1. Vasily Vereshchagin. ‘The Apotheosis of War’
Tretyakov Gallery
Vereshchagin showed the true face of war. You have probably seen his most famous painting - ‘The Apotheosis of War’, which depicts a heap of human skulls. The author’s inscription says: ‘To all great conquerors, past, present and to come.’
2. Vasily Vereshchagin. ‘Defeated. Requiem’
Tretyakov Gallery
Even ‘The Apotheosis of War’ doesn’t strike the imagination quite like this painting. In it, the battle has just finished, and a priest gives last rites to the soldiers who have just died… and there’s a great multitude of them.
3. Vasily Vereshchagin. ‘After Luck’
The Russian Museum
Vereshchagin traveled across Central Asia a lot and he brought his entire ‘Turkestan Series’ with him from there. Legends spread about the atrocities that were happening there in the 19th century. The sight of these cutthroats, looking at their “trophy” with indifference, speaks for itself.
4. Ilya Repin. ‘Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581’
Tretyakov Gallery
This is the power of art. Because of this incredibly emotional painting by Repin, the entire country believed that the historical myth about Ivan the Terrible murdering his own son was the honest truth.
5. Mikhail Klodt. ‘Ivan the Terrible and the Souls of his Victims’
Stavropol Regional Museum of The Fine Arts
This is another art fantasy about the atrocities of Ivan the Terrible. It’s especially unexpected to see such a painting from Mikhail Klodt, otherwise known for his idyllic landscapes.
6. Viktor Vasnetsov. ‘Koshchey the Immortal’
Victor Vasnetsov House Museum
Koshchey the Immortal kidnaps beautiful young maidens and locks them up in his dark kingdom. This character from Russian fairy tales visits all children in their nightmares. He’s especially creepy in Vasnetsov’s portrayal.
7. Vasily Perov. ‘The Last Journey’
Tretyakov Gallery
Realist Perov is famous for his chilling and naturalistic scenes from the lives of regular people. One of his most famous paintings is ‘Troika’, where children – apprentice workers – carry a giant barrel with water like burlaks. ‘The Last Journey’, meanwhile, is a painting filled with anguish. A mother with her two children, alone, lonely in their grief, are taking a coffin with their deceased husband/father to the cemetery.
8. Karl Bryullov. ‘The Last Day of Pompeii’
The Russian Museum
This giant 4-by-6-meter painting depicts true horror. People see the city crumbling and attempt to run away from the erupting volcano. The viewer, studying their fear in the most minute details, will realize that no one in this painting will escape.
9. Arkady Plastov. ‘A Nazi Plane Flew By’
Tretyakov Gallery
This is one of the most striking paintings about World War II. In the background, we see a plane shrinking into the distance, leaving the once peaceful landscape it just destroyed. The dead shepherd boy and his dog howling near him especially influence the perception of the viewer.
10. Yuri Neprintsev. ‘Blockade’
Yury Neprintsev
A whole range of artworks was painted about one of the most terrifying episodes of World War II – the Siege of Leningrad. One of the most famous and saddest narratives involves people who, in the incredible cold, are pulling sleds with water, firewood… or the bodies of their deceased relatives.
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