Exhibition

The exhibition “Soviet Genre Painting” | August 15 - September 30, 2016

 A new exhibition will feature the masterpieces of monumental and historical genre produced by a unique creative team called Grekov War Artists’ Studio. Works of diverse topics cover the 1930s-1970s.

You will be able to see many iconic pictures ranking among the best ones in Russian art. The works are dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War. They were frequently reproduced in periodic press, their reproductions being printed in thousands.

One of such pictures is Let’s have a smoke by Lev Naroditsky.   The title of the picture refers to one of the most popular songs of the Great Patriotic War. The song has an interesting history. A poem under the title “A little song of the Southern Front” was published in a front newspaper Vo slavy Rodiny in the autumn of 1941. 

‘I have met a great many people over the years’, the poet said, ‘and the question ‘Got any cigarettes on you?’ was a frequent conversation opener. Sometimes it was simply an invitation ‘Let’s have a smoke!’ A light sparkled, a puff of smoke rose, and the ice was broken. So a talk or sometimes acquaintance would begin, and occasionally it would be something more important and longer lasting. 

A composer Modest Tabachnikov wrote the tune for the lyrics by Ya. Frenkel and brought the song to the awareness department of the Southern Front.  The first performance of the song was at the end of 1941, on New Year’s Eve. It was sung by the song and dance company of the Southern Front. At the same time it was published in the front newspaper, then in Komsomolskaya Pravda. So the song started its travel over the country. Klavdia Shulzhenko had sung the song «Давай закурим!» (“Let’s have a smoke”) for the first time in her theatrical concert Hero Cities on stage of the Moscow Satire Theatre on February 21, 1943. 
By that time the Soviet army had already defeated the Germans near Stalingrad, the front line had sharply changed, and the singer decided to alter the beginning of the song. The Southern Front, Rostov and Taganrog were not mentioned in the new version of the song. The revised song travelled through all the fronts and even reached Berlin.

The exhibition features more than 100 works, and every one has an equally interesting history. Each painting can be a part of your collection.

The display is updated constantly, that is why we are looking forward to offers from our clients and collectors, who could provide us with an interesting material for our further exhibitions and auctions. 

Please contact us by phone +7 (495) 684 91 91 or by email art@sovcom.ru, and we will be able to arrange a view at your convenience.

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