People will always remember the war and heroic deeds. The war affected every family, experiencing it spiritually and physically. Complete despair of losses, hunger, and at the same time fighting spirit, patriotism, the frantic joy of victory - all this, of course, could not affect the work of that time. However, even now, the past is reflected in art, albeit not so brightly. Outstanding artists during the war created masterpieces that later glorified them throughout the world.
The paintings of the Great Patriotic War reflect the ideas and spiritual mood of people who lived in that dramatic era. Artists showed in their canvases at the same time the tragedy of a brutal war and the heroic feat of the people who stood up to defend their native country. Created in different directions, they combine the desire of artists to reflect the emotional background, the basis of which was a heightened sense of patriotism. The authors used various styles: everyday, genre, landscape, portraiture, historical realism.
Painting of this period
Each picture of the Great Patriotic War is at the same time a symbol, appeal and reflection of emotions. Many canvases were created directly during the war years. They conveyed to the audience a powerful patriotic message.
For example, the painting by A. A. Plastov “The Fascist Passed” (1942). On the canvas is a fascist plane, from which the pilot shoots across the field with a herd and a small shepherdess. The picture expresses anger, understandable to any Soviet person, hatred of the senseless cruelty of the enemy.
Many paintings inspired appeal, inspired people to sacrifice themselves in the name of their native country. Such is the work of A. A. Deineka, "The Defense of Sevastopol." Directly written during military events, this picture of the Great Patriotic War shows a street battle in Sevastopol. The confrontation between the fighters of the Black Sea and the Nazis on canvas is a symbol of the desperate courage of the Soviet people.
The famous painting "Tanya", created by the Kukryniksy in 1942, depicts the feat of the young partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya tortured by the Nazis. The picture shows the heroine's unbending courage, the despair of the peasants, the cynical cruelty of the Germans.
Genre painting of the era
The Great Patriotic War in the paintings is represented not only by battle scenes. Many paintings show short, but piercing stories from people's lives during times of difficult trials.
For example, the painting “Flight of the Nazis from Novgorod” (Kukryniksy, 1944) shows the scenes of vandalism of the Nazis in the ancient Novgorod Kremlin. Fleeing, looters set fire to priceless historical buildings.
Another genre picture of the Great Patriotic War is “Leningrad. Winter 1941-1942. The line for bread ”(Y. Nikolaev, 1942).
Exhausted by hunger, people waiting for bread, a dead body in the snow - these were the terrible realities of the besieged hero city.
The famous painting “The Partisan's Mother” (M. Gerasimov, 1943) shows the pride and dignity of a Russian woman, her moral superiority over a fascist officer.
Portrait painting
The portrait theme in the forties carried the idea common to the art of those years. Artists wrote the victorious commanders, heroic workers, soldiers and partisans. Simple people were written using the means of realism and symbolism. Portraits of military leaders were ceremonial, for example, a portrait of Marshal G.K. Zhukov (P. Korin, 1945). F. Modorov painted a series of portraits of partisans, and V. Yakovlev - images of ordinary soldiers.
To summarize, the picture of the Great Patriotic War to some extent reflects the Soviet ideology characteristic of that time. But their main idea is pride in warriors and workers, who managed to defeat and preserve human features at the cost of huge sacrifices: humanism, faith, national dignity.