Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Aleksei Rezaev
Trotskii and Stalin
Date Made: 1991-1992
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 59.5 cm x 90 cm; 23 7/16 in x 35 7/16 in
In this work, artist Aleksei Rezaev looks critically at the Communist past, particularly the politically tumultuous period between Lenin’s death and the beginning of Stalin’s rule. In 1924, at the time of Lenin’s death, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin were the three men largely credited with orchestrating the 1917 Russian Revolution. Lenin initially held the reins of power, but after his death a power struggle ensued between Trotsky and Stalin. Trotsky, the more intellectual and charismatic of the two, seemed to be the likelier successor at the time. However, while Trotsky spent his time making crowd-rousing speeches, Stalin consolidated his position as the future leader of the USSR, taking full advantage of his post as the General Secretary in order to place his supporters into powerful offices. Lenin foresaw this development and left notes in his will naming Trotsky the more desired candidate, yet, his actions proved to be too little too late. Stalin succeeded in framing his opponent and made sure that he was exiled, and later assassinated in Mexico. This tense relationship between the two prominent revolutionaries explains the heated exchange of looks that is depicted in Rezaev’s work. Here both men are rendered as snakes, each presumably eager to incubate the eggs decorated with the Soviet sickle and hammer emblems. Stalin and Trotsky had very different visions for the development of the nation that both had helped establish. Trotsky advocated a more democratic and less bureaucratic political structure, while Stalin wanted a completely authoritarian regime. Although the two men started out as partners for the same cause during the revolution, as represented by the entanglement of their snake tails, they slowly grew apart and turned on each other, implied here by their engagement in a mutually menacing stare. The union between them is consolidated only through their snake bodies splattered with blood marks. The stark red background unmistakably alludes to communism and blood indicating Rezaev’s aversion to the concept of the Communist state represented by the nearly hatched eggs laid by Trotsky and Stalin. The blood also foreshadows the unfortunate events to come after the power struggle that had ensued between them.
Accession Number: 2009.053.073
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