in style and popular with the general public, as were popular prints in the West. Both have largely been ignored by the western art establishment. It is the unofficial art of the Soviet Union and the high art of the West—for example, Rothko, Pollock, Bacon and Dubuffet—which have always attracted critical attention.
Christine Lindey's pioneering study examines these paradoxes and illustrates many artists, notably those from the Soviet Union, whose work has rarely been seen in the West. As glasnost changes our perceptions of the contemporary Soviet Union, here is the first history of all aspects of art there in the postwar years, set in the political context, and comparing it with developments in art in the West.