“1918 in Petrograd” by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Reproduction, Collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery

This stunning reproduction of Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin's "1918 in Petrograd" brilliantly maneuvers between modernity and Renaissance motifs. 

A woman with a child is depicted on the canvas as scenes of post-revolutionary life unfold in the background in Petrograd; the then titled St. Petersburg.

Petrov-Vodkin interprets the new era showing the new future of Russia depicted through the woman with a child. He portrays the woman in a brightly coloured Orthodox icon aesthetic as if to resemble the mother of God. Hence the paintings alternative title "Petrograd Madonna."

Painted in 1920, "Petrograd Madonna" belongs to the latter period of Petrov-Vodkin's work. The image of the mother in the artist's painting is no coincidence: Kuzma was brought up in a caring and loving family. He creates a generalised image of a Russian woman, collected by him from childhood memories. The women portrayed by Petrov-Vodkin are always blushing, full of life, they radiate health and warmth and kindness. This image becomes a real ideal of Russian female beauty.

About the Artist

Kuzma Sergevich Petrov-Vodkin, Russian: Кузьма Сергеевич Петров-Водкин was an important Russian and Soviet painter and writer.

Kuzma was one of a select number of creatives commissioned by the "Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia" (AHRR) to create new art reacting to the Russian Revolution. The intention of these works would be a fresh interpretation of the new era in the life of Russian society to strengthen the people's faith in the new Soviet power and socialist ideas in general.