Kukryniksy. The First Coalition

This 1936 watercolour by the Kukryniksy depicts a session of the Provisional Government — the first coalition cabinet of 1917. The famous satirists turned to events of almost twenty years earlier, when socialists first entered the government.

The first coalition government was formed on 5 (18) May 1917 after the April crisis: by agreement with the Petrograd Soviet, six socialist ministers joined it, among them Alexander Kerensky, Viktor Chernov and Irakli Tsereteli. Prince Georgy Lvov remained its head. The coalition fell apart as early as July 1917.

The Kukryniksy were a creative partnership of three artists: Mikhail Kupriyanov, Porfiry Krylov and Nikolai Sokolov; the pseudonym is made up of the opening syllables of their surnames and a first name. The work is executed in watercolour on paper.