Chronicler of the revolution or its hidden unmasker? Ivan Vladimirov was an artist who was trusted to capture history. His paintings glorified Soviet power, but what was behind the facade of official recognition? The candid scenes of chaos, looting and repression exported to the West tell a different story... How did an artist who worked for the authorities become its secret critic? And why did his true masterpieces remain in the shadows for decades?
Burning of eagles and royal portraits on March 5, 1917. 1917.
Ivan Alexeyevich Vladimirov was born in Vilna (now Vilnius). He was born on January 10, 1870 in the family of a priest, who later worked as a librarian of the Moscow English Club. His mother, Elizabeth Wakhorn, was a talented watercolorist of English origin. Ivan was interested in drawing from an early age, which the boy's parents did not hinder in any way.
Robbery of a wine shop. Petrograd. 1919.
He acquired his first professional skills at the Vilna Drawing School, where his mentor was the outstanding artist and teacher Ivan Petrovich Trutnev (1827-1912). The teacher discerned in his pupil a rare talent and paid special attention to him, developing his abilities.
In 1893 Ivan Alekseevich Vladimirov graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts and began to create independently.
Destruction of a landowner's estate. 1926. Museum of Contemporary History of Russia
Vladimirov was one of the most sought-after art correspondents of his time, capturing frontline chronicles of the Turkish, Japanese, Balkan and World War I wars. In an era when cameras were cumbersome and slow, his ability to quickly transfer battle scenes onto paper made his work indispensable to the press. His drawings were published not only in Russian newspapers, but also in London's Graphic, the first art illustrated magazine, and in the French L'Illustration, as well as in many American publications.
A landowner and a priest are sentenced to execution by a revolutionary tribunal. Valdai. 1919.
Unlike such battle painters as Vasily Vereshchagin, whose paintings were characterized by epic scope and philosophical understanding of the war, Vladimirov acted more like a documentarian. His works were characterized by journalistic accuracy, similar to the approach of Nikolai Samokish, but Ivan Alekseevich, unlike the latter, did not so much romanticize military actions as show their realistic and sometimes very cruel details.
One day he had such a case: his works were not accepted at the exhibition “World of Art” for excessive realism. Then he decides to present several works under an assumed name, using a Finnish pseudonym, the works were written in the Art Nouveau style. And were received with enthusiasm. When the deception was revealed, even Ilya Repin congratulated Vladimirov on the successful exposure of artistic prejudices.
On the streets of Petrograd. 1918.
During the revolutionary years Vladimirov, working in the Petrograd police, created portraits of criminals for the search, and also made sketches of historical events of 1917-1918. His work can be compared to the poster art of Dmitry Moor, however, unlike the latter, he not only worked for agitation, but also conducted an honest visual reportage of the events.
In Soviet times Vladimirov became a member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia, created battle scenes, cooperated with publishing houses and worked on the grandiose project “History of the Civil War in the USSR”. Unlike socialist realists such as Alexander Deineka or Boris Yoganson, his style remained more documentary, without idealizing images.
A family of “former”, driven out of their apartment. 1918.
On the last journey
Hunger years in Petrograd. Cutting up a fallen horse. 1919.
During the Great Patriotic War, the artist was in besieged Leningrad, created propaganda posters and painted battle scenes, such as “Battle for Tikhvin” (1943) and “Battle in the Streets of Berlin” (1946). His fate seemed typical for a Soviet conformist artist: awards, official recognition, no repression. However, behind this facade there was another, lesser-known side of his life.
As a witness of the revolution, Vladimirov left a series of anti-revolutionary works depicting the chaos and destruction of those years: drunken soldiers robbing churches, humiliated generals and priests forced to perform hard labor. These paintings were taken to the West, where they were acquired by collectors, including Frank Golder, who donated them to the Hoover War Library. Golder paid quite generously for each piece he purchased, five dollars per painting.
Food requisition in the vicinity of Pskov. 1922.
Peasants returning after the defeat of a landowner's estate in the vicinity of Pskov. 1919.
It is also known that some of Vladimirov's works hung in the apartment of Frank Hoover in the hotel “Waldorf-Astoria”. And the staff of the Hoover Military Library had to tape the artist's signature on his paintings, so as not to inadvertently bring repression on him.
In contrast to the Soviet art of the time, glorifying the revolution, his work showed a different side of what was happening, gaining an expressiveness comparable to the works of Ivan Belibin and Sergei Malyutin, whose work was also unclaimed by the new authorities.
Sports competitions in the Imperial Gardens. Petrograd, July 1921.
In the theater. The royal lodge. 1918.
Vandalism in the Winter Palace. 1918.
The bourgeoisie on labor conscription. 1920.
In the cellars of the Extreme Committee. 1919.
No one to protect. 1921.
In his personal life Vladimirov was a rather secretive person. It is known that the artist was married since 1899 to Maria Gavrilovna, née Fedorova. The marriage gave birth to two daughters, Zinaida and Elena. Ivan Alekseevich died in 1947 in Leningrad, at the 87th year of life. The exact causes of his death are unknown, but given the ordeals of the blockade years, it is likely that his health was compromised. He is buried at the Serafimovsky Cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Here's to getting to know each other! 1923-1925.
Walking. The 1920s.
This is how Vladimirov remained an artist of two worlds: an officially recognized Soviet master and a hidden chronicler of the catastrophe of the revolution, whose true legacy became available only years later.
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