#8 - JRL 7275
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
August 3, 2003
Military artists in Russia try new themes
Ragtag army hard to glamorize
By Rebecca Santana

Moscow --- At first glance, the painting resembles a picture of sunrise in the Rockies, with peachy morning light gently touching the snowy mountains. Only the tanks dug into positions in the valley reveal that this is Chechnya, where Russian troops have been fighting a bloody war for more than a decade.

Since 1934, Russia's Ministry of Defense has hired artists to celebrate the country's military exploits. It is no easy task with today's Russian military beset by problems.

Thirty artists work in a studio on Soviet Army Street, next to the country's Armed Forces Museum, which is easily recognizable by the tanks parked on display outside.

The Grekov Studio of Military Artists was part of the propaganda machine that promoted the glory of the Soviet military with heroic paintings of World War II battles and the first man into space.

Today, Russia's military is more famous for daily desertions by soldiers, gross corruption and lack of money.

The challenge of honestly portraying the Russian military under such conditions is not lost on the studio's creative director, 45-year-old Sergei Prisekin.

In difficult situations like Chechnya --- where Russian forces have been accused of human rights violations and are under constant attack from Chechen fighters --- he focuses on portraying the goodness of the individuals.

"I believe that art doesn't need to show the illness in people, but should show the goodness that should be there, what we should be cultivating," Prisekin said in his cluttered studio.

Like all government institutions during Russia's post-Communist era, the studio has gone through tough times, with periods when salaries weren't paid on time, if ever.

But one of the younger artists, Dmitri Beliukin, 40, says the studio and the country have turned a corner.

President Vladimir Putin has pledged more funding for the military, and Beliukin feels Russians are beginning to feel more pride in the nation. He hopes the Grekov Studio work will be even more in demand.

"There has appeared in Russia a feeling of patriotism," said Beliukin.

The Soviets loved patriotism, too, but theirs meant carving busts of Stalin or creating paintings of the ship Aurora, which fired the first shots of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Now the artists look to the pre-Communist era to portray Russia's rich military tradition. Popular themes are Peter the Great's defeat of Sweden or great Russian writers such as Alexander Pushkin --- imperialist subjects that were forbidden during Soviet times.

"Before it was Lenin and Stalin. Now it's landscapes and Peter the Great," said Igor Zagera, 38, who has been working at the studio for 10 years. "Everyone is sick of the Communist themes, and it's been discredited."

Moonlighting allowed

Beliukin recently finished illustrations for an edition of the 19th-century Russian classic "Yevgeny Onegin" by Pushkin. And his beautiful Russian landscapes are in high demand by both the Ministry of Defense and private buyers.

Zagera makes prints of Moscow street scenes that are popular with Russian military officers traveling abroad to meet with their counterparts.

"If someone from the Ministry of Defense flies to the U.S. or the U.K. they can give these pictures, pictures of his country," said Zagera. "He's not going to give a picture of a rocket."

Grekov Studio artists don't receive much in the way of pay --- only about $70 a month.

But Zagera estimates that the official orders take up only about two months of the year, leaving the artists with plenty of free time to work for private customers, something they would not have been able to do under communism.

Many of the artists, especially the younger ones like Zagera and Prisekin, have been able to adapt to the capitalist system. Prisekin paints portraits for private clients such as Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the famous Russian assault rifle that bears his name. Zagera makes his own paper and creates more abstract designs such as a series portraying Franz Kafka's work.

Abstracts still on outs

When it comes to official work, there is no abstract art at Grekov. The artists paint realistic images that can be understood by the average person or, in this case, soldier.

The Soviets banned abstract art, which they found elitist, and promoted realism as accessible to the masses.

"We have an ongoing discussion here about abstract art vs. realism," said Viktor Sonin, whose wispy white beard and rounded belly give him the appearance of Santa Claus with plaster-of-Paris dust on his fingers.

"But through realism you can educate. Through abstract art, that's not possible," said Sonin, a sculptor who has been working at the studio for at least 40 years.

If artists are lucky enough to win a posting at the Grekov Studio, they rarely leave. New positions become available only when someone dies, and despite the challenges facing the military, the competition is always fierce.

"This," said Zagera, "is an elite place."