Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting

Portrait Drawing of Béla Kun by Isaak Brodsky

Isaak Brodsky

A pencil portrait of Béla Kun drawn by Soviet artist Isaak Brodsky, showing him as a figure within Comintern circles.

A life portrait of Kun as a Comintern figure, reflecting his standing in early Soviet political circles.

Ask Béla Kun about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Pencil drawing of a man with wavy hair, a mustache, and a dark tie, seated with his arms resting on a table. Sketchy lines fill the background. The signature and the word Moscow with a date appear in the lower left corner.
Isaak Brodsky, portrait drawing of Béla Kun, Moscow.

About this source

What it is

This pencil drawing shows a man with wavy hair, a mustache, and a dark tie, seated with his arms resting on a table, sketched with loose lines. It is signed by the artist and marked with the place Moscow and a date. It is identified as a portrait of Béla Kun by the Soviet painter Isaak Brodsky.

Why it matters

Isaak Brodsky was a prominent Soviet artist known for portraits of revolutionary and political figures. That he made a life drawing of Kun suggests Kun's recognized standing within early Soviet and Communist International (Comintern) circles after the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Portraits like this helped shape the public image of Communist leaders in the Soviet Union.

Look closer

  • What does the informal, sketch-like style of this drawing suggest about the setting in which it was made?
  • Why might a well-known Soviet artist have chosen to draw Kun specifically?
  • How might a drawn portrait convey a different impression of someone than a photograph does?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Béla Kun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Béla Kun sources

Meet the AI Béla Kun →
Front page of the first issue of the Hungarian newspaper Vörös Ujság, dated Budapest, 1918 December 7, with the masthead 'VÖRÖS ÚJSÁG' and subtitle 'KOMMUNISTA LAP', and a lead editorial titled 'Osztályharcot!' in several columns of Hungarian text.Newspaper article

Primary source

Vörös Újság: First Editorial

Béla Kun · 7 December 1918

Spine and cover of a bound book with a dark green spine and grey-brown boards. Gold lettering on the spine reads 'TREATY OF PEACE... HUNGARY' and 'Cmd. 896'. A white library barcode label reads 'DOCS. COLL. CU-1' and 'D001182819'. A Google digitized watermark appears at the lower right.Document

Primary source

Treaty of Trianon

4 June 1920

Black and white photograph of a man in a dark suit and vest speaking to a dense crowd of men in hats in front of a building; other men sit on a rooftop and balcony at left and right.Photograph

Primary source

Béla Kun, Leader of the 1919 Hungarian Revolution

1919

Photograph of a yellowed Nazi propaganda pamphlet titled 'Die Totengräber Russlands' with a headline 'Nicht wegwerfen!' and 'Weitergeben!'. It has rows of ink caricatures of men's faces with text captions naming Soviet communist leaders, and the slogan 'Vor dem bolschewistischen Chaos bewahrt uns nur Adolf Hitler!' at the bottom. A handwritten note 'März 1937' is at the top left.Photograph

Primary source

Die Totengräber Russlands

March 1937

Sepia photograph of a dense crowd of men in hats and coats gathered in a city square in front of a stone building with arched windows. Lamp post and banners rise above them; a large statue on a pedestal stands at right, and a man on the far right holds a flag.Photograph

Primary source

Sándor Garbai and Béla Kun, Leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic

1919

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Béla Kun now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions