Polish Art of the Thaw Period through the Prism of the View of Soviet Contemporary Art Critics

The master's thesis reveals the specific features of the attitude and perception of Polish art by Soviet critics in the texts of the 1950s- 1960s. The cultural interrelations between the countries were comprehensively considered, the main features of the attitude of Soviet art historians of the Thaw era to Polish art were identified, and the development of painting and graphics of the USSR and the People's Republic of Poland in the 1950s-1960s was compared. The study analyzed the texts of Soviet critics of the time of the thaw about the art of Poland, which were published in the magazines "Art", "Creativity", "Decorative Art of the USSR", the newspaper "Soviet Culture", exhibition catalogs and monographs. Polish art, which won freedom and acceptance of abstraction at home, clashed with censorship and Soviet criticism during the thaw. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Soviet periodicals embodied a negative attitude towards foreign creative experiments, an attempt to hide the avant-garde decisions of artists, control, which weakened over time, allowing an alternative path of development. Poster art, on the contrary, has been recognized for its unusual techniques, brightness, and symbolism. Bold innovations did not leave the artists of the USSR indifferent, after the thaw, the Polish poster became a symbol of creative expression for Soviet graphic artists, and won even more followers.