The Manege Affair was an episode when

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

together with other

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

leadership visited an anniversary art exhibition "30 Years of the Moscow Artists' Union" at

Moscow Manege The Moscow Manege ( rus, Мане́ж, p=mɐˈnʲeʂ, a=Ru-манеж.ogg) is an oblong building along the west side of Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to Red Square. It is the site of Moscow Design Museum sinc ...

on December 1, 1962. It resulted in Khruschev's angry rant against "filth, decadence and sexual deviations" he saw along with the traditional works of

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

. After the visit, he arranged a campaign to tighten the grip of the Party over culture. This has been described as the beginning of the end of the Cultural Thaw in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The episode is covered in detail in the book ''Unofficial Art in the Soviet Union'' by Paul Sjeklocha and Igor Mead and in other publications. Khrushchev's anger was fueled further when he was informed about a recent KGB takedown on a clandestine group of homosexual intellectuals, who worked for the '' Iskusstvo'' (''The Art'') publishing house. Speaking to Ely Bielutin, the exhibition host, Khrushchev said:Subscribe.Ru
(in Russian)

Don't you know how to paint? My grandson will paint it better! What is this? Are you men or damned
pederast Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly ancient Greece and an ...
s!? How can you paint like that? Do you have a conscience? That's it, Belyutin, I'm telling you as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers: The Soviet people doesn't need all this. I'm telling you! Forbid! Prohibit everything! Stop this mess! I order! I say! And check everything! On the radio, on television, and in print, uproot all sympathizers of this!

References

Nikita Khrushchev Soviet art 1962 in the Soviet Union Art controversies 1962 in art {{Soviet-stub

See also

References