Painting the town red: the impact of Anglo-Soviet exchange on the visual arts in Britain in the 1930s

ABSTRACT

At its peak in the mid-1930s, the society for cultural relations with the Soviet Union (SCRs) could count among its membership some of the most influential creative practitioners working in Britain at the time. This article will examine the various organisations and initiatives that emerged as a result of the activities of SCR members working in the visual and performing arts, including the Artists International Association, Marx House, and Kino Films, and their role in promoting Anglo-Soviet cultural exchange in the visual arts in the 1930s. In doing so, I will consider the extent to which these activities transcended the cultural sphere, leading to the emergence of a cadre of politically engaged artists including the muralist Viscount Hastings, the illustrator Pearl Binder, and the film-maker Ivor Montagu who, inspired by Soviet models, became active across a range of left-wing and anti-fascist organisations and initiatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Society for cultural relations
• artists international association
• Marx House
• Kino Films
• congress of peace and friendship with the Soviet Union
• Ivor Montagu
• Pearl Binder
• Viscount Hastings

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Alison McClean is a historian specialising in left-wing cultural activism during the inter-war period. She has taught at the universities of Essex, Middlesex and Bristol. She is co-author (with Dawn Ades) of Revolution on Paper: Mexican Prints 1910–1960, British Museum Press, London, 2009.

Notes

1. TNA HO/45/25437.

2. TNA KV5/42-5.

3. Hastings, HRC papers, 1935.

4. Hastings, HRC papers, 1936.

5. Hastings, HRC papers, 1936.

6. TNA KV5/44.