Restraint in terms of consumption, training, cultural relevance, and production costs. Modernism in the 1910s-1930s is where we had a shot at something entirely different with dada/constructivism/art nouveau/New Deal FAP patronage. When the Soviets cracked down on their avant-garde it was a survival mechanism for a country under siege, but had constructivism continued it would have been a lot more liberatory than socialist realism. It wouldn't be painting socialism so much as it would be painting whatever comes after rigidly controlled aesthetics.
Restraint in terms of consumption, training, cultural relevance, and production costs. Modernism in the 1910s-1930s is where we had a shot at something entirely different with dada/constructivism/art nouveau/New Deal FAP patronage. When the Soviets cracked down on their avant-garde it was a survival mechanism for a country under siege, but had constructivism continued it would have been a lot more liberatory than socialist realism. It wouldn't be painting socialism so much as it would be painting whatever comes after rigidly controlled aesthetics.