Paintings by Konstantin Tretyakov about the Civil War. Ivan Vladimirov

The First World War left its mark on the culture of Russia, although, of course, the events of the revolution, the Civil War and subsequent Soviet history made the "Great War" virtually half-forgotten. We have practically no outstanding literary works like "Farewell to Arms!" or “All Quiet on the Western Front”, in the cinema, the themes of the First World War began to be actively addressed only in the post-Soviet period.

It is all the more interesting to see how the war was perceived in a few, but curious author's works. Speaking about the painting of the First World War, more often and popular prints, but there were also original paintings by original authors, many of which today are perceived as masterpieces and are exhibited in the main art galleries. We present a small thematic selection with some comments.

Marc Chagall. Wounded Soldier (1914)

One of the most famous representatives of the Russian and world avant-garde, Marc Chagall, was just beginning his career during the World War. In 1914, he painted a series of works related to the outbreak of the war, and the central figure in them, as in this picture, was a soldier. The broken figures convey physical and mental suffering and do not at all look like taut, slender beautiful warriors going to the front.

Pavel Filonov. German War (1915)

Filonov's canvas conveys a sense of the chaos of war, in which fragments of human bodies are mixed - arms, legs, faces. Their single mass is unsystematic and seems to be in some kind of abyss. The mood of the picture is extremely tense and not at all solemn - it must have been just such a destructive and insane war that the artist imagined. It is interesting that after painting the picture, in 1916, Filonov will be mobilized and go to the front.

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. In the Line of Fire (1916)

We already wrote about this picture in ours. Perhaps this is one of the most recognizable Russian paintings about the First World War, although the depicted landscape is not related to any particular location of the front. The hills are very reminiscent of the Khvalyn Volga expanses native to the artist, and therefore the plot of the ensign's death is a bit abstract, you should not look for a specific battle of the First World War in it.

Vasily Shukhaev. Regiment in Position (1917)

This picture, most likely, is an official order, which the artist began to carry out on the Riga front in 1916, during a lull in hostilities. It depicts officers of the 4th Mariupol Hussar Regiment. The picture was not completed, and in general, a slightly strange neoclassical style leaves the double impression that the canvas was not written at the beginning of the 20th century, but passed to us from the Renaissance.

Pyotr Karyagin. The horror of war. We've arrived! (1918)

The picture also has a subtitle: "The attack of the Russian infantry on the German trenches." Unlike Petrov-Vodkin and Chagall, the name of Pyotr Karyagin is rarely mentioned by art historians. Meanwhile, his picture is perhaps one of the most realistic works written right during the war. This year Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, focusing on internal conflicts.

Pyotr Likhin. Victims of the Imperialist War (1922)

A practically unknown painting by the Kursk artist Pyotr Likhin is now kept in one of the local history museums of the Kursk region. The artist worked on the canvas for several years, and even though it is unknown to us, the picture is interesting as an example of post-war reflection, when the war began to be perceived solely as a senseless "imperialist" massacre.

Israel Lizak. The man on the pedestal (Invalid of the Imperialist War) (1925)

The artist Israel Lizak saw the war as a child, and only in the early 1920s began his career as an artist. His picture does not convey the horrors of wartime, but the post-war situation of veterans and the disabled, who will never be able to return to their former full-fledged life.

Yuri Pimenov. War invalids (1926)

The young painter Yuri Pimenov belonged to the same generation as Lizak. His painting "Invalids of War" can be called "Russian" Scream "", but the influence of foreign expressionism on Pimenov, in general, no one denies. This picture was not even a socio-political statement against the old war, but a cry of horror, a real verdict on the world cataclysm, in which old Russia turned out to be involved.

All the activities of the Soviet government after the revolution in the field of art were aimed at developing the creative activity of Soviet artists. During this period, various forms of propaganda and mass art developed most rapidly; it goes out into the streets and addresses the masses of millions of working people. During the holidays, for the first time, streets and squares began to be decorated with large colorful panels on revolutionary themes, banners, and bright posters.
Agitation trains and steamboats also became an effective means of artistic propaganda. Propaganda literature was transported in them, film shifters, exhibitions were placed, lecturers and speakers traveled.
New tasks also confronted Soviet painting. It was necessary to reflect the greatest changes that have taken place in our country, the grandeur of the revolutionary events and the heroism of their participants, to capture the image of the leader of the revolutionary masses, Lenin.
In 1922, the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AHRR) was created, bringing together leading realist artists. The artists of the AHRR raised the issue of a broad promotion of art.
"Art to the masses" - that was their slogan. During the ten-year period of its existence, the AHRR organized 11 art exhibitions on a wide variety of topics: "Life and Life of Workers", "Lenin's Corner", "Revolution, Life and Labor" and many others.
As can be seen from the titles of these exhibitions, artists were interested in everything: the revolutionary activity of Lenin and the heroic struggle of the Red Army in the Civil War, the new life of Soviet people and the life of the peoples of the Soviet Union.
Young artists went to factories and factories, to Red Army barracks and camps, to villages and remote areas of our homeland. They wanted to feel the pulse of the new life, its mighty tread and scope...
This deep and inextricable connection between the artists of the AHRR and the life of the people aroused a keen interest in their paintings. Very soon, the Association included masters of the older generation, such as N. Kasatkin, A. Moravov, P. Radimov, young artists N. Terpsikhorov, B. Ioganson and many others. With great inspiration and creativity, they set about creating new paintings.
The leading themes in the painting of these years are the themes of the October Revolution and the Civil War. These themes played almost as great a role in the development of Soviet genre painting as in the development of Soviet fiction. Artists of AHRR correctly understood the great educational value of paintings on the themes of the heroic struggle of the Soviet people.
M. Grekov, the greatest Soviet battle painter and chronicler of the Civil War, dedicated his work to the glorification of the heroism and courage of the soldiers of the Red Army. His paintings: “To the detachment to Budyonny”, “Tachanka” and others are bright pages of the glorious history of the Soviet people.

In 1913, Grekov painted pictures on themes from the history of the grenadier, cuirassier and Pavlovsk regiments. Participating in the First World War (as a private), he made many sketches at the front. The Great October Socialist Revolution gave the artist the opportunity to reveal the full power of his talent. Having volunteered for the Red Army, Grekov witnessed the heroic struggle of the workers and peasants against the counter-revolution and, in his vivid sketches and paintings, captured the legendary military campaigns of the famous 1st Cavalry Army. Grekov's paintings captivate with the simplicity and sincerity of the narration, they are distinguished by the accuracy of social characteristics and the deep realism of the image. In Grekov's battle paintings, the pathos of a heroic, just people's war always sounds. Summarizes the material of his direct observations, but remains documented truthful. Grekov saturates his works with a sense of patriotism. His work is an example of Bolshevik ideological art. Deep ideology and high skill determined the wide popularity of his works. Dynamic composition, precise drawing and harmonic tonality of his paintings give them a remarkable completeness and expressiveness. Creativity Grekov marks one of the greatest achievements of the art of socialist realism. Grekov develops the best traditions of the Russian battle genre.

The events of the civil war were reflected in the work of artists M. Avilov, A. Deineka and many others. A prominent figure in the Communist Party wrote:
“At the AHRR exhibition dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Red Army, tens of thousands of workers and Red Army soldiers were genuinely delighted, reaching the point of enthusiasm at the sight of scenes from the civil war, sometimes rendered with extraordinary realism.”
An outstanding role in the development of Soviet historical-revolutionary painting belongs to the artist I. I. Brodsky, who was able to capture the greatness and grandeur of the historical events of these years. His paintings “Grand opening of the Second Congress of the Comintern in the Uritsky Palace in Petrograd”, “The Execution of 26 Baku Commissars” and “Speech by V. I. Lenin at the Putilov Factory” were a significant milestone in the creation of a new Soviet historical picture.

The October Revolution opened in Brodsky a master of large-scale multi-figured canvases. Thinks of the cycle "Revolution in Russia" - so great is the enthusiasm of the artist, who has become an eyewitness to great events. In this cycle, he wanted "to reflect the greatness of our era, calmly and simply, using the language of realistic art, to tell about the great deeds and days of the revolution, about its leaders, heroes and ordinary soldiers." The first picture of this cycle was a huge (150 characters) canvas "The Grand Opening of the Second Congress of the Comintern", the second - "The Execution of 26 Baku Commissars". The artist's arsenal also contains tragic colors, his method is enriched with historicism, artistic imagery - with documentary. In the process of work, Brodsky studies all the necessary historical and iconographic material, eyewitness accounts, travels to the scene. So, while working on the painting "Grand Opening ...", he made hundreds of portrait sketches of leading figures in the international workers' and communist movement. Now these masterful graphic portraits are an invaluable historical and artistic material.

Petrov-Vodkin

Petrov-Vodkin invariably preferred to remain outside the castes, exhorting his loved ones not to get involved in politics in which "the devil himself would break his leg." However, he takes the October Revolution of 1917 enthusiastically. He immediately agreed to cooperate with the new government and became a professor at the Higher Art School, he began teaching at the Petrograd Academy of Arts, repeatedly designed theater productions, created many paintings and graphic sheets. The revolution seemed to him a grandiose and terribly interesting thing. The artist sincerely believes that after October "the Russian people, despite all the torments, will arrange a free, honest life. And this life will be open to everyone."

Petrov-Vodkin from the first years of the revolution was an active participant in the artistic life of the Soviet country, since 1924 he was a member of one of the most significant art societies - the Four Arts. He devoted a lot of energy to teaching, developing the theory of painting. He was one of the reorganizers of the system of art education, he worked a lot as a graphic artist and theater artist. He became an Honored Artist of the RSFSR, called himself a "sincere fellow traveler of the revolution", but still he was not an artist who would completely suit the Soviet authorities. A symbolist with the Parisian school, an icon painter in the past, who did not hide his interest in the icon and in religious art even in the era of militant materialism, did not fit the format of Soviet saints in any way. And maybe he would have shared the fate of many talented people who rotted in the Gulag.

Repeatedly referring to the theme of the Civil War, Petrov-Vodkin sought to capture the events in their historical significance. In 1934 he created one of his last strong paintings "1919. Anxiety". The artist considered it necessary in his interviews and conversations to explain his plan in detail: the picture shows the apartment of a worker, located in a city threatened by the White Guards. The worker's family is seized with anxiety, and this is not just human anxiety, but class anxiety, calling for struggle. It must be assumed that he did not try in vain with explanations, because without them everything that happened could be interpreted completely differently. At least, the main thing here is not 1919 at all, the main thing is Anxiety, anxiety with a capital letter, which is the main character and the subject of the image. Anxiety for the fatherland, for human destinies, for the future of children in 1934 acquired a different meaning than in 1919. The picture of a St. Petersburg worker being called into the militia in the middle of the night is perceived as a premonition of the Stalinist terror with its nighttime arrests. In later works, Petrov-Vodkin departs from the laconism of his previous paintings. He writes multi-figure compositions, complements the plot with many details. Sometimes this begins to interfere with the perception of the main idea (such is his last painting "House-warming" on the theme of "densification of the former bourgeoisie", painted in 1938).

Kustodiev

Kustodiev was among those realist artists of the older generation who joyfully accepted the revolution. In his work, new themes appear, inspired by the turbulent events of those years. The first work of Kustodiev, dedicated to the revolution, depicts the day of the overthrow of tsarism and is called "February 27, 1917". The events seen by the artist from the window of a room on the Petrograd side retain the brightness and persuasiveness of a direct life impression in the picture. The sonorous winter sun lights up the brick wall of the house with a red color, penetrates clean, fresh air. A dense crowd of people is moving, bristling with the points of guns. They run, waving their arms, raising their hats in the air. Festive excitement is felt in everything: in the rapid movement, in the blue shadows rushing about on the pink snow, in the dense, bright puffs of smoke. Here you can still see the first direct reaction of the artist to the revolutionary events.

Two years later, in 1919-1920, in the film Bolshevik, he tried to summarize his impressions of the revolution. Kustodiev uses a typical method of generalization and allegory. A crowd flows in a thick, viscous stream along the narrow Moscow streets. The sun colors the snow on the roofs, makes the shadows blue and elegant. And above all this, above the crowd and houses, a Bolshevik with a banner in his hands. Sonorous colors, open and sonorous red - everything gives the canvas a major sound.
In 1920-1921, commissioned by the Petrograd Soviet, Kustodiev painted two large colorful canvases dedicated to national celebrations: “The Feast in honor of the Second Congress of the Comintern on Uritsky Square” and “A Night Feast on the Neva”.

So, friends, today there will be an interesting post about how it really looked. There are not so many photographs of those years, but there are many drawings from documentary artists.

The pictures that I will show you in today's post made a huge impression on me at one time. Even more surprising is that the artist who painted them lived in - quite successfully survived the Stalinist terror of the 1930s and for some reason his paintings were not destroyed. He painted a lot almost until the last days of his life, and even in the 1930s he continued from time to time to troll the scoop with paintings like "Fight on the beach - a cultural achievement in sports!".

To start, a little history. The author of the paintings that are posted below is the artist Ivan Vladimirov(1869-1947). As can be seen from the years of the artist's life, during the years of the October Revolution and the Civil War that followed it, Ivan was already a fairly mature person and an accomplished artist, who had already gained some fame before that.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Vladimirov positioned himself as a documentary artist - he worked as a so-called. "art correspondent" in the Russian-Japanese (1904-905), Balkan (1912-13) and World War I. The plots of his paintings of those years can be judged by the titles - "A weapon in danger", "Artillery battle", "Returned from the war", "Reconnaissance in the downpour", "Interrogation of a prisoner", "Enhanced reconnaissance".

In 1917-1918, Vladimirov worked in the Petrograd police, where he painted photographic portraits of wanted criminals from the words of the victims (an analogue of the artistic "identikit"). During the coup of 1917, Vladimirov made many sketches, which later became the subjects of his paintings - which clearly show the realities of those days and the true face of the Bolsheviks.

It is surprising, but for some reason Ivan Vladimirov was not repressed in the 1930s - he survived the repressions and blockade in Leningrad, during which he painted posters and kept a diary of the blockade. Even more surprising is that many of his works were exhibited even during the Soviet era in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Now let's look at the pictures.

02. The capture of the Winter Palace in the fall of 1917. The faces and types of the Red Army soldiers are far from those "strong-willed and purposeful comrades" who were later painted in all Soviet textbooks. Far from ideal and their actions - a gang of Red Army soldiers behaves like ordinary drunken pogromists, shooting at paintings and destroying antique statues. 22 years later, the children of these Red Army soldiers will behave the same way during the "annexation of Western Belarus" - with blunt malice, chopping parquet with sabers in the Radziwill castle in Nesvizh.

03. And this picture shows the Bolsheviks on the streets of "revolutionary Petrograd". As you can see, the Red Army soldiers not only marched in formation to the bravura songs about Budyonny, but also did not disdain banal robberies - the picture shows how the valiant "Red Guards of Ilyich" defeated the liquor store and get drunk right at the entrance.

04. Extrajudicial reprisal against "ideological opponents-whites". Pay attention to the faces of the Red Army - these are the real Sharikovs. There is no doubt that the artist is on the side of those being shot, and it is a big mystery to me how he managed to survive the terror of the 1930s. Maybe the whole point is that the Soviet authorities did not see any contradictions in the pictures - "well, everything looks the same! This is me with a rifle, and this is my sidekick Kolya!"

05. And these are the executions in the basements, which began, in fact, immediately after the coup. The faces are also very characteristic; as Joseph Brodsky would later say, "after the 1917 coup and repressions, an anthropological shift took place in Russia, from which it will recover for several centuries."

06. Realities of 1918. Nothing special seems to be happening in the picture, if you do not know its name - "Looting a wagon with help from the Red Cross." Most likely, the car is being robbed by the same "Red Army men" who guard the railway - having appropriated the products that were intended for the starving.

07. Also a robbery - this time of bank cells, under the abstruse name "seizure of looted goods." The fact that ordinary citizens kept their deposits and valuables in these cells was of no interest to anyone. Do you have something more than tattered bast shoes? So the enemy.

08. A painting called "Entertainment of teenagers in the imperial garden". Here, as they say, no comment - after the revolution, art became "available to everyone." Including throwing stones at him.

09. And here is just a stunning picture called "There is no one to protect" - so to speak, the triumph of the winners. Two bulls - "Red Army" sit down to an intelligent lady in a cafe, one of the red bandits holds her hand tightly, and you can understand that this meeting will not end in anything good.

10. And another amazing picture from the same series, with the faces of the "winners" in the box of the opera or theater. Types are marked just fine.

11. A little more "post-revolutionary realities." Famine in Petrograd - people cut off pieces of meat from the corpse of a dead horse, while in the background there are bravura rallies under red flags.

12. And a little more about the life of those years:

13. Pictures of village life of those years are also found in Ivan Vladimirov. Let's see what is depicted on them - maybe at least life in the village was better? No, there was still the same robbery. This picture shows how the peasants, incited by the commissars, plunder a rich estate:

14. But the same peasants are dragging home the stolen things. I just want to ask - "well, have you become rich? Have you greatly improved your life?"

15. However, the peasants did not rejoice at the looted "good" for long - soon detachments of the surplus appraisal arrived at their houses, which raked out all the grain stocks from the barns, dooming people to starvation.

16. And this is work in the village of the so-called "kombed", in which all sorts of rural alcoholics were recruited - the more declassed a person was and the more asocial lifestyle he led, the more likely he could get a place in the "kombed" - it was believed that he "revolutionary fighter" and generally well done, "did not work for the tsar."

Yesterday's alcoholics and lumpen gained complete power over the fate of people whom the Soviet government considered their enemies. Economic peasants, hard-working wealthy people, priests, officials - were judged by "kombeds" and were often sentenced to death.

17. Robbery of valuables from the village church. Most of the good that was taken away from churches and former rich people was sold to the West, and the proceeds from this went to "Soviet industrialization." This is the real person whom the Stalinists love to praise so much, in the 1920s and 30s he did exactly the same thing that he did before the revolution - he robbed people and spent money on his projects.

Here are the pictures. I think it's a very strong series. It seems to me that if they were published from the Soviets, and not pretentious pictures with "revolutionary sailors", then people's attitude to the events of 1917 would be completely different.

What do you think about this?

The Revolution and the Civil War in Russia through the eyes of the artist Ivan Vladimirov (part 1)

Original taken from Tipolog in Russia: the realities of the revolution and civil war through the eyes of the artist Ivan Vladimirov (part 1)

Russia: the realities of revolution and civil war through the eyes of the artist Ivan Vladimirov (part 1)

Capture of White Guard spies

Peasant uprising on the estate of Prince Shakhovsky