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Dictators of both the left and the right persecuted modern art in the early 20th century. Join us in this 3-part series, Art Under the Dictators and Under the Democrat, as we explore the reasons for both its unpopularity with the demagogues and its eventual triumph in America during the postwar period. Be sure to also join us for The Fate of Art in Nazi Germany and Art Under Roosevelt During the Great Depression.

Art and Revolution in the Soviet Union
Lenin saw the revolutionary potential of avant-garde art, architecture and design and instituted sweeping changes in which modernism became almost the official art of the fledgling Soviet Union, but with Stalin's rise to power, all art was banished that could not be used as propaganda by the Communist Party for furthering its social and economic objectives. Most of Russia's finest artists and designers emigrated to the West.

Presenter Dennis Raverty is a speaker, author and art historian who for decades has delighted audiences with lively presentations at libraries, churches, synagogues, hostels and business lunches on a variety of topics in the history of art, from the Italian Renaissance to the Harlem Renaissance. His articles and criticism has appeared in Art Journal, Art in America, The International Review of African American Art, Art Criticism, The New Art Examiner, Prospects: An Annual of American Studies, Source: Notes in the History of Art. and Art Papers, where he was a contributing editor. He authored four entries for the most recent edition of the Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, published by Oxford University Press (2011).