Postcards From Utopia

In the totalitarian states of the twentieth century, state-sanctioned art performed a key function, giving visual dimension to abstract political ideology. This book presents fifty postcards from the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Spain, and China, between 1920s and the 1970s, providing a fascinating look at the art of power and its expression. Presidents, Prime Ministers and Secretary Generals of totalitarian states in the twentieth century have been highly conscious of the need to present a national image suited to the new political culture they sought to inculcate. In these regimes, state-sanctioned art performed a key function, giving visual dimension to an abstract political ideology. There is a striking similarity between the idealized images from these countries. This book presents about fifty postcards from the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Spain, and China, between 1920 and the 1960s. While some of the images are of a high aesthetic calibre, others are simply intended to portray a vernacular socialist realism or to cultivate the cult of the leader. Taken together, they form a fascinating look at the art of power and its expression at a time of political upheaval and experiment.