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Label Text:
Resembling both Lenin and Stalin, the silhouette in the black oval represents a generic Soviet leader in a position that often appeared on political posters. The newspaper in the background--a page of the party's official organ Pravda from 1990--conveys a sense of the Soviet propaganda that appeared as ubiquitous background noise in all situations of life. The couple at the lower margin refers to Chekhov's story The House with the Mezzanine. In this context, the silhouette could also be read as the story's protagonist, whose social ideals--equal status and minimal workload for all people--anticipate Soviet ideology.

BJ, 2013

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2010.155

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