ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Figures stare boldly from the canvas, exuding youth and health. Athletes conquer their opponents, factory workers strive proudly for excellence, and soldiers stride off to war, confident of victory.

In the exhibition “Deineka/Samokhvalov,” at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall here, works by two important artists of the Soviet era — Alexander Deineka and Alexander Samokhvalov — are displayed side by side. The exhibition, which runs through Jan. 19, shows their overlapping visions of a prosperous, harmonious U.S.S.R., offering a fresh perspective on the dictates and homilies of that period, and also on the craft and skill of painters often dismissed as instruments of propaganda.

“We need to analyze, and have a fresh view on that time,” said Semyon Mikhailovsky, the exhibition’s curator.

“We have fought with this past, criticized the way it portrayed our society, pointed to the fact that it was a terrible time of prison camps, deaths and suffering,” Mr. Mikhailovsky added. “Others say that to look back at this is nostalgia, that we wish we were big and strong, like in the Soviet myth. But through these artists’ eyes, we show our history. It is important to look at this.”