14.2 - Lenin in Art - The History of an Illusion - The Romanticisim of Art After Stalin's Era

Summer 2006 (14.2)

usicians by Vyacheslav Vasilevich Tokarev (1917- ). He studied at Ryzan Art College 1934-38; Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and Repin Institute, 1939-48. Active in Odessa, Ukraine. He began exhibiting in 1948 and taught at Odessa Art College 1949-55. In this scene, Lenin is no longer depicted as a leader. Rather he is shown relaxing with like any bourgeois family man. He no longer is the center of focus in the scene as all eyes are fixed on the young violinist. It's like the artist is trying to show Lenin as an outsider. No elements of the politics or revolution are found here in this painting. It is a purely romantic picture. (Oil on canvas, 120 x 160 cm, 1970).

The Musicians by Vyacheslav Vasilevich Tokarev (1917- ). He studied at Ryzan Art College 1934-38; Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and Repin Institute, 1939-48. Active in Odessa, Ukraine. He began exhibiting in 1948 and taught at Odessa Art College 1949-55.

In this scene, Lenin is no longer depicted as a leader. Rather he is shown relaxing with like any bourgeois family man. He no longer is the center of focus in the scene as all eyes are fixed on the young violinist. It's like the artist is trying to show Lenin as an outsider. No elements of the politics or revolution are found here in this painting. It is a purely romantic picture. (Oil on canvas, 120 x 160 cm, 1970). Photo: Anne Visser, Holland.