V. I. Lenin in Razliv, 1917

What it is

This is a painting made in 1934 by the Russian artist Arkady Rylov. It shows a bald, bearded man in a long dark coat standing on a grassy hillside beside water, under a dramatic, glowing sunset sky. The figure is meant to represent Vladimir Lenin at Razliv in 1917.

Why it matters

The painting was created many years after the event it shows, as part of the Soviet Union's efforts to build a heroic image of Lenin as a founding leader. It tells us less about what actually happened at Razliv and more about how later Soviet artists and the state wanted Lenin to be remembered: calm, solitary, almost prophetic against a stormy sky. This makes it a secondary, imagined depiction rather than an eyewitness record.

Look closer

• What mood does the sky and landscape create, and why might the artist have chosen this setting?
• Why might the Soviet government have wanted paintings like this made decades after the events they depict?
• What details are missing that an eyewitness account might have included?