Soviet Art

USSR Culture

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev 1881-1951

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev 1881-1951

The image of Stalin in painting “Triumph of the masses”. 1930s. Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev 1881-1951

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev
Famous Soviet sculptor, painter and graphic artist, Georgy Dmitrievich Alekseev (1881-1951) was one of the most passionate and talented propagandists of the Marxist-Leninist ideas of the 1920s-1930s. He was not only a witness, but also a living participant of the Russian revolution. Alekseev graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied in the workshops of I. Repin, S. Korovin, and N. Kasatkin. In 1907 he became the creator of one of his first busts of Karl Marx, commissioned by the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). In 1924 he became the author of his most famous work – “The Calling Leader”, replicated in hundreds of copies in the squares, railway stations, museums and squares of many cities of the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, in the early 1920s he collaborated with V.V. Mayakovsky and M.M. Cheremnykh in the “Windows of Satire ROSTA”. Noteworthy, in 1923 he created the poster “Ultimatum”, mentioned by N. Ostrovsky in the novel “How the Steel Was Tempered”.

Playing 'Gorelki' (folk game). 1917

Playing ‘Gorelki’ (folk game). 1902

The work of Georgy Alexeyev “Triumph of the masses” is a rare example of the painter’s creative work, one of the earliest illustrations of the canon of socialist realism that just appeared in the 1930s. The color scale of the picture, made by K. Korovin’s pupil, still lives with the breath of impressionistic shades, but the internal monumental system and rhythm are in tune with those who have been optimistic and believe in the bright ups and downs of Soviet songs and marches of the 1930s. Walking at the head of a huge innumerable people, Comrade Stalin, surrounded by easily recognizable companions, against the background of the famous sculpture of the “Leader of the Caller”, somewhat resembles the iconography of the prophet Moses, who brings his people out of the desert.

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev

Triumph of the masses. 1930s

Triumph of the masses. 1930s

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev 1881-1951

Soviet artist Georgy Alekseev 1881-1951

1918 drawing of Lenin

1918 drawing of Lenin

1919 bust of Lenin

1919 bust of Lenin

1924. V.I. Lenin

1924. V.I. Lenin

Arming the workers. 1917

Arming the workers. 1917

Bust of Lenin. 1918

Bust of Lenin. 1918

Calling leader. 1924

Calling leader. 1924

Coal drawing. Lenin. 1918

Coal drawing. Lenin. 1918

Drawing from life - Lenin. 1918

Drawing from life – Lenin. 1918

F. Engels. 1919

F. Engels. 1919

Female portrait. 1913

Female portrait. 1913

K. Marx. 1919

K. Marx. 1919

Karl Marx. 1907

Karl Marx. 1907

L.N. Tolstoy. 1928

L.N. Tolstoy. 1928

Let's give 25 000 000 to the defense of the USSR. Poster. 1928

Let’s give 25 000 000 to the defense of the USSR. Poster. 1928

M.I. Kalinin. 1925

M.I. Kalinin. 1925

Marx. 1918

Marx. 1918

Metallist. 1922

Metallist. 1922

Nadezhda Krupskaya. 1948

Nadezhda Krupskaya. 1948

Nogin, portrait

Nogin, portrait

On the construction site. 1903

On the construction site. 1903

P.D. Alexeyev. 1910

P.D. Alexeyev. 1910

Parisian lady. 1909

Parisian lady. 1909

Poster - leaflet Victims for freedom. 1917

Poster – leaflet Victims for freedom. 1917

Samson, tearing the jaws of a lion. 1907

Samson, tearing the jaws of a lion. 1907

Self-portrait. 1923

Self-portrait. 1923

Series of drawings from life - Lenin. 1918

Series of drawings from life – Lenin. 1918

Sketch from life - Lenin. 1918

Sketch from life – Lenin. 1918

The 12th anniversary of October. Poster. 1929

The 12th anniversary of October. Poster. 1929

The first days of the Russian Revolution (Varshavianka). 1917

The first days of the Russian Revolution (Varshavianka). 1917

The militia of 1812. 1912

The militia of 1812. 1912

The relief of the Union of Workers and Peasants on the facade of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin. 1918

The relief of the Union of Workers and Peasants on the facade of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin. 1918

Ultimatum. Poster. 1923

Ultimatum. Poster. 1923

V.I. Lenin. Drawing from life. 1918

V.I. Lenin. Drawing from life. 1918

V.P. Vakhterov. 1911

V.P. Vakhterov. 1911

Watch your back. Poster. 1929

Watch your back. Poster. 1929

We will respond to the frenzied armament of the capitalists by rallying the ranks around the party of Lenin. Poster. 1930

We will respond to the frenzied armament of the capitalists by rallying the ranks around the party of Lenin. Poster. 1930

Weak and strong. 1914

Weak and strong. 1914

Weed grass - off the field. Sketch of poster. 1929

Weed grass – off the field. Sketch of poster. 1929

Worker. 1908

Worker. 1908

You know the precept of Ilyich. Poster. 1930

You know the precept of Ilyich. Poster. 1930