EntranceThe name of children's drawings on the theme of revolution. Revolution for the little ones
We continue to publish illustrations from the book “Moscow. 1917 Drawings of children who witnessed events” (Moscow, 1987). Children's drawings collected by V.S. Voronov have been kept in the State Historical Museum since 1919.
Having introduced readers to a series of “revolutionary types”, the author of the publication, Candidate of Art History N. N. Goncharova, publishes drawings by Muscovite children, reflecting plot scenes from the period between the February and October revolutions of 1917.
Between two revolutions
25. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE BIG THEATER. August 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.4X16.9 cm. Inscriptions on the posters: Long live the democratic republic b(face); Long live the Republic! Long live the democratic republic Art. Sorting room. [Thousands of Muscovites gathered on Teatralnaya 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 at the Bolshoi Theater. Black flag - anarchists. Red flag (first from the viewer) - railway workers of the Sortirovochnaya station of the Kazan Railway].
“The sheet “Demonstration near the Bolshoi Theater” belongs to the days of the Moscow State Conference (August 12-14, 1917). A small fragment of the square adjacent to the theater is depicted, and the movement of the demonstration is directed first into the depths (we see only backs and hats), and then it turns to the left, almost filling the square 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 is a note: “Art. Sorting room” . This is a column of railway workers passing 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 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 government, hello with the new.
“The theme of “demonstration” can be opened with a drawing by a very young child, undoubtedly a preschooler. The baby cannot, of course, consciously identify the meaning of what is happening. But this fact has become so common and familiar that even he draws a demonstration. The slogan on the flag conveys the most abstract demands of any protest group - "give away the old, yesLong live the new." The drawing itself is just as laconic, but just as comprehensive as the formula” [p. 56-57].
27. DEMONSTRATION WITH A HOUSE UNDER A GREEN ROOF IN THE BACKGROUND. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26, 35.7 cm. Inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): Long live the revolution; down with the king, hurray; Land and Freedom [ "Land and Freedom"- the slogan of the Left Social Revolutionaries and the name of their newspaper, published in Moscow from March 1917 to May 1918.]; Long live the teacher 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 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 clean public (officers, ladies) with red bows on their chests, with the slogans “Long live free Russia!” comes and goes. There are no common people among the demonstrators. The types are characterized in unusual detail and convincingly. A close-up allows you to see the lordly faces, confident in their rightness to decide the fate of Russia. The soldier with military decorations (on the right) seemed to accidentally join the demonstration, his figure expresses uncertainty and bewilderment: is he on his way with these gentlemen?” [With. 57] .
29. DEMONSTRATION WITH A MILITARY ORCHESTRA. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 35, ZH 26.4 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the bourgeoisie i Well, long live the peace of the whole world.
“...in the sheet “Demonstration with a military band” humorous notes were deliberately introduced. A drunkard fell, broke a bottle, bloodied his nose, some laugh at him, others teach him. This episode, brought to the fore, 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 the officers. A child's drawing introduces us to one of these dramatic incidents in the barracks. The action unfolds in detail, in several episodes, on a horizontally elongated sheet. The workers who have just arrived (on the right) are calling on the soldiers to join them, next to them are soldiers with red armbands who sympathize with the revolution, in the middle is a soldier with the royal flag, and on the left side of the picture are monarchist-minded officers guarding weapons warehouses locked with a large padlock. How exactly this story ended is unknown, but the February Revolution was victorious. Let us think that here too the officers were disarmed, the warehouses were captured, and the soldiers went over to the side of the revolution" [p. 64].
30. DEMONSTRATION WITH THE SLOGAN “WAR TILL VICTORY.” Spring 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 34.5X 26.8 cm. Inscription on the poster: Long live the free Poc ci I! War until victory. Hooray! Authorship was 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 indication of the place of action, there are only people united by a common idea. They move directly towards the viewer. This alone is already unusual for a child’s drawing, since 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 a work done in colored pencil, imparts the energy of movement to the drawing, making 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 - sale of bread from urban public bakers; slogans (from left to right) - PVSS [Workers of all countries, unite]; DZDR [Long live]; DZSDRP [long live the Social Democratic Labor Party]; DZDR; DRDZR [Long live long live (?)]; 3 and B [Land and freedom (socialist-revolutionary slogan)]; Yes Hello Social Dem. Slave. Steam.; by car - MGU [Moscow City Government].
“Sometimes a drawing, which adds almost nothing new to the actual course of events in the works already discussed, surprises with its unique refraction of the psychology of the era in a child’s consciousness. Here is one of the demonstrations in the summer of 1917. The numerous slogans on the posters attract attention: all of them are given only in initial letters. To decipher them requires a certain amount of mental effort. For example: DZSDLP - Long live the Social Democratic Labor Party; PVSS - Workers of all countries, unite. Of course, no one walked around with abbreviated slogans, and even if they did, the child would not have been able to reproduce them accurately. 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 into the drawing. And abbreviations of long names were common in those years. Parties and organizations were abbreviated. The child does the same in his creativity. 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: Work by Alexander Ponomarev. Inscriptions: on the poster - Long live free Russia; next to the running man (half erased) - the same words.
“The boy very accurately reproduces the situation: a column of people, a column of military men, passengers in a car - everyone with flags, everyone rejoicing. He runs alone, shouting a slogan (the text was written near the figure, then erased, but can still be read), and hurries to join the organized public. Someone almost falls out of a third-floor window out of curiosity—is it the author himself? The artist conveys the atmosphere of general joyful revival not only through illustrative and descriptive means. The composition itself is dynamic. Its main lines, corresponding to the direction of the streets and two intersecting human streams, form an angle. The mobility of this system is emphasized by the bright colors of the houses and the rhythmic repetition of colored curtains” [p. 58].
33. THREE COLUMNS. 1917
26.0X 34.7 cm. Inscriptions on the posters (from left to right): let's goi e Ukraine i ana; Yes hello T(howls); Long live the Provisional Government and Kerensk i th; Long live the international i onal; Long live free Russiai I; 8 o'clock; NexPolcka;
NexPolcko. [Left - a column of Ukrainians carrying a portrait of Vynnychenko, 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 Poles with the slogan “Long Live Poland” (in Polish). The slogan in depth is “8 o’clock” - the requirement for an eight-hour working day. To the right is the corner of the Bolshoi Theater portico.
“Very interesting in content, although inept in execution, is the drawing “Three Columns.” The event shown here is not described, as 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 made by an adult, one could say that its theme was the national policy of the Provisional Government. Next to the column glorifying in its slogans the Provisional Government of Kerensky, free Russia and the international, on the right there is a column of Poles with the slogan “Long live Poland!”, and on the left are Ukrainian officers with hanging, “Zaporozhye” mustaches and with red bows on their chests. They carry a portrait of the head of independent Ukraine and a separate slogan “Don’t i e Ukraine i na”<...>By The drawing can accurately determine the place, and therefore the time of action. On the right you can see the steps and one of the columns of the Bolshoi Theater. Consequently, this is happening on Theater Square in front of the Bolshoi Theater on the opening day of the Moscow meeting” [p. 61].
34. DELEGATION OF WORKERS IN FRONT OF THE BARACKS. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 18.2X 34.2 cm. Inscriptions on the banners (from left to right): dol O(th)..; Long live the democratic republic.
“A characteristic sign of the times, from the very February days, were cars on security duty on the streets, with Red Guards, revolutionary soldiers. Naturally, children drew a lot of them. 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 at the viewer, the other thinks two-dimensionally, but despite this, is just as dynamic. Both the car and the riders, the Red Guards, are directed forward. Feeling of movement intensifies in contrast with symmetrically from cars standing and therefore especially stable identical houses, surrounded by a thick outline. There are many photographs of 1917, among which there are cars very similar to those in our drawings, but, I think, from this coincidence one should not conclude that children copied them. They only confirm the historical accuracy of the drawings."[ With. 65-66].
36. DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE FACTORY. February 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.2X 36.6 cm. Inscriptions: sign above the door - bread n(th shop); The poster shows freedom of speech.
“Among the sheets dating back to the February days, one of the most impressive is the demonstration near the factory. The artistic form is determined by laconicism, graphics, and rhythmic repetition. The incompleteness of the composition seems to suggest its continuation to the sides, helping to understand that the entire city is engulfed in rejoicing, 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 a work column against the background of factory architecture, shown in all its convincing originality. The buildings stretch along the street. The workers do not march like the bourgeois public (Figs. 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 frozenness andthe monotony is emphasized by the movement of a powerful human flow, as well as the unusualness of what is happening, which amazes the average person” [p. 59-60].
37. DEMONSTRATION OF THE ZEMSTOCY UNION. Spring 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.3X 34.7 cm. Inscriptions on the banners: VZS [ VZS- All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Assistance to Sick and Wounded Soldiers]. Yes, hello With(twist) constituent) assembledi I; VZS.
38. RED GUARDS in a CAR. 1917
39. ELECTIONS TO THE CITY DUMA. 1917
Author P. Grigoriev. Paper, colored and graphite kara n dashi. 25.7X 35.0 cm. Signature at the top: I quarter P. Grigoriev. Inscriptions: on the house on the right - Electoral Duma; on the banners - land and freedom; updated RossiI; down with war; not a car and leaflets scattered from it - No. 1; on the walls of the houses there are sheets of paper with numbers 1, 3, 4. [Figures 39 and 40 show elections to the Moscow Duma - 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, N 9 2 - People's Socialists, No. 3 - Socialist Revolutionaries, N 4 - United (organization of United Social Democrats - Internationalists), N 5—Bolsheviks.
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 25.6/34.0 cm. Inscriptions: at the top - Lubyansk i th passage ; on the banners (from left to right): Hello V(uet) revolutionary i he(n)aya RossiI; Long live the earth and freedom; Down with the war; Long live the equality of brothers (yours) and the world; list No. 5; Citizens! Vote for the partyi yu socialist (in) revolutionaries (№ 3).
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen 22.2/33.7 cm. Inscriptions on slogans: on the left - (Free) bottom Rossi I; in the middle - Yes hellofree RossiI; on the gate 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. Ukhtomsky in 1753 - 1756 (dismantled in 1928). Monogram E.R.—Elizabeth Pri m a— Elizabeth the First, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, during whose reign the arch was built. On the left is the Church of the Three Saints, built in 1674. Not preserved].
42. RALLIES. March 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, graphite and colored pencils, ink, pen. 26.7 X 34.6 cm. Author's signature lower right: Kosarev III . Inscriptions: bottom left - Rallies; on the stand - circus salamons To(Wow); Nikitin; Masquerade ball tour. [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. Nikitin Circus is the second Moscow circus, located on Bolshaya Sedovaya near the Old Triumphal Gate (now Mayakovsky Square).
43. THREE QUEUES. 1917
“The war year 1916 was a difficult and hopeless year, 1917 was full of struggle and hope, 1918 was illuminated by work and faith in a bright future... All of them were accompanied by devastation and a food crisis. The most noticeable sign of trouble for urban children is hunger, and its visible expression is queues. There are a lot of drawings depicting queues at stores. / This group of drawings is difficult to date, but they were probably executed before the October Revolution. Firstly, by October the queues had 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, etc. Finally, the tone and subjects of the post-October drawings were completely different, children were less interested in everyday trifles, too serious transformations took place, putting forward new themes and giving birth to new images. / Children depict queues in different ways, each in accordance with their own vision of the world, temperament, and the amount of cheerfulness allotted to them: sometimes (“Three Queues” or “Line at Bogomolov’s Bakery”) calmly accepting the world with all its complexities, sometimes 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 of E. M. Perlova; There is a sign on the door: locked.[Author's error: Perlovsthey were not involved in the meat trade; they were the largest tea traders].
45. QUEUE AT BOGOMOLOV’S BAKERY. 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 from your confectionery; Bogomolov; street names - 3 Znamen(sky); 1 Znamensky lane; top left; No. 2 V. Ch. [N.I. Bogomolov’s bakery was located in the first Znamensky Lane, 6. The dome in the depths is the Church of the Sign in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda, also known as St. John the Baptist at the Cross, which is on Peski in the Sretensky part. Preserved].
“The queue at Bogomolov’s bakery” is a drawing that is interesting for its almost protocol-like documentation. It can be argued that the view was copied accurately - probably from the window. The author also specifies the location of the action - the corner of the 1st and 3rd Znamensky lanes. N.I. Bogomolov’s bakery actually was located at this address. Each house is individual, unlike the other. In the depths is the blue dome of the Znamenskaya Church with gold stars, which is located on Peski in the Sretenskaya part. The attention to detail is amazing: signs with street names, house numbers, etc. The people in the queue are described in detail, leisurely, with taste: officers, a nurse in a starched headscarf, a high school student (isn’t this a self-portrait?)... / The author paints a compositionally and plot-complex scene, although he is clearly unfamiliar with the laws of perspective - the sidewalk does not narrow as one moves away , the stones of the cobblestone street in the distance become not smaller, but, on the contrary, larger: the young artist, apparently, is tired of drawing identical circles. Social and everyday troubles - war, hunger - do not disturb the boy’s state of mind, but only attract and occupy his attention. A multi-colored, bright world, full of hopes and expectations, bright and joyful, opens up around him” [p. 68-69].
46. QUEUE AT S. TITOV’S STORE. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.7 X 33.2 cm. Inscriptions above the store doors - S. Titov. [S. Titov and Sons is one of the largest trading houses, uniting 67 bread stores in Moscow].
“In “The Line at Titov’s Bakery” the color scheme is interesting - a sharp, restless juxtaposition of black and crimson. Each figure is marked by personality traits, many are very funny, especially the high school student, the lady with the bun, the Tatar janitor standing behind her, but most of all the first couple: the woman in blue and the policeman supervising the queue, looking tenderly at each other. However, despite the isolation of the characters, the line, thanks to the general contrast to the light background of the wall, is perceived holistically, in unity” [p. 69-70]. 48. SANITARY CAR. 1916
“Another everyday topic where the tense 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 drawing “Sanitation Train” was probably executed in 1916, when the country’s greatest pain and main concern was the war. And yet, how calm the picture looks in comparison with the storm that is reflected in the images of trains in 1917! Everything is measured, symmetrical, every wounded person is 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 - Ziy class; Moscow - N. Novgorod; announcements above the doors to the vestibules - m There is no.
“...In a year, the topic will be filled with acute social content, clearly conveying the pain of the day. The bulk of passengers on the Moscow carriage are Nizhny Novgorod- soldiers leaving the front to go home, and “bagmen” (a word born during the years of devastation) - small speculators or simple people, rushing around the country in search of food. A jumble of arms, legs, and heads fills the vestibules, despite the announcements “there are no places.” The carriage is surrounded by people who are clinging to something incomprehensible. The lucky ones who managed to climb onto the roof are resting, placing bags next to them. / The drawing “Wagon Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod” captivates with the artist’s passion, the spontaneity of impressions, the abundance of situations and details that can be examined endlessly” [p. 71].
Roadside post on the right: 27 ver(sta).
“The drawing “Train at the 27th verst” was executed in an even more expressive manner. 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 movement of the train is physically felt. The whole silhouette of the train with the roofs of the cars, as if tousled, causes anxiety and concern: people with rifles and machine guns are located on them. This already looks like a civil war. / From 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 children who witnessed the events. From the collection of the State Historical Museum. / Comp. and the author of the text N.N. Goncharova. –M., 1987.
Digitization:
Internet magazine “Moscow Region Local Historian”, 2017 When reposting, a link to trojza.blogspot.com is required.
From October 25, the Samara Regional Children's Library (Nevskaya, 8) opens the interactive exhibition “Children and the Revolution of 1917.” It presents a historical exhibition of books about the events of a turning point and reproductions of drawings by children who were eyewitnesses to the events of the October Revolution.
On November 7 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917. This event changed not only the history of our country, but also influenced historical development many countries of the world.
“What is revolution? Why did these events happen in our country? Is the revolution good or bad?”: children often ask adults such questions, and answering them is very difficult.
We invite you to look at the events of those years through the eyes of children who reflected their impressions in their drawings. Here are works from a unique collection of drawings by children who, by the will of fate, found themselves witnessing the revolutionary events of 1917, collected by the gymnasium teacher 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, lines for food and armed people.
There are quite a few works of art, telling 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 human.
The books and drawings presented at our exhibition will help you plunge into the historical past of our country and understand the complexity and tragedy of that time.
The exhibition is based on materials from a unique pocket-sized book:
Moscow. 1917 Drawings of children who witnessed the events. From the collection of the State Historical Museum. / Comp. and the author of the text N.N. Goncharova. – M., 1987.
It was published 30 years ago, in 1987, on 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, found themselves witnessing the revolutionary events of 1917.
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 onto paper.
- The famous Moscow - and St. Petersburg too - "tails": the child depicted three lines at once - for bread, and for meat, and for milk.
Naive, childish, but very realistic. A drawing from a schoolchild's album from 1917 with a carelessly torn edge is not just creativity, but documentary evidence of how the country experienced the revolution.
“Bolshevik and Menshevik - first of all, this is the word “big” and the word “small” at the root. This is a speculator. They had a rough idea of who he was, but they didn’t see it,” says Evgeniy, senior researcher at the department of visual materials of the State Historical Museum Lukyanov.
A total of 1,600 sheets are kept in the Historical Museum. They were pulled out of storage for the first time in 30 years. Boys from 6 to 14 years old transferred everything they saw onto paper. The result was an emotional chronicle, which was preserved by art critic and contemporary of the revolution Vasily Voronov.
"He gave them homework. They, perhaps, didn’t even know what a revolution was - they just came from the bottom of their hearts,” says Vasily Voronov’s great-granddaughter Vera Voronova.
Vasily Voronov collected homework for his students for almost four years - from 1914 to 1918. He was sure: these artifacts, a century later, would tell more than a documentary chronicle.
"He also saw in this material a unique historical source the events that took place in Russia at that time. This was considered on a par with major masters, major artists,” says Evgeniy 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, was 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 almost 100 years later they decided to show it to viewers of the 21st century. You can see the exhibition “I Draw the Revolution” and read children’s notes from April 4.
“It’s very interesting to compare the text with the image. And children often write that they jumped into these cars and the soldiers drove them around the city. And then they came home and sketched them,” 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.
- Sun and river.
—Have you already drawn it?
- Yes.
The family will also preserve these drawings, following the example of the famous great-grandfather, for posterity.
Text: "Vesti-Moscow"
In 1919, Vasily Voronov, a scientist and teacher of graphic arts, donated a collection of children's drawings dedicated to the First World War and the Revolution to the Russian Historical Museum. Voronov taught from 1906 at the Moscow real school of Ivan Alexandrov, and from 1910 - at the Lomonosov men's gymnasium. In 1914, he began collecting children's drawings about the war, and three years later they added drawings about the revolution.
Voronov's collection is made up of drawings by older boys preschool age, primary school students of city schools and secondary educational institutions Moscow - aged seven to thirteen years. These are mainly 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 or instructions of a teacher, only under the influence of events and moods that lived in the city during the years of war and revolution.
In 1917, Voronov, in addition to drawings, began collecting children's texts dedicated to the events that took place at that time. Some of these records 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 the 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 started a revolution."
Demonstration with slogans “Long live free Russia!” and “War until victory!” The drawing is signed with 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 learned that the sovereign had been driven from the throne. When I sat down to drink tea, suddenly I 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 picture 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 was replaced by a provisional government. But it soon brought Russia to the point where it was impossible.”
Unknown author. Car with revolutionary soldiers. Spring 1917 State Historical Museum “Soon a demonstration appeared, it was very large and grandiose. They carried red banners trimmed with gold cord. Every man or woman had a red bow. At that time, I was overcome with a joyful feeling of love for everyone.”
Unknown author. Demonstration on a wide street. Summer 1917 State Historical Museum One of the many demonstrations of the summer of 1917. The slogans on the posters are given only in initial letters: “DZSDLP” - “Long live the Social Democratic Labor Party”; “DZDR” - “Long live democratic Russia”; "PVSS" - "Workers 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 were making speeches near the Duma. Everyone was in a happy mood. Trucks with soldiers in their hands were driving along the streets."
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 Pushkinskaya Square (in 1950 it was moved to the opposite side area).
“Under the Tsar there was little bread, and now there is even less. In September they started giving out a quarter of a pound, but in some places 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 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 at the Sortirovochnaya station with the inscription: “Long live the democratic republic!”
Unknown author. The queue at Chuev's bakery on Solyanka. 1917 State Historical Museum Queues (“tails”) became the main feature of the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917. The food crisis primarily affected big cities, and for children this was the first sign of trouble.
Images of the 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 landowners and rich people, and the Bolsheviks were the people, workers, artisans, and peasants.”
A. Konstantinov. Bolshevik going to a rally. 1917 State Historical Museum The picture shows a Bolshevik going to a pre-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 the Bolshevik. 1917 State Historical Museum “Now we have begun to find out what kind of bourgeoisie they are”
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 wearing 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 they were walking along the street with flags, and drew as many as 14 Red Flags. My father asked me when he arrived, What are you doing? I told him that I was painting a revolution!”
Unknown author. Speculator. 1917 State Historical Museum "Moscow War"
Unknown author. Fight on Theater Square. November 1917 State Historical Museum Fierce fighting took place on Theater Square in Moscow in October 1917. The picture shows a green armored car with the inscription “S. R. and S.D.”, that is, “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 came home, I asked my mother, but she also didn’t know. In the evening, when I was sitting at home and doing homework, we heard shots and then I found out that it 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 took turns with revolvers in the yard.”
Unknown author. Battle for the Kremlin. November 1917 State Historical Museum The Kremlin is shown from the Red Square side. Cannonballs fly over the battlement, the Nikolskaya Tower is filled with gaping holes.
“Since our house is located on the corner of Myasnitskaya and Yushkov lanes, they shot from both sides along our house. There was a Bolshevik machine gun at our gate. Once we went out into the yard, but suddenly they started shooting heavily, and we went home. A bullet hit the window above our apartment in our house. I went to see her"
“On Monday they were still shooting, my mother was standing at the window and checking 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 and two comrades ran to the center to see what the Bolsheviks and cadets had fought. We saw many houses with large windows smashed to pieces, and several houses were all burned down. There were safe people walking everywhere and everyone was talking about how the Moscow war was going on."
Unknown author. Shelled houses near the Kremlin. November 1917 State Historical Museum “It was a lot of fun during the revolution days. And I will never forget the Russian revolution"
“There was no funeral service for the Bolshevik victims, but speeches were made and music was played and people walked with red banners and ribbons. I used to go to Red Square to watch how the grave was dug up and laid with boards. People were arguing among themselves everywhere and some were swearing.”
Unknown author. At an 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 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 Draw the Revolution!”: Children’s Drawings of the Great Russian Revolution from the Collection of the State Historical Museum,” which will feature children’s drawings, photographs of revolutionary Moscow, and rare posters 1917 and documentary evidence of eyewitnesses.
The whole terrible year of 17 is here. At first, so joyful with its crowds, red flags and fiery calls to destroy the old and build the new. And at the end... a line of coffins. The children saw all this. As they saw, so they drew. Incredible document - children's drawings.
DEMONSTRATION WITH 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 government, hello with the new.
DEMONSTRATION WITH MILITARY ORCHESTRA. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, colored and graphite pencils. 35, 3X 26.4 cm. The inscription on the banner: Down with the bourgeoisie, long live the peace of the whole world.
DEMONSTRATION NEAR THE FACTORY. February 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.2X36.6 cm. Inscriptions: sign above the door - bread shop; on the poster - freedom of speech.
RED GUARDS IN A CAR. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.bH 34.1 cm.
RALLY AT THE RED GATE. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil, ink, pen 22.2/33.7 cm. Inscriptions on slogans: on the left - (Free) Russia; in the middle - Long live free Russia; 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. Ukhtomsky in 1753 - 1756 (dismantled in 1928). Monogram E.R. - Elizabeth Prima - Elizabeth the First, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, during whose reign the arch was built. On the left is the Church of the Three Saints, built in 1674. Not preserved].
THREE QUEUES. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 26.7/ 35.7 cm. Inscriptions above the doors to the stores: Molotkov; Rogachev; Meat trade; Bakery.
MEAT-TRADE OF PEARL. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 20.7X31.5 cm. Inscriptions: above the door to the store - meat trade of E. M. Perlova; There is a sign on the door: locked. [Author's error: The Perlovs were not involved in the meat trade; they were the largest tea traders].
CAR "MOSCOW - NIZHNY NOVGOROD". 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, ink pencil. 25.0 X 34.9 cm. Inscriptions: on the car - Ziy class; Moscow - N. Novgorod; announcements above the doors to the vestibules - there are no places.
FIGHT NEAR THE BARACKS. November 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, watercolor. 23.3X29.1 cm. Author's signature lower right: Kosarev XI. [The number “XI” next to the author’s surname means the serial number of the month in which the drawing was executed - November].
SEARCH OF WEAPONS BY BOLSHEVIKS. November 1917
Author Kosarev. Paper, watercolor, colored and graphite pencils, ink, pen. 26.7X33.6 cm. Signed by the author at the bottom right: Kosarev III. Inscriptions: above - search of weapons by the Bolsheviks; On the left there is a sign - Kaze bakery...(?).
RED GUARDS, SR, BURGEOUS AND CADET. Poster sketch. 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 33.0X26.5 cm. Inscriptions: under the figure in the upper left stamp - es-er; top right - bourgeois; diagonally on bags, boxes, bottles - sugar, cereals, flour, oil, wine; bottom left - cadet; on the right is a Red Guard.
TELEPHONE STATION AND KILLED. December 1917
Author P. Grigoriev. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 25.7 X 34.8 cm. Signatures in the middle of the sheet: P. Grigoriev, student. II class 1917 December 1 Inscriptions: below - Telephone exchange and killed; at the top in the window - Robert Kents and son. [The corner of Myasnitskaya Street and Milyutinsky Lane is shown. In the depths of Milyutinsky Lane there is a barricade near the Moscow telephone exchange. Robert Kentz and Son - an advertisement for a company that sold scales. The store was located at: Myasnitskaya, 5/1].
FUNERAL AT THE KREMLIN WALL. November 1917
Unknown author. Paper, watercolor, pencil. 24.6X32.3 cm. [The funeral of those killed in the battles for the revolution took place on Red Square on November 10, 1917. Behind the funeral procession is the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, on the right is the dome of the Senate, on the left on the wall is the royal tower. The drawing is not finished].
71. FUNERAL OF STUDENTS AND JUNKERS. 1917
Author A. Malyshkov (?). Wallpaper, watercolor, gouache, ink, pen. 30.4X35.2 cm. Signed and dated lower right: A. Malyshkov (?) 1917 December 9. Inscription below: Funeral of students and cadets. [The funeral of students and cadets took place on November 13, 1917 at the brotherly cemetery, which was located near the present village of Sokol. Demolished in the late 1940s due to development of the Sandy Streets area].
“The drawing is not childishly complex, deeply felt, all the artistic means that the author owns, both thought out and found intuitively, are combined together to convey the tragedy of the scene. Cold day, November, snow has already covered the ground. Twilight. A stern mood is created primarily through the color scheme. The main tone of the picture is gray, sometimes lightened, sometimes thickened almost to black. Faint reflections of yellow and green are blurred throughout the entire sheet - from the roof of the chapel, the clothes of the priests, the light of torches, increasing the feeling of cold and homelessness. The ceremony actually took place by torchlight, since the procession reached the cemetery only in the evening. She moved on foot from the Church of the Great Ascension, which is at the Nikitsky Gate, to the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye, where the brotherly cemetery was located. The path is not close, and the November day was gloomy, windy, with wet snow. The procession went on for so long that the coffins that were lowered into the graves were not buried, postponing the completion of the ritual to the next day” [p. 174-175].
Moscow. 1917 Drawings of children who witnessed the events. From the collection of the State Historical Museum.