Belarus through the eyes of Mikhail Savitsky

The scale of his talent is obvious. In addition to numerous awards and recognition in the world, this artist has the title of Hero of Belarus. On the eve of the century of the birth of this legendary master, we recall his main works.

See the numbers of horror

 At the age of twenty, Savitsky joined the front. In 1942, he was taken as a prisoner near the Chersonese Lighthouse. He tried to escape twice, both times unsuccessfully. Düsseldorf, Buchenwald, Dachau... He miraculously survived — he was found already unconscious in the concentration camp in the victorious spring. Only in the 70s, the artist reflected the tragic experience of his life in captivity on canvases. The Numbers on the Heart series is a unique phenomenon in the world of painting. It’s very honest, even scary. Makes a deep impression once and for all.
“I had to re-live the past once again, to voluntarily return there, to the very bottom of hell. My health, broken by the war, did not allow me to do so. Sometimes the wound felt so tormenting that my hand could not hold my brush,” Mikhail Savitsky shared his feelings. It is in this series of works that we can see his only self-portrait — Prisoner 32815.

Admire the Partisan Madonna 

He was born in Vitebsk Region. One of the most vivid childhood memories: endless fields, blue skies, and a foal with which little Misha played all day long. Remarkably, the impressions of his youth did not lie on the canvas. Unfortunately, dark tones and sharp lines have forever become part of the painter’s recognisable style. The Great Patriotic War is the reason for this. As an artist, Savitsky became world famous for the Partisan Madonna. The painting was bought by the Tretyakov Gallery almost immediately after it was finished, however, millions of its reproductions were sold around the world. The eternal symbol of life in the middle of the war, skillfully shown by the artist, put him on par with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. In the image of a partisan mother, one can feel an unbending will, sublime sadness, or true femininity.

Get to know the Bible Series

The evolution of creativity towards the end of his life naturally led the master to the appearance of a biblical series of works. Coming from a peasant family, he was a deeply religious person and repeatedly recalled how in the 60s party workers reprimanded him for the title of the painting, “Madonna? You are spreading religion!”
Only when atheistic trends were left behind, he freely got to work with canvases dedicated to the earthly life of Christ — Carrying the Cross, The Lamentation, The Miracle of the Bread, Holy Mother of God. Through plots with two thousand years of history, the artist tried to reveal the eternal themes and problems of modern society, and called the Bible ‘a brilliant concentration of life experience, the quintessence of human destinies.’

Find out about Chernobyl

The master did not have forbidden topics in art. Some respected him for this, others criticised him or even envied his courage. A year after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the artist presented the first picture of the Chernobyl cycle. Thus, he wanted to demystify the consequences of the tragedy and draw the attention of people around the world to the man-made disaster. One of the most brilliant pictures of the Chernobyl cycle is Requiem. It is a kind of picturesque cry for the earth, which for many years, or maybe forever lost human care. There will be no ploughed land, no children’s laughter, no serene old age.

Taste the bread of life

Savitsky was considered the ‘painter of the harsh truth’. Despite this, throughout his career, he had one favorite peaceful theme — bread. He depicted it in the field, in his hands, on the table. He saw it in the basis of everything on which the work of a person rests, on which all life depends.
“I am deeply committed to the trend called socialist realism,” the artist emphasised until his death. “Detractors say, ‘Soviet power in Belarusian art...’ But I am convinced that socialist realism is the highest achievement of realism. It has nothing to do with any political system.”




 


By Sofia Arsenyeva