Culver City,
California
x
Maker: Aleksei Rezaev
The Knight of the White House
Date Made: 1991
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 101 cm x 71 cm; 39 3/4 in x 27 15/16 in
Boris Yeltsin, labeled here as the “Knight of the White House,” is dressed in green armor, holding a megaphone and a shield in the red, white, and blue of the Russian flag with a miniature drawing of the Russian parliament building in the corner. During the August coup of 1991, when a group of hard-line Communist Party members called the State Committee on the State of Emergency attempted to oust Gorbachev from power, Yeltsin became nationally famous for standing atop a tank and defending democracy through a similar megaphone. Even though he defended the White House and Gorbachev from the coup, Yeltsin used this momentum to become the first popularly elected leader in Russia’s history.
Accession Number: 2009.053.155
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