Tag Archives: Soviet Union

1954: Morning on the Volga

Georgy Nissky: Morning on the Volga (1954)

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1947: Iridescence

Andrey Avinoff: Iridescence (1925-1947) The entomologist Andrey Avinoff emigrated from Russia to the USA after the revolution and worked at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for 20 years, eventually becoming its director. He turned to painting only later in … Continue reading

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1930: Plant

Aleksander Vasilievich Kuprin: G. I. Petrovsky Metallurgy Plant, Dnepropetrovsk (1930)

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1964: Oh, My Mangled Head!

In his book Alice in Many Tongues (1964), Warren Weaver spends the last chapter using a curious method to evaluate various translations of Alice in Wonderland. He takes the same passage from each translation—a portion of the Mad Tea-Party—and asks … Continue reading

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1922: Landscape

Konstantin Bogaevsky: Landscape with Lake (1922)

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1930: Atlas

Boris Ignatovich: At the Hermitage, 1930

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1919: Park

Ivan Fedorovich Choultse: Park in Neskuchnoye (1919)

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1920: Drag

Afanasy Shaur, a member of the Russian Baltic Fleet, organized this gay wedding in Petrograd in 1921. The event featured elements of a traditional Russian wedding, such as a special bread presented with a dish of salt for the betrothed … Continue reading

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1925: The Copper Tambourine of the Night

Maximilian Voloshin: Медный бубен ночи [The Copper Tambourine of the Night] (1925) The pearl bejeweling the quiet of night, The gem of the lagoon’s star-studded base! Your light makes young and pallid every face, Thorn-apple longs for You in love-lorn … Continue reading

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1941: Merry Christmas to All Loyal Comrades of the Victorious Soviet!

I couldn’t pass up this Christmas figurine of Santa Claus piloting a WWII-era Soviet Polikarpov I-16, complete with red star markings on the vertical stabilizer. Santa crashes while delivering presents in Siberia. (Actually a Polikarpov I-16 after an emergency landing … Continue reading

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