The Formation of Socialist Realism in Chinese Painting of the 1950s under the Influence of the Soviet Art School of K. Maksimov

This article focuses on the development of socialist realist painting in 1950s China and its critical role in constructing a new ideological framework. It argues that socialist realism was not merely an artistic style but a tool of ideological engineering, actively shaping collective identity and social values. Special attention is given to the Soviet painter Konstantin Maksimov’s teaching practice at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Through a structured methodology of “structural drawing – transitional tone – thematic creation,” Maksimov transmitted the ideological norms embedded in Soviet art and successfully localized them. His pedagogical model facilitated a shift in Chinese artists’ focus from individual expression to collective heroic narratives. The article further posits that the Sino-Soviet exchange in art education was not simply a matter of technical transfer but a deep ideological-cultural interaction, illustrating how art can mediate between political structures and cultural contexts.