Youth 1962

Aleksandr Deyneka made this painting, "Youth," with oil on canvas. It depicts two young female athletes against the backdrop of a stadium. This image should be understood in the context of Soviet Russia and its cultural institutions. In the absence of a consumer culture, sports were promoted as a form of patriotic expression, and as an alternative to western values. Like other state-funded artists, Deyneka made a virtue of social realism, which meant his art needed to be both figurative and uplifting. We can see that in the strong body of the high jumper, and the determined look of the javelin thrower. They present the ideal of the New Soviet Woman. As art historians, our interpretation of this painting would be incomplete without considering the role of the Soviet state in promoting a particular vision of athleticism and national identity. Further investigation of the state archives might illuminate what the cultural function of this piece was intended to be.