1933
oil on canvas
211 õ 270
Ioganson’s work was very popular at the time and was considered one of the best examples of the new historical painting genre of Socialist Realism, expressing a so-called thematic painting.
In 1951, one of the critics wrote: “The essence of the painting is in the fight of the new against the old, in the heroic pathos…the affirmation of the new, which the artist has invested in the appearance of genuine heroes of the great work of Soviet art. The man and woman have faces of simple people like the thousands you encounter everywhere…they stand before the officers seated at a desk who are leading the interrogation. The man… has an easier time exercising self-control. The woman is very young and it is apparent she is containing her emotions. They are precisely the true victors in this duel, which like a drop of water reflects the whole historical struggle of two worlds. With all of its truth, so profound and unadulterated, this scene radiates a morally uplifting feeling.”
Thanks to the diagonal composition of the painting it appears that the interrogation being imposed by the White Guards descends inexorably while at the same time the figures of the Communists are set off bright light and are resistant and monolithic.
