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Maker: Viktor Konstantinovich Dorokhov; Valentina Egorovna Dorokhova

The Great Appear Great to Us Because We Ourselves Are Standing On Our Knees

Date Made: 1990
Country: Soviet Union

Measurements: 63 cm x 93 cm x 3 cm; 24 13/16 in x 36 5/8 in x 1 3/16 in; 60 cm x 90 cm; 23 5/8 in x 35 7/16 in

Description

This painting ironically references the typical profile portraits of Marx, Engels and Lenin as the founding fathers of Marxism-Leninism. The three great men of Communist ideology are presented as bright colored balloons against a pink background sprinkled with confetti, inflated with words of wisdom, but with no practical ability to implement their practices. Encircling the edges of the composition are the words “The great appear great to us because we ourselves are standing on our knees,” a quote by Georgi Plekhanov (1856-1918), a Russian Marxist theoretician who opposed the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin. The image further suggests that the ideological basis of state socialism is filled with air.

Accession Number: 2009.053.055

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
Exhibition History

• Artist Collaborations in the Soviet Union and the GDR
• Crumbling Empire

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