(1885-1964)
Partisan's Mother
Sergei Gerasimov is a painter who received wide recognition as a great master. One of the people, he viewed life through people’s eyes.
A man of keen and inquiring mind, his interests extended far beyond Russia’s borders, and he traveled widely. He was a connoisseur of ancient Greek art, French impressionism and Italian painting. He exhibited at international shows in France and Belgium, and also in Britain, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Rumania. Everywhere he found a common language with his colleagues and the working people. at his exhibitions he always showed, side by side with major works, sketches in oils and water-colours done in Italy, Britain, Bulgaria, and other countries, all skillfully executed, vivid and expressive. Once Gerasimov called the water colour his ‘first love’, and he remained true to it throughout his life.
Four paintings, especially popular in the country, deal with Gerasimov’s favourite themes and are typical of his more mature period. A Collective Farm Watchman (1933), A Collective Farm Holiday (1934), A Partisan’s Mother (1943), and For the Power of Soviets (1957) – show Soviet people at different periods in the history of the Soviet state.
The Mother portrays the heroism of Soviet collective farmers and the Russian people, but has a specific accent – it was done during the Great Patriotic War and is a passionate cry against fascism.
A simple peasant woman confronts the Nazis. Her village is in flames, destroyed by a punitive detachment; her son, a partisan, is about to be executed; she herself is in mortal danger, and yet morally she is the victor.
At the International Fair in Brussels the Mother was awarded a gold medal. There was always a crowd of people in front of it.