Portrait of L. Glebova

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

The artist began this work during his stay in pre-war Leningrad, and finished it in Alma-Ata. He dressed his model in a Tajik robe, which he brought once from the expedition. A bright red-green robe hangs with wide draperies, from under which a soldier’s shirt tied with ribbons is visible; this strange eclecticism exacerbates the contrast of clothes with the emaciated face of a woman who has emerged from the blockade and her ethereal figure. In addition, the author used ”moribund” background – slurred architecture, strata of barren land and lifeless, like if dried up trees.