FROM A PHOTO PORTRAIT TO AN ICON. THE IMAGE OF MARSHAL A. M. VASILEVSKY IN RUSSIAN FINE ART

Georgy Vladimirovich Andrianov

Kostroma Diocese, Kostroma, Russia

Email: director44@inbox.ru

ORCID: 0000–0001–7534–6776

Issue: № 2 (30), 2025

Pages: 107

Annotation

The article systematizes and analyzes the works of art created by artists in the Soviet Union and new Russia, who perpetuated the image of Marshal of the USSR Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (1895–1977). Currently, several of his parade photographic portraits are known, which became the basis for later paintings, sculptures and other images of the commander, since Vasilevsky did not pose for the artists personally. A large number of creative embodiments of the marshal's figure relate to sculptural forms (memorabilia, busts, plaques). In the post-war period, Vasilevsky's image was captured in several films dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. Vasilevsky's image is present in faleristics and philately. There are also rare pictorial forms such as Rostov enamel, urban murals and virtual images in computer games. The author examines a large array of works of art and creativity, structures them into specific sections and comes to the conclusion that most of the images of the commander are based on staged ceremonial photographs of the marshal. In this regard, the portraits of Vasilevsky look the same, with rare exceptions. It seems that the artists did not have access to other photographs of Alexander Mikhailovich for a long time. The creators' acquaintance with Vasilevsky's array of family and front-line photographs began relatively recently (after 1991), but it has already had a positive effect on the latest samples. The article is provided with a large number of illustrations (80). The sizes of small images are given in millimeters (mm).

Keywords

The Great Patriotic War, Marshal Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, socialist realism, personality cult, portrait, artist, picturesque portrait, sculptor, sculpture, bust, monument, stamp, coin, token, computer game, mural

For citation

Andrianov G. V., priest. From a photo portrait to an icon. The image of marshal A. M. Vasilevsky in russian fine art// Ipatievsky vestnik. 2025. № 2. Р. 107–149 (In Russian). https:// doi.org/10.24412/2309–5164–2025–2–107–149