Igor Grabar. Lenin at the Direct Line

Igor Grabar's painting shows Vladimir Lenin at work: he is dictating a message to a telegraph operator over the direct line. The artist painted it in Moscow from 1927 to 1932.

The scene is set in an office with a telegraph apparatus on the right. Lenin is in the centre; beside him a man in military uniform reads a message on the telegraph tape. On the left a man sleeps on a sofa, covered with a greatcoat. Brick red dominates the colour scheme. Oil on canvas.

Grabar (1871–1960) was not only a painter but also an art historian and restorer: in 1918–1930 he headed the Central Restoration Workshops, and in 1913–1925 he was a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery. His name is listed among the major artists on the painting collection page of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia.