Russia

In the 20th century there have been many artistic movements that define the way we view art. In 1961 there was not a defining movement, but a transition to a contemporary style that would set the pace for the rest of the century. Many painters wanted to follow the form of avant-garde that took place nearly thirty years earlier. At this time Khrushchev did not approve of this form. He was a strong believer of socialist realism and actually wanted to discipline artist that betrayed it. In 1961 he replaced B.V. Ioganson with V.A. Serov as the Arts Academy president. Due to these events, the predominant cultural climate was a sort of status quo. Many artists may have wanted to expand their work but were mostly kept n check until the reactionary movement in the late 20th century.
In this period there were some tremendous works of art that were completed. Lev Efimovich Kerbel finished his monument to Karl Marx, which was made of granite. He later would when the Lenin Prize for it a year later in 1962. Also a great limestone sculpture of B.L. Pasternak which is located at the Tret'iakov Gallery was finished by Sarra Lededeva. These exhibits helped make 1961 a great period for art. There were other publications that helped characterize this time. Many great works were done in architecture. Nikolai Nikolaevich Voronin, a Russian archaeologist who studied architecture published Architecture of Northeastern Russia of the 12th-15th Centuries. This was such a fine paper discussing Ancient Russian towns it won the Lenin Prize in 1965.
There were many performances done in Ballet that were note worthy. The NutCracker was a very popular performance at this time, as was The Stone Flower. Although there were no premieres of new ballets, these oldies kept a great tradition alive at the St. Petersburg Ballet (formerly the Kirov Ballet). A nice work was done in theater as well. The Life of Monsieur de Moliere was publish...