From October 25, the Samara Regional Children's Library (Nevskaya, 8) opens an interactive exhibition "Children and the Revolution of 1917". It presents a historical exposition of books about the events of a turning point and reproductions of drawings by children who witnessed the events of the October Revolution.
On November 7, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917. This event turned not only the history of our country, but also influenced the historical development of many countries of the world.
“What is a revolution? Why did this event take place in our country? Is the revolution good or bad?”: children often ask adults such questions, and it is very difficult to answer them.
We offer a look at the events of those years through the eyes of children who reflected their impressions in their drawings. Before you are works from a unique collection of drawings of children who, by the will of fate, witnessed the revolutionary events of 1917, collected by the teacher of the gymnasium Vasily Voronov. Looking at these drawings, we seem to be transported to the streets of revolutionary Moscow, where we see a large number of demonstrations and rallies, queues for food and armed people.
There are many works of art that tell about children living in this critical era. At the exhibition you will find books that will not leave anyone indifferent even now: the heroes have to face numerous difficulties, look for a way out of difficult situations, and, most importantly, grow up and become a person.
The books and drawings presented at our exposition will help to plunge into the historical past of our country, to understand the complexity and tragedy of that time.
The exhibition is based on the materials of a unique pocket book:
Moscow. 1917 Drawings of eyewitness children. From the collection of the State Historical Museum. / Comp. and the author of the text N.N. Goncharova. - M., 1987.
It came out 30 years ago, in 1987, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution, with a very small circulation of 6,000 copies at that time. The publication published an unparalleled fantastically interesting collection of drawings by children - little Muscovites, who, by the will of fate, were witnesses of the revolutionary events of 1917.
We continue to publish illustrations from the book “Moscow. 1917 Drawings of eyewitness children” (M., 1987). Children's drawings collected by V.S. Voronov since 1919 are stored in the State Historical Museum.
After acquainting readers with a series of "revolutionary types", the author of the publication, candidate of art criticism N. N. Goncharova, publishes drawings of Muscovite children, reflecting the plot scenes of the period between the February and October revolutions of 1917.
Between two revolutions
25. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE GRAND THEATER. August 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.4X16.9 cm. The inscriptions on the posters: Long live the democratic) republic b(face); Long live the republic! Long live the democratic republic Sorting. [Thousands of Muscovites gathered on Theater Square to protest the Moscow State Conference. It was convened by the Provisional Government and took place on August 12-15, 1917 under the chairmanship of Kerensky in the premises of the Bolshoi Theater. Black flag - anarchists. The red flag (the first one from the viewer) is for the railroad workers of the sorting station of the Kazan railway].
“The days of the Moscow State Conference (August 12-14, 1917) include the sheet “Demonstration near the Bolshoi Theater”. A small fragment of the square adjacent to the theater is depicted, and the movement of the demonstration is directed first into the depths (in this case, we see only the backs and hats), and then it turns to the left, filling the square almost to capacity. One gets the impression of an infinity of moving masses of people demanding the establishment of a republic in the country. Among the red banners, the black banner of the anarchists looks like a sharp dissonance. In the foreground is a red poster with the words “Long live the democratic republic”, and below the postscript: “Art. Sorting” . This is a column of railway workers from the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya station, perhaps the same station on the Moscow-Kazan railway, where the first communist subbotnik was held on April 12, 1919” [p. 60].
26. DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGANS “DOWN WITH THE OLD GOVERNMENT. LONG LIVE THE NEW." 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 22.5X25.6 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the old (th) government) long live the new.
The theme of "demonstration" can be opened with a drawing of a very young child, no doubt a preschooler. The kid cannot, of course, consciously reveal the meaning of what is happening. But this fact has become so ordinary, familiar that even he draws a demonstration. The slogan on the flag conveys the most abstract demands of any protest group - "gone old, yeslong live the new." Equally laconic, but, like a formula, the drawing itself is comprehensive” [p. 56-57].
27. DEMONSTRATION ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE HOUSE UNDER A GREEN ROOF. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26, ЗХ 35.7 cm. Inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): Long live the revolution; down with the king, cheers; Earth and Will [ "Land and Freedom"- the slogan of the Left SRs and the name of their newspaper, published in Moscow from March 1917 to May 1918.]; Long live the institution d(noun) meeting) [ constituent Assembly- a representative institution formed to develop a form of government after the overthrow of the monarchy]; Long live free Russia; Down with manarchism.
28.
DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGAN "LONG LIVE A FREE RUSSIA".
February 1917.
Author Yatskevich. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 25.9X 34.4 cm. Inscriptions: on the wall - Bookstore; on the banner - Long live the freePocciI.
“... an older boy (named Yatskevich) is already able to convey the originality of the picture that appeared before him. His demonstration is typical of the first days of the bourgeois-democratic revolution. The pure public (officers, ladies) with red bows on their chests, with the slogans “Long live free Russia!” Goes and goes. There are no common people among the demonstrators. Characteristics are characterized extremely detailed, convincingly. A close-up allows you to consider the lordly faces, confident in their rightness to decide the fate of Russia. A soldier with military awards (on the right) seemed to accidentally stick to the demonstration, his figure expresses uncertainty and bewilderment: is he on the way with these gentlemen? [With. 57] .
29. DEMONSTRATION WITH A MILITARY ORCHESTRA. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 35, ZX 26.4 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the bourgeois i yu, long live the peace of the whole world.
“... in the “Demonstration with a military band” sheet, humorous notes were deliberately introduced. A drunkard fell, broke a bottle, bloodied his nose, some laugh at him, others teach. This episode, brought to the forefront, for the child, perhaps, constituted the main content of the drawing. / February of the seventeenth year was not bloodless. The revolution began with a general strike, armed clashes between workers and soldiers, and an open manifestation of contradictions between the masses of soldiers and officers. A child's drawing introduces us to one of these dramatic incidents in the barracks. In detail, in several episodes, the action unfolds on a horizontally stretched sheet. The workers who have just arrived (on the right) call on the soldiers to join them, next to them are soldiers with red armbands, sympathizing with the revolution, in the middle - a soldier with the royal flag, and on the left side of the picture - monarchist-minded officers are guarding armories locked with a large castle. How exactly this story ended is unknown, but the February Revolution won. Let us think that here, too, the officers were disarmed, the warehouses seized, and the soldiers went over to the side of the revolution. 64].
30. DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGAN "WAR UNTIL VICTORY". Spring 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 34.5X 26.8 cm. Poster caption: Long live free poc ci I! War to victory. Hooray! Authorship is established by analogy with figures 42 and 66.
“Kosarev's drawing is extremely expressive, the strong creative temperament of the young artist is obvious. There are no minor details, no designation of the scene, there are only people united by a common idea. They move straight towards the viewer. This alone is already unusual for children's drawing, as it narrows the possibilities of a pictorial story, the desire for which is so characteristic of children's thinking. The contour stroke with a pen, with which the artist finishes the work done with a colored pencil, gives the drawing the energy of movement, makes it consonant with the graphics of the revolutionary era” [p. 58-59].
31. DEMONSTRATION ON A WIDE STREET. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, graphite and colored pencils. 26.5X 34.9 cm. Inscriptions: above the entrance to the store - the sale of bread from urban communities (venous) bakers (en); slogans (from left to right) - PVSS [Proletarians of all countries, unite]; DZDR [Long Live]; DZSDRP [long live the Social Democratic Labor Party]; DZDR; VDDZR [Long live long live (?)]; 3 and B [Land and freedom (SR slogan)]; Yes Hello. Social Dem. Slave. Steam.; by car - Moscow State University [Moscow City Council].
“Sometimes a drawing, which adds almost nothing new to the actual course of events according to the works already considered, surprises with a peculiar refraction of the psychology of the era in the minds of children. Here is one of the demonstrations in the summer of 1917. Numerous slogans on the posters attract attention: all of them are given only in initial letters. Deciphering them requires a certain amount of mental effort. For example: DZSDRP - Long live the Social Democratic Labor Party; PVSS - Proletarians of all countries, unite. Of course, no one walked with abbreviated slogans, and even if they did, the child would not be able to reproduce them exactly. And of course, it was not the desire to encrypt the text that guided him. He did this simply for speed and to fit as much as possible in the drawing. And abbreviations of long names were common in those years. Parties and organizations were abbreviated. The child does the same in his work. There is no humor here. On the contrary, the boy acts like adults.”[ With. 63].
32. DEMONSTRATION AT THE CROSSROADS. February 1917
Author Alexander Ponomarev. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen. 26.3X 34.9 cm. Signature of the artist at the bottom right: The work of Alexander Ponomarev. Inscriptions: on the poster - Long live free Russia; next to a running man ( half-erased) - the same words.
“The boy very accurately reproduces the situation: the people's column, the military column, the riders in the car - all with flags, everyone rejoices. He runs alone, shouting a slogan (the text was written near the figure, then erased, but still readable), hurries to join the organized public. Someone from curiosity almost falls out of the window of the third floor - is it the author himself? The artist conveys the atmosphere of general joyful revival not only illustratively and descriptively. The composition itself is dynamic. Its main lines, corresponding to the direction of the streets and two intersecting human flows, form an angle. The mobility of this system is emphasized by the bright colors of the houses, the rhythmic repetition of colored curtains” [p. 58].
33. THREE COLUMNS. 1917
26.0X 34.7 cm. The inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): Let's goi e Ukraine i ana; hello t(wow); Long live the Provisional Government and Kerensk i th; Long live international i online; Long live free Rosi I; 8 o'clock; NexPolcka;
NexPolcko. [Left - a column of Ukrainians carrying a portrait of Vinnichenko, the head of the Ukrainian Central Rada, and the slogan "Long live Ukraine" (in Ukrainian).In the middle is a column of Russians calling for support for the Provisional Government. On the right are the Poles with the slogan "Long live Poland" (in Polish). The slogan in the background is "8 o'clock" - the demand for an eight-hour working day. To the right is the corner of the portico of the Bolshoi Theatre.
“Very interesting in content, although inept in execution, is the drawing “Three Columns”. The event shown here is not described, it seems to us, either in the history of the revolution or in memoirs, but the boy could not invent it. If the drawing had been done by an adult, one could say that its theme is the national policy of the Provisional Government. Next to the column glorifying in their slogans the Provisional Government of Kerensky, free Russia and the International, on the right is a column of Poles with the slogan “Long live Poland!”, and on the left are Ukrainian officers with hanging, “Zaporozhye” mustaches and red bows on their chests. They carry a portrait of the head of independent Ukraine and a separate slogan “Let i e Ukra i na”<...>By the picture can accurately determine the place, and hence the time of action. On the right are the steps and one of the columns of the Bolshoi Theatre. Consequently, the action is taking place on Theater Square in front of the Bolshoi Theater on the opening day of the Moscow Conference” [p. 61].
34. DELEGATION OF WORKERS IN FRONT OF THE BARRACKS. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 18.2X 34.2 cm. Inscriptions on the banners (from left to right): dol about(th)..; Long live the democratic republic.
“A characteristic sign of the times from the very February days were cars carrying security service on the streets, with Red Guards, revolutionary soldiers. Naturally, many of them were drawn by children. In these pictures, the romance of the revolution manifested itself most clearly. The drawings are different. One child thinks spatially and unfolds the image in perspective, directing the car towards the viewer, the other two-dimensionally, but, despite this, just as dynamically. Directed forward and the car and the riders - the Red Guards. Feeling of movement intensifies in contrast to symmetrically from machines standing and from that especially stable identical houses, outlined in a thick outline. There are many photographs of 1917, among which there are cars very similar to those in our drawings, but I think this coincidence should not lead to the conclusion that they were copied by children. They only confirm the historical authenticity of the drawings.”[ With. 65-66].
36. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE FACTORY. February 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.2X 36.6 cm. Inscriptions: a sign above the door - bread n(th shop); on the poster - freedom of speech.
“Among the sheets relating to the February days, one of the most impressive is the demonstration near the factory. The artistic form is determined by laconism, graphic, rhythmic repetition. The incompleteness of the composition, as it were, suggests its continuation to the sides, helping to understand that the whole city is engulfed in jubilation, and a similar picture can be seen on all the streets. At the same time, the drawing attracts with its unique concreteness. This is the only sheet that shows the movement of the work column against the backdrop of factory architecture, shown in all its convincing originality. The buildings stretch along the street. The workers march not like the bourgeois public (Figures 30 and 37), but in an organized manner, shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight for their rights. On both sides of the street, on the sidewalk, there are observers, whose stiffness anduniformity is emphasized by the movement of a powerful human stream, as well as the unusualness of what is happening, striking the layman" [p. 59-60].
37. DEMONSTRATION OF THE ZEMSKOY UNION. Spring 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.3X 34.7 cm. Inscriptions on banners: VZS [ VZS- All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Assistance to Sick and Wounded Soldiers]. Hello With(tvuet) constituent) assembledi I; VZS.
38. RED GUARDS in a CAR. 1917
39. ELECTIONS TO THE CITY DUMA. 1917
Author P. Grigoriev. Paper, color and graphite carton and dashi. 25.7X 35.0 cm. Signed above: I quarter P. Grigoriev. Inscriptions: on the house on the right - the electoral thought; on banners - earth and will; updated RossiI; down with the war; not a car and leaflets scattered from it - No. 1; on the walls of the houses - leaflets with No. 1, 3, 4. [Figures 39 and 40 show the elections to the Moscow dumas - city (June 24) and district (September 24). The numbers on the sheets are the numbers of the lists of candidates from different parties. List No. 1—cadets, No. 9 2 - People's Socialists, No. 3 - Socialist-Revolutionaries, N 4 - uniters (organization of united social democrats - internationalists), N 5 - Bolsheviks.
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 25.6 / 34.0 cm. Inscriptions: above - Lubyansk i th passage; on the banners (from left to right): Hello in(ut) revolutionary i he(n)th RossiI; Long live the earth and freedom; Down with the war; Long live the equality of brothers (your) and the world; list number 5; Citizens! Vote(s) fori yu socialist (in) revolutionaries (№ 3).
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen 22.2/33.7 cmi I; in the middle - yes hellofree rossiI; on the gates on the sides of the opening there is a monogram of E.R. [Red Gate is the name of the square and the triumphal arch built by the architect D.V. Monogram E. R. - Elizabeth Pri m a- Elizabeth the First, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in whose reign the arch was built. On the left is the Church of the Three Saints, built in 1674. not preserved].
42. RALLYS. March 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 26.7X 34.6 cm Signature of the author at the bottom right: Kosarev III . Inscriptions: bottom left - Rallies; on the pedestal - circus salamons to(wow); Nikitin; Ball masquerade tour. [The Salamonsky Circus is a private circus located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Salamonsky's own house. After the revolution, the Moscow State Circus was located here. The Nikitin Circus is the second Moscow circus, located on Bolshaya Sedovaya near the Old Triumphal Gate (now Mayakovsky Square).
43. THREE TURNS. 1917
“The military year of 1916 was hard and hopeless, 1917 was full of struggle and hopes, 1918 was illumined by work and faith in a bright future ... All of them were accompanied by devastation, a food crisis. The most noticeable sign of trouble for urban children is hunger, its visible expression is queues. There are a lot of drawings depicting queues in stores. / This group of drawings is difficult to date, but they were probably made before the October Revolution. Firstly, by October, the queues had already become so familiar that they had become part of everyday life. Secondly, almost everywhere the inscriptions are made in the old spelling and the types are also pre-revolutionary - high school students, policemen, and so on. Finally, the tonality and plots of post-October drawings are completely different, household trifles were less interesting for children, too serious transformations took place, putting forward new themes, giving birth to new images. / Children depict queues in different ways, each in accordance with their vision of the world, temperament, the measure of cheerfulness allotted to him: either (“Three queues” or “Queue to Bogomolov's bakery”) calmly accepting the world with all its complexities, then perceiving the environment with anxiety and condemnation" [p. 68].
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 20.7X31.5 cm. Inscriptions: above the door to the store - meat trade E. M. Perlova; sign on the door: locked.[Author error: pearlsthey were not engaged in meat trade, they were the largest tea merchants].
45 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 28.0X35.7 cm. Non-bakery inscriptions: at the top - ( Boo) l full-time Bogomolova; showcases - bread cakes sweets of their confectioner (sky); Bogomolov; street names - 3 Znamen (sky); 1 Znamensky lane; top left; No. 2 V. Ch. [The bakery of N. I. Bogomolov was located in the first Znamensky lane, 6. The dome in the depths is the Church of the Sign in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda, it is also John the Baptist at the Cross, which is on the Sands in the Sretensky part. Preserved].
“The queue at Bogomolov's bakery is a drawing that is interesting for its almost protocol documentation. It can be argued that the view is accurately drawn - probably from the window. The author also indicates the scene of action - the corner of the 1st and 3rd Znamensky lanes. N.I. Bogomolov's bakery was indeed located at this address. Each house is individual, unlike the other. In the depths is the blue dome of the Znamenskaya Church with golden stars, which is on the Sands in the Sretenskaya part. The attention to detail is amazing: street signs, house numbers, and so on. The people in the queue are described in detail, leisurely, with taste: officers, a nurse in a starched scarf, a high school student (isn’t it a self-portrait?) ... / The author draws a compositionally and plot-complex scene, although he is clearly unfamiliar with the laws of perspective - the sidewalk does not narrow as it moves away , the stones of the cobblestone pavement in the distance do not become smaller, but, on the contrary, larger: the young artist, apparently, is tired of drawing the same mugs. Social and everyday troubles - war, famine - do not disturb the state of mind of the boy, but only attract and occupy his attention. A multi-colored, bright, full of hopes and expectations world, bright and joyful, is revealed around him” [p. 68-69].
46. THE QUEUE TO S. TITOV'S STORE. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.7X 33.2 cm. Inscriptions above the doors of the store - S. Titov. [S. Titov and sons - one of the largest trading houses, united 67 bread shops in Moscow].
“In Line at Titov's Bakery, the color scheme is interesting - a sharp, restless juxtaposition of black and crimson. Each figure is marked by individual traits, many are very funny, especially the schoolboy, the lady with the bun, the Tartar janitor standing behind her, but most of all the first couple: a woman in blue and a police officer supervising the line, looking tenderly at each other. However, despite the isolation of the characters, the line, thanks to the general opposition to the light background of the wall, is perceived as a whole, in unity” [p. 69-70]. 48. AMBULANCE Wagon. 1916
“Another everyday topic, where the intense pulse of time was especially felt, was trains. It seemed that all of Russia had moved, everyone was on wheels. Some were returning home from the war, others were going for food, others were going to fight for their Motherland, for the revolution. / The picture “Ambulance train” was probably made in 1916, when the greatest pain and the main concern of the country was the war. And yet, how calm the picture looks in comparison with the storm that will be reflected in the images of trains in 1917! Everything is measured, symmetrical, each wounded man in his place” [p. 70-71].
49. CAR "MOSCOW - NIZHNY NOVGOROD". 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, ink pencil. 25.0 X 34.9 cm. Inscriptions: on the car - Zy class; Moscow - N. Novgorod; announcements above the doors to the vestibules - mѣst n ѣt.
“... In a year, the topic will be filled with sharp social content, clearly conveying the pain of the day. The bulk of the passengers of the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod car are soldiers leaving the front to go home, and “bagmen” (a word born during the years of devastation) are petty speculators or ordinary people rushing around the country in search of food. A hodgepodge of arms, legs, heads fills the vestibules, despite the announcements of “no seats”. The car is covered with people, it is not clear what they clung to. They rest, putting bags next to them, the lucky ones who managed to climb onto the roof. / The drawing “Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod Carriage” captivates with the artist’s enthusiasm, the immediacy of impressions, the abundance of situations and details that can be considered endlessly” [p. 71].
Roadside post on the right: 27 ver (hundred).
“In an even more expressive manner, the drawing “Train at the 27th verst” was executed. He rushes across the flat terrain, disappearing into the depths of the leaf. Only the last four carriages are visible, all of different types. The speed of train movement is physically felt. Anxiety, anxiety is caused by the whole silhouette of the train with the roofs of the cars, as it were, tousled: people with rifles and machine guns are located on them. It already looks like a civil war. / According to the chronologically arranged drawings with trains, one can judge that life in revolutionary Russia was gaining momentum every day” [p. 72].
To be continued...
When using the material, a reference to the publication is required:
Moscow. 1917 Drawings of eyewitness children. From the collection of the State Historical Museum. / Comp. and the author of the text N.N. Goncharova. –M., 1987.
Digitization:
Internet magazine "Podmoskovny ethnographer", 2017 When reposting, a link to trojza.blogspot.com is required.
Revolution through the eyes of children: The Historical Museum is preparing an exhibition of invaluable documentary materials. These are drawings by young artists of the beginning of the last century - those who witnessed the revolutionary events in Russia. They transferred everything they saw to paper.
- The famous Moscow - and St. Petersburg too - "tails": the child depicted three queues at once - for bread, and for meat and for milk.
Naive, childish, but very realistic. A drawing from a schoolboy's album of 1917 with a carelessly torn off edge is not just creativity, but documentary evidence of how the country experienced a revolution.
“Bolshevik and Menshevik are first of all the word “big” and the word “small” at the root. This is a speculator. They roughly imagined who he was, but they did not see,” says Yevgeny, senior researcher at the department of fine materials of the State Historical Museum Lukyanov.
Only 1600 sheets are kept in the Historical Museum. They were pulled out of storerooms for the first time in 30 years. Boys from 6 to 14 years old transferred everything they saw to paper. The result was an emotional chronicle, which was preserved by the art critic, a contemporary of the revolution, Vasily Voronov.
"He gave them homework. Maybe they didn't even know what a revolution is - they are just from the bottom of their hearts," says Vasily Voronov's great-granddaughter Vera Voronova.
Vasily Voronov collected homework from his students for almost four years - from 1914 to 1918. He was sure that a century later these artifacts would tell more than a documentary chronicle.
“He also saw in this material a unique historical source of the events that were taking place in Russia at that time. It was considered on a par with great masters, great artists,” says Evgeny Lukyanov.
"He was a born collector at heart - he collected everything in the world," says Vera Voronova.
Children's works depicting the First World War were exhibited in Moscow in 1916. The success was incredible. Then the collection was replenished and in 1918 it was transferred to the Historical Museum. And after almost 100 years, they decided to show it to the audience of the XXI century. It will be possible to see the exposition "I am painting a revolution" and read children's notes from April 4th.
“It is very interesting to compare the text with the image. And children often write that they jumped into these cars and the soldiers rolled them around the city. And then they came home and sketched,” says Evgeny Lukyanov.
The six-year-old great-great-granddaughter of the artist and art critic Vasily Voronov, Katya, also loves to draw. On the album sheet, she depicts what surrounds her.
- The sun and the river.
Have you already drawn?
- Yes.
Following the example of the famous great-grandfather, the family will also save these drawings - for posterity.
Text: "Vesti-Moscow"
We continue to publish illustrations from the book “Moscow. 1917 Drawings of eyewitness children” (M., 1987). Children's drawings collected by V.S. Voronov since 1919 are stored in the State Historical Museum.
After acquainting readers with a series of "revolutionary types", the author of the publication, candidate of art criticism N. N. Goncharova, publishes drawings of Muscovite children, reflecting the plot scenes of the period between the February and October revolutions of 1917.
Between two revolutions
25. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE GRAND THEATER. August 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.4X16.9 cm. The inscriptions on the posters: Long live the democratic) republic b(face); Long live the republic! Long live the democratic republic Sorting. [Thousands of Muscovites gathered on Theater Square to protest the Moscow State Conference. It was convened by the Provisional Government and took place on August 12-15, 1917 under the chairmanship of Kerensky in the premises of the Bolshoi Theater. Black flag - anarchists. The red flag (the first one from the viewer) is for the railroad workers of the sorting station of the Kazan railway].
“The days of the Moscow State Conference (August 12-14, 1917) include the sheet “Demonstration near the Bolshoi Theater”. A small fragment of the square adjacent to the theater is depicted, and the movement of the demonstration is directed first into the depths (in this case, we see only the backs and hats), and then it turns to the left, filling the square almost to capacity. One gets the impression of an infinity of moving masses of people demanding the establishment of a republic in the country. Among the red banners, the black banner of the anarchists looks like a sharp dissonance. In the foreground is a red poster with the words “Long live the democratic republic”, and below the postscript: “Art. Sorting” . This is a column of railway workers from the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya station, perhaps the same station on the Moscow-Kazan railway, where the first communist subbotnik was held on April 12, 1919” [p. 60].
26. DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGANS “DOWN WITH THE OLD GOVERNMENT. LONG LIVE THE NEW." 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 22.5X25.6 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the old (th) government) long live the new.
The theme of "demonstration" can be opened with a drawing of a very young child, no doubt a preschooler. The kid cannot, of course, consciously reveal the meaning of what is happening. But this fact has become so ordinary, familiar that even he draws a demonstration. The slogan on the flag conveys the most abstract demands of any protest group - "gone old, yeslong live the new." Equally laconic, but, like a formula, the drawing itself is comprehensive” [p. 56-57].
27. DEMONSTRATION ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE HOUSE UNDER A GREEN ROOF. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26, ЗХ 35.7 cm. Inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): Long live the revolution; down with the king, cheers; Earth and Will [ "Land and Freedom"- the slogan of the Left SRs and the name of their newspaper, published in Moscow from March 1917 to May 1918.]; Long live the institution d(noun) meeting) [ constituent Assembly- a representative institution formed to develop a form of government after the overthrow of the monarchy]; Long live free Russia; Down with manarchism.
28.
DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGAN "LONG LIVE A FREE RUSSIA".
February 1917.
Author Yatskevich. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 25.9X 34.4 cm. Inscriptions: on the wall - Bookstore; on the banner - Long live the freePocciI.
“... an older boy (named Yatskevich) is already able to convey the originality of the picture that appeared before him. His demonstration is typical of the first days of the bourgeois-democratic revolution. The pure public (officers, ladies) with red bows on their chests, with the slogans “Long live free Russia!” Goes and goes. There are no common people among the demonstrators. Characteristics are characterized extremely detailed, convincingly. A close-up allows you to consider the lordly faces, confident in their rightness to decide the fate of Russia. A soldier with military awards (on the right) seemed to accidentally stick to the demonstration, his figure expresses uncertainty and bewilderment: is he on the way with these gentlemen? [With. 57] .
29. DEMONSTRATION WITH A MILITARY ORCHESTRA. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 35, ZX 26.4 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the bourgeois i yu, long live the peace of the whole world.
“... in the “Demonstration with a military band” sheet, humorous notes were deliberately introduced. A drunkard fell, broke a bottle, bloodied his nose, some laugh at him, others teach. This episode, brought to the forefront, for the child, perhaps, constituted the main content of the drawing. / February of the seventeenth year was not bloodless. The revolution began with a general strike, armed clashes between workers and soldiers, and an open manifestation of contradictions between the masses of soldiers and officers. A child's drawing introduces us to one of these dramatic incidents in the barracks. In detail, in several episodes, the action unfolds on a horizontally stretched sheet. The workers who have just arrived (on the right) call on the soldiers to join them, next to them are soldiers with red armbands, sympathizing with the revolution, in the middle - a soldier with the royal flag, and on the left side of the picture - monarchist-minded officers are guarding armories locked with a large castle. How exactly this story ended is unknown, but the February Revolution won. Let us think that here, too, the officers were disarmed, the warehouses seized, and the soldiers went over to the side of the revolution. 64].
30. DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGAN "WAR UNTIL VICTORY". Spring 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 34.5X 26.8 cm. Poster caption: Long live free poc ci I! War to victory. Hooray! Authorship is established by analogy with figures 42 and 66.
“Kosarev's drawing is extremely expressive, the strong creative temperament of the young artist is obvious. There are no minor details, no designation of the scene, there are only people united by a common idea. They move straight towards the viewer. This alone is already unusual for children's drawing, as it narrows the possibilities of a pictorial story, the desire for which is so characteristic of children's thinking. The contour stroke with a pen, with which the artist finishes the work done with a colored pencil, gives the drawing the energy of movement, makes it consonant with the graphics of the revolutionary era” [p. 58-59].
31. DEMONSTRATION ON A WIDE STREET. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, graphite and colored pencils. 26.5X 34.9 cm. Inscriptions: above the entrance to the store - the sale of bread from urban communities (venous) bakers (en); slogans (from left to right) - PVSS [Proletarians of all countries, unite]; DZDR [Long Live]; DZSDRP [long live the Social Democratic Labor Party]; DZDR; VDDZR [Long live long live (?)]; 3 and B [Land and freedom (SR slogan)]; Yes Hello. Social Dem. Slave. Steam.; by car - Moscow State University [Moscow City Council].
“Sometimes a drawing, which adds almost nothing new to the actual course of events according to the works already considered, surprises with a peculiar refraction of the psychology of the era in the minds of children. Here is one of the demonstrations in the summer of 1917. Numerous slogans on the posters attract attention: all of them are given only in initial letters. Deciphering them requires a certain amount of mental effort. For example: DZSDRP - Long live the Social Democratic Labor Party; PVSS - Proletarians of all countries, unite. Of course, no one walked with abbreviated slogans, and even if they did, the child would not be able to reproduce them exactly. And of course, it was not the desire to encrypt the text that guided him. He did this simply for speed and to fit as much as possible in the drawing. And abbreviations of long names were common in those years. Parties and organizations were abbreviated. The child does the same in his work. There is no humor here. On the contrary, the boy acts like adults.”[ With. 63].
32. DEMONSTRATION AT THE CROSSROADS. February 1917
Author Alexander Ponomarev. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen. 26.3X 34.9 cm. Signature of the artist at the bottom right: The work of Alexander Ponomarev. Inscriptions: on the poster - Long live free Russia; next to a running man ( half-erased) - the same words.
“The boy very accurately reproduces the situation: the people's column, the military column, the riders in the car - all with flags, everyone rejoices. He runs alone, shouting a slogan (the text was written near the figure, then erased, but still readable), hurries to join the organized public. Someone from curiosity almost falls out of the window of the third floor - is it the author himself? The artist conveys the atmosphere of general joyful revival not only illustratively and descriptively. The composition itself is dynamic. Its main lines, corresponding to the direction of the streets and two intersecting human flows, form an angle. The mobility of this system is emphasized by the bright colors of the houses, the rhythmic repetition of colored curtains” [p. 58].
33. THREE COLUMNS. 1917
26.0X 34.7 cm. The inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): Let's goi e Ukraine i ana; hello t(wow); Long live the Provisional Government and Kerensk i th; Long live international i online; Long live free Rosi I; 8 o'clock; NexPolcka;
NexPolcko. [Left - a column of Ukrainians carrying a portrait of Vinnichenko, the head of the Ukrainian Central Rada, and the slogan "Long live Ukraine" (in Ukrainian).In the middle is a column of Russians calling for support for the Provisional Government. On the right are the Poles with the slogan "Long live Poland" (in Polish). The slogan in the background is "8 o'clock" - the demand for an eight-hour working day. To the right is the corner of the portico of the Bolshoi Theatre.
“Very interesting in content, although inept in execution, is the drawing “Three Columns”. The event shown here is not described, it seems to us, either in the history of the revolution or in memoirs, but the boy could not invent it. If the drawing had been done by an adult, one could say that its theme is the national policy of the Provisional Government. Next to the column glorifying in their slogans the Provisional Government of Kerensky, free Russia and the International, on the right is a column of Poles with the slogan “Long live Poland!”, and on the left are Ukrainian officers with hanging, “Zaporozhye” mustaches and red bows on their chests. They carry a portrait of the head of independent Ukraine and a separate slogan “Let i e Ukra i na”<...>By the picture can accurately determine the place, and hence the time of action. On the right are the steps and one of the columns of the Bolshoi Theatre. Consequently, the action is taking place on Theater Square in front of the Bolshoi Theater on the opening day of the Moscow Conference” [p. 61].
34. DELEGATION OF WORKERS IN FRONT OF THE BARRACKS. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 18.2X 34.2 cm. Inscriptions on the banners (from left to right): dol about(th)..; Long live the democratic republic.
“A characteristic sign of the times from the very February days were cars carrying security service on the streets, with Red Guards, revolutionary soldiers. Naturally, many of them were drawn by children. In these pictures, the romance of the revolution manifested itself most clearly. The drawings are different. One child thinks spatially and unfolds the image in perspective, directing the car towards the viewer, the other two-dimensionally, but, despite this, just as dynamically. Directed forward and the car and the riders - the Red Guards. Feeling of movement intensifies in contrast to symmetrically from machines standing and from that especially stable identical houses, outlined in a thick outline. There are many photographs of 1917, among which there are cars very similar to those in our drawings, but I think this coincidence should not lead to the conclusion that they were copied by children. They only confirm the historical authenticity of the drawings.”[ With. 65-66].
36. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE FACTORY. February 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.2X 36.6 cm. Inscriptions: a sign above the door - bread n(th shop); on the poster - freedom of speech.
“Among the sheets relating to the February days, one of the most impressive is the demonstration near the factory. The artistic form is determined by laconism, graphic, rhythmic repetition. The incompleteness of the composition, as it were, suggests its continuation to the sides, helping to understand that the whole city is engulfed in jubilation, and a similar picture can be seen on all the streets. At the same time, the drawing attracts with its unique concreteness. This is the only sheet that shows the movement of the work column against the backdrop of factory architecture, shown in all its convincing originality. The buildings stretch along the street. The workers march not like the bourgeois public (Figures 30 and 37), but in an organized manner, shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight for their rights. On both sides of the street, on the sidewalk, there are observers, whose stiffness anduniformity is emphasized by the movement of a powerful human stream, as well as the unusualness of what is happening, striking the layman" [p. 59-60].
37. DEMONSTRATION OF THE ZEMSKOY UNION. Spring 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.3X 34.7 cm. Inscriptions on banners: VZS [ VZS- All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Assistance to Sick and Wounded Soldiers]. Hello With(tvuet) constituent) assembledi I; VZS.
38. RED GUARDS in a CAR. 1917
39. ELECTIONS TO THE CITY DUMA. 1917
Author P. Grigoriev. Paper, color and graphite carton and dashi. 25.7X 35.0 cm. Signed above: I quarter P. Grigoriev. Inscriptions: on the house on the right - the electoral thought; on banners - earth and will; updated RossiI; down with the war; not a car and leaflets scattered from it - No. 1; on the walls of the houses - leaflets with No. 1, 3, 4. [Figures 39 and 40 show the elections to the Moscow dumas - city (June 24) and district (September 24). The numbers on the sheets are the numbers of the lists of candidates from different parties. List No. 1—cadets, No. 9 2 - People's Socialists, No. 3 - Socialist-Revolutionaries, N 4 - uniters (organization of united social democrats - internationalists), N 5 - Bolsheviks.
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 25.6 / 34.0 cm. Inscriptions: above - Lubyansk i th passage; on the banners (from left to right): Hello in(ut) revolutionary i he(n)th RossiI; Long live the earth and freedom; Down with the war; Long live the equality of brothers (your) and the world; list number 5; Citizens! Vote(s) fori yu socialist (in) revolutionaries (№ 3).
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen 22.2/33.7 cmi I; in the middle - yes hellofree rossiI; on the gates on the sides of the opening there is a monogram of E.R. [Red Gate is the name of the square and the triumphal arch built by the architect D.V. Monogram E. R. - Elizabeth Pri m a- Elizabeth the First, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in whose reign the arch was built. On the left is the Church of the Three Saints, built in 1674. not preserved].
42. RALLYS. March 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 26.7X 34.6 cm Signature of the author at the bottom right: Kosarev III . Inscriptions: bottom left - Rallies; on the pedestal - circus salamons to(wow); Nikitin; Ball masquerade tour. [The Salamonsky Circus is a private circus located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Salamonsky's own house. After the revolution, the Moscow State Circus was located here. The Nikitin Circus is the second Moscow circus, located on Bolshaya Sedovaya near the Old Triumphal Gate (now Mayakovsky Square).
43. THREE TURNS. 1917
“The military year of 1916 was hard and hopeless, 1917 was full of struggle and hopes, 1918 was illumined by work and faith in a bright future ... All of them were accompanied by devastation, a food crisis. The most noticeable sign of trouble for urban children is hunger, its visible expression is queues. There are a lot of drawings depicting queues in stores. / This group of drawings is difficult to date, but they were probably made before the October Revolution. Firstly, by October, the queues had already become so familiar that they had become part of everyday life. Secondly, almost everywhere the inscriptions are made in the old spelling and the types are also pre-revolutionary - high school students, policemen, and so on. Finally, the tonality and plots of post-October drawings are completely different, household trifles were less interesting for children, too serious transformations took place, putting forward new themes, giving birth to new images. / Children depict queues in different ways, each in accordance with their vision of the world, temperament, the measure of cheerfulness allotted to him: either (“Three queues” or “Queue to Bogomolov's bakery”) calmly accepting the world with all its complexities, then perceiving the environment with anxiety and condemnation" [p. 68].
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 20.7X31.5 cm. Inscriptions: above the door to the store - meat trade E. M. Perlova; sign on the door: locked.[Author error: pearlsthey were not engaged in meat trade, they were the largest tea merchants].
45 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 28.0X35.7 cm. Non-bakery inscriptions: at the top - ( Boo) l full-time Bogomolova; showcases - bread cakes sweets of their confectioner (sky); Bogomolov; street names - 3 Znamen (sky); 1 Znamensky lane; top left; No. 2 V. Ch. [The bakery of N. I. Bogomolov was located in the first Znamensky lane, 6. The dome in the depths is the Church of the Sign in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda, it is also John the Baptist at the Cross, which is on the Sands in the Sretensky part. Preserved].
“The queue at Bogomolov's bakery is a drawing that is interesting for its almost protocol documentation. It can be argued that the view is accurately drawn - probably from the window. The author also indicates the scene of action - the corner of the 1st and 3rd Znamensky lanes. N.I. Bogomolov's bakery was indeed located at this address. Each house is individual, unlike the other. In the depths is the blue dome of the Znamenskaya Church with golden stars, which is on the Sands in the Sretenskaya part. The attention to detail is amazing: street signs, house numbers, and so on. The people in the queue are described in detail, leisurely, with taste: officers, a nurse in a starched scarf, a high school student (isn’t it a self-portrait?) ... / The author draws a compositionally and plot-complex scene, although he is clearly unfamiliar with the laws of perspective - the sidewalk does not narrow as it moves away , the stones of the cobblestone pavement in the distance do not become smaller, but, on the contrary, larger: the young artist, apparently, is tired of drawing the same mugs. Social and everyday troubles - war, famine - do not disturb the state of mind of the boy, but only attract and occupy his attention. A multi-colored, bright, full of hopes and expectations world, bright and joyful, is revealed around him” [p. 68-69].
46. THE QUEUE TO S. TITOV'S STORE. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.7X 33.2 cm. Inscriptions above the doors of the store - S. Titov. [S. Titov and sons - one of the largest trading houses, united 67 bread shops in Moscow].
“In Line at Titov's Bakery, the color scheme is interesting - a sharp, restless juxtaposition of black and crimson. Each figure is marked by individual traits, many are very funny, especially the schoolboy, the lady with the bun, the Tartar janitor standing behind her, but most of all the first couple: a woman in blue and a police officer supervising the line, looking tenderly at each other. However, despite the isolation of the characters, the line, thanks to the general opposition to the light background of the wall, is perceived as a whole, in unity” [p. 69-70]. 48. AMBULANCE Wagon. 1916
“Another everyday topic, where the intense pulse of time was especially felt, was trains. It seemed that all of Russia had moved, everyone was on wheels. Some were returning home from the war, others were going for food, others were going to fight for their Motherland, for the revolution. / The picture “Ambulance train” was probably made in 1916, when the greatest pain and the main concern of the country was the war. And yet, how calm the picture looks in comparison with the storm that will be reflected in the images of trains in 1917! Everything is measured, symmetrical, each wounded man in his place” [p. 70-71].
49. CAR "MOSCOW - NIZHNY NOVGOROD". 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, ink pencil. 25.0 X 34.9 cm. Inscriptions: on the car - Zy class; Moscow - N. Novgorod; announcements above the doors to the vestibules - mѣst n ѣt.
“... In a year, the topic will be filled with sharp social content, clearly conveying the pain of the day. The bulk of the passengers of the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod car are soldiers leaving the front to go home, and “bagmen” (a word born during the years of devastation) are petty speculators or ordinary people rushing around the country in search of food. A hodgepodge of arms, legs, heads fills the vestibules, despite the announcements of “no seats”. The car is covered with people, it is not clear what they clung to. They rest, putting bags next to them, the lucky ones who managed to climb onto the roof. / The drawing “Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod Carriage” captivates with the artist’s enthusiasm, the immediacy of impressions, the abundance of situations and details that can be considered endlessly” [p. 71].
Roadside post on the right: 27 ver (hundred).
“In an even more expressive manner, the drawing “Train at the 27th verst” was executed. He rushes across the flat terrain, disappearing into the depths of the leaf. Only the last four carriages are visible, all of different types. The speed of train movement is physically felt. Anxiety, anxiety is caused by the whole silhouette of the train with the roofs of the cars, as it were, tousled: people with rifles and machine guns are located on them. It already looks like a civil war. / According to the chronologically arranged drawings with trains, one can judge that life in revolutionary Russia was gaining momentum every day” [p. 72].
To be continued...
When using the material, a reference to the publication is required:
Moscow. 1917 Drawings of eyewitness children. From the collection of the State Historical Museum. / Comp. and the author of the text N.N. Goncharova. –M., 1987.
Digitization:
Internet magazine "Podmoskovny ethnographer", 2017 When reposting, a link to .
In 1919, Vasily Voronov, a scholar and teacher of graphic arts, donated to the Russian Historical Museum a collection of children's drawings dedicated to the First World War and the Revolution. Voronov taught from 1906 at the Ivan Alexandrov Real School in Moscow, and from 1910 at the Lomonosov Men's Gymnasium. In 1914 he began to collect children's drawings about the war, and three years later he added drawings about the revolution.
Voronov's collection is made up of drawings of boys of senior preschool age, students of the lower grades of city schools and secondary educational institutions in Moscow - aged from seven to thirteen years. Basically, these are the works of his students. Almost all the drawings, according to the collector himself, were executed at home, as works on free themes, without the help and instructions of the teacher, only under the influence of events and moods that the city lived during the years of war and revolutions.
In 1917, Voronov, in addition to drawings, began to collect children's texts dedicated to the events taking place at that time. Some of these notes were published by the scientist in 1927, on the tenth anniversary of the February and October revolutions. The names of the authors of the texts, as well as most of the drawings, are unknown.
Demonstrations, rallies and queues
Images of revolution
"Moscow War"
Demonstrations, rallies
and queues
Unknown author. Demonstration near the factory with the motto "Freedom of speech!". February 1917 State Historical Museum “It was spring. People began to worry and made a revolution"
Demonstration with slogans "Long live free Russia!" and "War to victory!". The drawing is signed by the name Kosarev. Spring 1917 State Historical Museum “During the war, turmoil began in Moscow, one day, when I was walking with my grandmother and came home, I found out that the sovereign had been driven from the throne. When I sat down to drink tea, then suddenly we heard a noise outside our windows, I saw a large crowd of workers.
Unknown author. Rally at the Red Gate. Spring 1917 State Historical Museum The figure shows the baroque arch of the triumphal Red Gate and the bell tower of the Church of the Three Saints (demolished in 1927).
“On March 1, under the leadership of students, tsarism was overthrown, and a provisional government took its place. But it soon brought Russia to the point of no
Unknown author. Car with revolutionary soldiers. Spring 1917 State Historical Museum “Soon a manifestation appeared, it was very large and grandiose. They carried red banners trimmed with gold lace. Every man or woman had a red bow. At that time, I was seized by a joyful feeling of love for everyone.
Unknown author. Demonstration on a wide street. Summer 1917 State Historical Museum One of the many demonstrations in the summer of 1917. The slogans on the posters are given only in initial letters: "DZSDRP" - "Long live the Social Democratic Labor Party"; "DZDR" - "Long live democratic Russia"; "PVSS" - "Proletarians of all countries, unite."
“As soon as the revolution began, I could not sit at home. And I was drawn to the street. All the people went to Red Square, where students made speeches near the Duma. Everyone was in a happy mood. The streets were driven by trucks with soldiers in whose hands were guns.
Unknown author. Rally near the monument to Pushkin. Summer 1917 State Historical Museum One of the rallies in the summer of 1917 is depicted. The monument to Pushkin stands in its original place, at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard on Pushkin Square (it was moved to the opposite side of the square in 1950).
“Under the tsar, there was little bread, and now even less. In September, they began to give out a quarter of a pound, and where they won’t give it at all. ”
Unknown author. Demonstration near the Bolshoi Theater with the slogan "Long live the democratic republic!". August 1917 State Historical Museum Thousands of Muscovites gathered on Theater Square to protest the Moscow State Conference. It was convened by the Provisional Government and took place on August 12-15, 1917 under the chairmanship of the premises of the Bolshoi Theater. In the middle of the red banners is the black banner of the anarchists. In the foreground is a red poster of the railway workers of the sorting station with the inscription: "Long live the democratic republic!"
Unknown author. The queue at the Chuev bakery on Solyanka. 1917 State Historical Museum Queues ("tails") became the main sign of the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917. The food crisis affected primarily the large cities, and for children this was the first sign of trouble.
Images of revolution
Unknown author. Bolshevik with the banner "Down with the war and the bourgeoisie." 1917 State Historical Museum “The people were divided into many parties, there were Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks were the landowners and rich people, and the Bolsheviks were the people, the workers, and the artisans, and the peasants.
A. Konstantinov. Bolshevik going to the rally. 1917 State Historical Museum The picture shows a Bolshevik going to an election rally. In his hands is a flag with the number 5, which indicates the number of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolshevik Party) headed by Lenin in the electoral lists for the elections to the Constituent Assembly.
Unknown author. Masha is a Bolshevik. 1917 State Historical Museum "Now we have begun to recognize what kind of bourgeois"
Unknown author. Bolshevik and Menshevik. 1917 State Historical Museum The Bolshevik and the Menshevik are opposed to each other: the Menshevik is tiny and dressed in an expensive fur coat; Bolshevik is huge, he is in a leather jacket, pants with multi-colored patches, felt boots and is armed.
Unknown author. Bolshevik and bourgeois. 1917 State Historical Museum “When I came home, I began to draw how people walk along the street with flags, and drew as many as 14 Red Flags. My father asked me when he came, What are you doing? I told him that I was drawing a revolution!”
Unknown author. Speculator. 1917 State Historical Museum "Moscow War"
Unknown author. Fight on the Theater Square. November 1917 State Historical Museum On the Theater Square in Moscow in October 1917 there were fierce battles. In the picture - a green armored car with the inscription "S. R. and S. D.”, that is, the “Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies”.
“Once I was walking along Sukharev Square and saw barricades, I didn’t know what they were. When I got home, I asked my mother, but she didn't know either. In the evening, when I was sitting at home and doing my homework, we heard shots and then I found out that this was a revolution.
“I watched from the window through binoculars as they fired from a machine gun. All these days it was dangerous to leave the house, and we could not get bread, for four days we ate potatoes. At night, we slept without undressing, and dad and other men who live in our house were on duty with revolvers in turn in the yard.
Unknown author. Battle for the Kremlin. November 1917 State Historical Museum The Kremlin is shown from Red Square. Cannonballs are flying over the battlement wall, the Nikolskaya Tower is in gaping holes.
“Since our house is at the corner of Myasnitskaya and Yushkov Lane, they fired from both sides along our house. A Bolshevik machine gun stood at our gates. Once we went out into the yard, but suddenly they started shooting hard, and we went home. A bullet hit the window above our apartment in our house. I went to see her"
“On Monday, they still continue to shoot, my mother stood at the window and looked at her stocking, and as soon as she moved away, the bullet hit our window, but did not fly into the room, but broke through the first glass and remained on the windowsill”
“When a truce was announced, I ran to the center with two comrades to see what the Bolsheviks and the Junkers had won. We saw a lot of houses upholstered with large windows shattered to smithereens, and several houses were all burned down. Everywhere people went safely and everyone talked about how the Moscow war was going on.
Unknown author. Shelled houses near the Kremlin. November 1917 State Historical Museum “In the days of revolution it was very fun. And I will never forget the Russian revolution"
“The Bolshevik victims were not buried, but speeches were made and music was played, and the people marched with red banners and ribbons. I used to go to Red Square to watch how the grave was dug up and laid with boards. The people were arguing among themselves everywhere, and some were cursing."
Unknown author. At the open mass grave. November 1917 State Historical Museum On November 10, 1917, Red Guards who died in revolutionary battles were buried in Moscow. 238 coffins were lowered into the graves on Red Square. Two mass graves are located near the walls of the Kremlin, on both sides of the Senate Tower.
From April 19 to June 19, 2017, the State Historical Museum will host the exhibition "I'm painting a revolution!": Children's drawings from the Great Russian Revolution from the collection of the State Historical Museum, which will present children's drawings, photographs of revolutionary Moscow, rare posters 1917 and documentary evidence of eyewitnesses.
