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Happy Bastille Day, everyone. To celebrate, here are some assorted artworks by early Soviet sculptors and painters commemorating the Great French Revolution.
We begin with two pieces from the years immediately following the October Revolution. One of these, of course, is the sculptor Nikolai Andreev’s frightening Head of Danton (1919). Less well known are the memorials to M. Robespierre (1918 & 1920) by Beatrice Sandomirskaia [Беатрисе Сандомирская] and Sarra Lebedeva.
Sarra Lebedeva’s “M. Robespierre” (1920)«М. Робеспьер». 1920. С. Д. Лебедева.
Beatrice Sandomirskaia’s “M. Robespierre” (1920)«М. Робеспьер». 1920. Беатрисе Сандомирская
Unveiling of Nikolai Andreev’s “Head of Danton”(1919) «Голова Дантона», 1919 г. Н. Андреев
Unveiling of Nikolai Andreev’s “Head of Danton”
(1919) «Голова Дантона», 1919 г. Н. Андреев
Nikolai Andreev’s “Head of Danton”(1919) «Голова Дантона», 1919 г. Н. Андреев
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Still more remarkable, though from a slightly later date, is the set of illustrations by the Bolshevik artist Mikhail Sokolov depicting the principal actors and main events of the last great bourgeois revolution. These were intended as part of a volume entitled Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934), and are reproduced below alongside some of the historical representations on which Sokolov’s work was based.
Mikhail Sokolov, “Bailly [Байи],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Mirabeau [Мирабо],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Lafayette [Лафайетт],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of the Marquis de Lafayette
Mikhail Sokolov, “Danton [Дантон],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Danton [Дантон],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “General Lazare Hoche [Гош],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of the revolutionary general Louis-Lazare Hoche
Mikhail Sokolov, “Camille Desmoulins [Демулен],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “General Jacques Cathelineau [Кателино],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Jacques Cathelineau
The flight of the king
Mikhail Sokolov, “Jean-Paul Marat [Марат],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Jean-Paul Marat [Марат],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Jean-Paul Marat
Mikhail Sokolov, Marat’s murderess “Charlotte Corday [Шарлотт Корде],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Jean-Marie Collot d’Herbois [Колло д-Эрбуа],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Maximilien Robespierre [Робеспьер],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Maximilien Robespierre [Робеспьер],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical representation of Robespierre
Mikhail Sokolov, “Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just [Сен-Жюст],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just [Сен-Жюст],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just [Сен-Жюст],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès [Сийес],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès [Сийес],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Mikhail Sokolov, “Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon [Симон],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon
Mikhail Sokolov, “Barthélemy Catherine Joubert [Жубер],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Barthélemy Catherine Joubert
Mikhail Sokolov, “Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte [Бернадотт],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Historical depiction of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Mikhail Sokolov, “Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte [Бернадотт],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Man in a cylinder,” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “François-Noël (Gracchus) Babeuf [Бабёф],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)
Mikhail Sokolov, “Roger Ducos [Дюко],” from Figures of the 1789 French Revolution (1930-1934)