National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus



“Drawings by Front Artists” exhibition

  • 28.06.2019

On June 28, a temporary exhibition entitled “Drawings by Front Artists”, timed to the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus, opens at the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus (Karl Marx St., 12). The exhibition presents unique works from the collections of Тhe Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art.

During the wartime, more than 900 members of the USSR Union of Artists volunteered for frontline duty. Their military fates took shape in different ways: many were injured and killed, giving their lives for the victory. Always remaining professionals, in the hours of short leisure, artists painted portraits of fighters, episodes of battles for combat sheets and military newspapers, scenes of trench life. The war became for them a dramatic school of battle art.

The exhibition presents drawings by participants of the East Prussian Operation of 1945: A.I. Glukhov, G.N. Filatov, S.I. Chukanov.

Among the works devoted to front–line life, there are many drawings “before the battle”, “between the battles”, “after the battle”. As precious testimonies of days gone by, they are distinguished by an exaggerated simplicity, naturalness, lack of “posture” and deliberate exaltation. Some drawings introduce the life of the soldiers for a short rest.

Most of the copies stored in the archives did not spare the time: the paper turned yellow and warped. Many of the drawings contain notes that may have been made in a hurry. The artists used any available materials in their work: various pencils, ink, watercolor paints.

The presented drawings are invaluable evidence of history, recreating the living image of a soldier who bore all front–line troubles on his shoulders. Recalling the horrors of war, they call us to peace.

The curator of the exhibition is the leading researcher of the exposition department of the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus Yulia Krivdyuk