The Vanishing Futurist (22 page)

Discussions and ‘confessions’ of negative feelings were a fairly universal approach to solving disputes, while a charismatic leader was one of the factors that could bind a group together. There was a high turnover in most urban communes, particularly as many members objected to the communal raising of children. The collective life was in any case often seen as a temporary state for students or young workers, rather than a lifelong model. In the twenties a number of ‘rational’ communal apartment blocks were built, with shared living spaces and services, children’s areas and so on. Some of these allowed a little privacy for couples and families; others provided conjoining rooms that could be locked in the case of divorce. The state also subsidised rural communes, even producing some pro-commune propaganda – a leaflet entitled ‘Come On, Live Communally!’

By the end of the twenties, however, the tide had turned against the avant-garde and all their experiments, including communal living. The two revolutions, which had run on parallel rails for a decade, now parted ways. State support was withdrawn and pressure was applied to individuals and institutions to end their search for new ways of living. Artists and writers were urged to adopt the simpler, drearier imagery and concerns of Socialist Realism, including, of course, the deification of the leader.

A century after the event, however, the extraordinary creativity and open-minded questioning of the avant-garde still amazes and inspires audiences across the world. ‘The period of the Revolution and the twenties,’ writes Richard Stites, ‘was one of those rare moments when a large number of people actually tried to break the mould of social thinking that sets limits to mankind’s aspirations, that defines “human nature” in a certain unchangeable way, that speaks in realistic, prudent, and ultimately pessimistic tones to the enthusiasts of this world in order to curb their energies and their fancies.’ One of the irresistible aspects of early Soviet Art is its unusual optimism about humanity. The avant-garde’s transformative art may have fallen short of its intentions, but like medieval alchemy it inspired new investigations and ultimately new understanding. Its creations – naïve to some, original and intuitive to others – have become an integral part of the fabric of Western culture. Dreamers then, but essential dreamers.

Charlotte Hobson's first book,
Black Earth City
, won a Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. She lives in Cornwall with her husband, the writer Philip Marsden, and their two children.