Before the Start 1947

Tetyana Yablonska created this painting, “Before the Start,” at an unknown date. The subject is a group of children poised on skis, numbers pinned to their chests, ready to race across a snowy field. It’s the kind of scene that could take place in many times and places, but its meaning is powerfully inflected by the fact that it was painted in the Soviet Union. From the 1930s onward, Soviet art was overwhelmingly dominated by the principles of socialist realism, with its emphasis on idealizing the lives and activities of everyday people. The sense of joyful anticipation on these children’s faces and the suggestion of healthy, wholesome activity would have resonated strongly with this aesthetic. We can look to publications from the Soviet Ministry of Culture and period newspapers and magazines to understand more about how paintings like these contributed to a broader vision of Soviet life.