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By Stetsky, Aleksei Ivanovich Department of Culture and Propaganda of Leninism Head

Soviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917-1953

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Document 118

Memorandum from TsK VKP(b) Department of Culture and Propaganda of Leninism Head A. I. Stetsky to the TsK VKP(b) Politburo on the painting by the artist N. Mikhailov on the theme of the funeral of S. M. Kirov. AP RF, f. 3, op. 35, d. 45, ll. 26–27. Original. Typewritten. On the memorandum are the following instructions: “To Molotov, Voroshilov, Kaganovich. I. Stalin”; “Read. In favor of the proposal to arrest Mikhailov. Molotov” and “Need to arrest this Mikhailov. K. Voroshilov.” Beneath the last instruction there is also the signature “Kaganovich.”

23 January 1935

To the Politburo of TsK VKP(b)

Since this morning, the Party group of the board of the Moscow Union of Artists has been meeting on the subject of Mikhailov's counterrevolutionary picture (Volter, Bogorodsky, Riazhsky, Lvov, Lekht, Viazmensky, etc.). Called in after that were the prominent artists Yuon, Mashkov, S. Gerasimov, A. Gerasimov, P. Kuznetsov, Lentulov, Katsman, Moor, Favorsky, and Perelman. Com. Bubnov and I spoke with them.

Yuon, who is the leading expert on painting and had not seen Mikhailov's picture before, immediately drew our attention to the skeleton and, as a specialist, gave a detailed analysis, declaring that this could in no way be an “accident,” that this was a definite intention.

Other prominent specialists have arrived at the same conclusion, drawing our attention to other details as well in the figure of death given in the picture: to the fact that the details of its feet, limbs, and so forth are given in different colors and patches, which in no way ties in with the bed curtain, that the very folds are unnatural, that on the head of this death the shine and color of the hard part of the skull is emphasized and this could not be a human head; and then the spine is distinctly outlined.

Yuon went on to say that this picture was made especially for photography, since the very choice of colors is built on the figure of death, which stands out most distinctly when photographed and published in the press.

A meeting was then held of the Union's board of forty artists. Mikhailov was called in. The artists themselves questioned him about all the picture's details as well as his biography. At first Mikhailov was defiant and arrogant, declaring that he saw nothing bad in the painting, that it was a sketch, and he threatened to shoot himself. Under cross-examination by specialists, especially Yuon, Lentulov, Gerasimov, Moor, and others, he finally declared that his skeleton had in fact come about as a result of his enthusiasm for mysticism and that this would be a lesson for him from now on.

The questioning of Mikhailov by the artists from the standpoint of his

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biography brought out the fact that his father was a quartermaster in Kazan, that he himself had gone from Kazan to the East with the Whites in 1918. He had gone with them as far as Vladivostok, there obtained a Polish passport allegedly from the artist Shabel-Tabulevich (who is now also in Moscow and who must be checked out—A. S.), set off with this passport to Harbin, where he worked as a theater artist, and later was in China. He returned to the USSR in 1923.

[…]

After the speeches, the attached resolution was approved unanimously to applause. It must be added that in the picture of the execution of the Paris Communards by this same Mikhailov a skull can be seen behind the group of Communards being executed.

I think that in view of the circumstances brought to light in Mikhailov's case, he must be arrested and a thorough search conducted at his place.

I request permission to give the corresponding instructions to the NKVNudel.

Head of the TsK VKP(b) Department of Culture and Propaganda of Leninism A. Stetsky

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Document Details

Document TitleMemorandum from TsK VKP(b) Department of Culture and Propaganda of Leninism Head A. I. Stetsky to the TsK VKP(b) Politburo on the painting by the artist N. Mikhailov on the theme of the funeral of S. M. Kirov

AuthorStetsky, Aleksei Ivanovich; Department of Culture and Propaganda of; Leninism Head

RecipientN/A

RepositoryAPRF

ID #f.3, op.35, d.45, ll.26-27

DescriptionN/A

Date1935 Jan 23

AOC VolumeSoviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917-1953

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