Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Aleksei Rezaev
Who will be "King"?
Date Made: 1991
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 90 cm x 60 cm; 35 7/16 in x 23 5/8 in
The title of the picture, “Who will be ‘King’?” satirizes the idea of a monarchic succession of political leaders in Russia, emphasized by the quotation marks around the word “King.” The chessboard, with the king chess piece facing away from the viewer in the far left corner and twelve pawns clustered around the center of the board, adds to the mockery by comparing Russian political succession strategy to a game of chess. The upright seven pawns with black and white faces superimposed over the ball of the pieces idenitfy the seven surviving members of the “gang of eight,” the eight politicians that staged the failed 1991 coup that attempted to oust Gorbachev from power: Vasiliy Starodubstev, Alexander Tizyakov, Oleg Bakhanov (top left from the left), Gennady Yanayev, Dmitry Yazov, Valentin Pavlov, and Vladimir Kryuchkov (bottom left from left). The fallen pawns are Marshall Sergei Akhromeyev, Boris Pugo, and Nikolai Kruchina (top down), the three plotters who committed suicide after the coup failed, shown by the blood marks on their heads. The two faceless downed pawns all have marks of blood on the area representing their heads as well, perhaps representing the Soviet citizens that died in the one violent standoff of the coup on August 21st.
Accession Number: 2009.053.042
Item Name: Painting
Credit Line: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Collection/Series: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris