Boris Prorokov
Soviet graphic artist; cartoonist, satire master, poster artist, sculptor. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1954). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1961) and two Stalin Prizes of the third degree (1950, 1952). Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1955). People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1963). People’s Artist of the USSR (1971).
Pasha Konoplev in his youth
Self-portrait 1915
Mikhail Nesterov is an outstanding Russian itinerant painter, landscape painter and icon painter, a famous Soviet portrait painter.
Nesterov Mikhail created his own movement in painting “poeticized realism” and remained faithful to it, despite the revolution, the collapse of the country and the change of regime. During the period of itinerant movement, the painter’s work is filled with Orthodox mysticism. His paintings reflect the “special path” of God’s chosenness, a quiet charm with the beauties of Russian nature and the human soul.
Self-portrait 1910
His father and mother were of Polish descent. They had 14 children, but only nine of the artist’s siblings survived to adulthood. Casimir, who was the eldest child, often traveled with his father in the service. For all his life, he remembered the beauty of Ukrainian nature and the hard life of the peasants.
Malevich. Reapers
History is an inexact, evaluative science: embellishment and dramatization of events in it is a common thing. But many scary stories about Stalinist repression are an exception. There was no targeted campaign to destroy “ideological enemies” (as in the case of writers) against artists – more often there were “local excesses”. But some famous painters were repressed, although the authorities tried to pass off their cases as criminal ones.
Eva Zeisel, née Striker, is an internationally renowned designer, ceramist and sculptor, born on November 13, 1906. However, she herself did not like the modern word “designer” and preferred to call herself “the creator of things”. Eva lived 105 years and continued to do what she loved until the last day. During her long life, she managed to work in Hungary, Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States, and left a noticeable mark in each of these countries. The dishes that came out of her hands are not just beautiful: they are both delicate and functional. Rounded cups and handles delight the eye with smooth lines and fit comfortably in the hand. You can imagine these products both in a museum and in your home kitchen.
Workers of the Moscow plant named after S. Ordzhonikidze during a mourning five-minute stoppage of the enterprise. Funerals of Stalin in the magazine Soviet Union (1953)
Funerals of Stalin in the magazine Soviet Union (1953)
First of all, Sovetsky Soyuz, or “The Soviet Union”, was a monthly magazine published in 1930-1990 in Moscow. Noteworthy, the magazine, distributed in the USSR and abroad, in addition to Russian language, was available in 18 languages. In particular, in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Serbian-Croatian, Urdu, Hindi, Finnish, Romanian, Hungarian, Mongolian, Bengali, Vietnamese, and Italian. Founded by Maxim Gorky, until 1950 the magazine was called “USSR on the construction site”.
However, of all the issues released in the period of 1930-1990s I have chosen only No. 3 (37) released in March of 1953. It was a historical issue, which, alongside with traditional articles on socialist achievements, published information about the death of Joseph Stalin (died 5 March 1953).
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