TAMARA BEZPALOVA-MICHALEVA’S AND MICHAIL MOKH’S ART OF THE 1960S AND PROPAGANDA PORCELAIN TRADITIONS
The article analyzed the specificity of the political agitation theme interpretation in Soviet porcelain of the 1960s on the example of the artists of the Leningrad Porcelain Factory named after M.V. Lomonosova such as Tamara Bezpalova-Mikhaleva and Mikhail Mokh. The object of the research was the works of Tamara Bezpalova-Mikhaleva and Mikhail Mokh from the collection of the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory of the State Hermitage. The subject of the research was their stylistic and conceptual originality in the context of the traditions of porcelain art of the 1920s - 1930s and the aesthetic trends of the 1960s. The author concluded that the works of Tamara Bezpalova-Mikhaleva and Mikhail Mokh of the 1960s traced propaganda porcelain traditions of the 1920s - 1930s (the use of slogans and emblems, the combination of floral paintings with Soviet symbols, active work with color, stylization of forms, narrative elements), organically combined with the brevity and expressiveness of the new artistic language of the “Thaw” era. Artists addressed the topic of comparing the “old” and “new” worlds (the vase “We will Destroy the Whole World of Violence ...” (1966) by T. Bezpalova-Mikhaleva), interpreting the events of the revolution (the vase “Night in October” (1966) by T. Bezpalova-Mikhaleva; the vase “The Last Assault” (1967) by M. Mokh), glorifying various forms of agricultural and industrial work (service set “Hymn to Work” (1967-1968) by M. Mokh). They paid special attention to the image of V. I. Lenin (the vase “On the Leninist Way” (1969) by M. Mokh) and the theme of “Leninist places in the USSR” (the vase “In Leninist places” (1969) by T. Bezpalova-Mikhaleva), etc. The works of Tamara Bezpalova-Mikhaleva and Mikhail Mokh of the 1960s corresponded their own earlier works related to the topic of political agitation, and found parallels in the art of the other porcelain artists who created the “anniversary” compositions.