Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Aleksei Rezaev
Untitled
Date Made: 1994
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 80 cm x 50 cm; 31 1/2 in x 19 11/16 in
The poster design depicts Stalin scrawling a text over an image of a line of Soviet soldiers. The main Soviet solider visible is mid-salute and has a target superimposed over his face. The Russian text reads, “There are people, there are problems. Without people, there are no problems.” This line actually comes from the 1987 novel, “Children of the Arbat,” by Anatoly Rybakov. When asked about the false attribution of Stalin to this quotation in his novel, Rybakov responded, “This was a Stalinist principle. I only shortened and articulated it. That is the right of an artist.” In the bottom righthand corner is the phrase, “From 1937-1939, 40,000 of upper staff members of the Red Army were repressed." This time period encompassed some of the worst years of Stalin’s purges, where he arrested, exiled, and executed Party officials, citizens, and Red Army staff en masse under suspicion of disloyalty.
Accession Number: 2009.053.104
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
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