Large Wall Plaque with a portrait of Anatoliy Lunacharskiy, first Soviet Narkom of Education, circa 1960s-70s.
Measures approx. 15" x 19". The image is hammered onto a 1mm-thick sheet of tin. The artist conveyed a good likeness of Lunacharskiy, including his signature goatee and pince-nez. A plaque like this was probably part of a larger display of party leaders in the foyer or meeting hall of a vocational or trade school.
In very good to excellent condition. The edges show mild bending which must have occurred when the portrait was being dismantled. The remaining nail holes make it easy to re-mount the portrait, if desired. Minimal and very mild patina in the recessed areas on the obverse
Measures approx. 15" x 19". The image is hammered onto a 1mm-thick sheet of tin. The artist conveyed a good likeness of Lunacharskiy, including his signature goatee and pince-nez. A plaque like this was probably part of a larger display of party leaders in the foyer or meeting hall of a vocational or trade school.
In very good to excellent condition. The edges show mild bending which must have occurred when the portrait was being dismantled. The remaining nail holes make it easy to re-mount the portrait, if desired. Minimal and very mild patina in the recessed areas on the obverse adds character and a sense of authenticity.
Anatoliy Lunacharskiy (Анатолий Васильевич Луначарский, 1875 - 1933), was born out of wedlock to a high-level civil servant and the daughter of another high-level civil servant (the rank of both was equivalent to major general). Graduating from the Zurich University did not prevent him from getting enamored with communist ideology and becoming a revolutionary and, since 1903, a member of the Bolshevik party.
Despite periodic deviations from the Bolshevist ideas and even arguments with Lenin, Lunacharskiy was elected into the very first Soviet government as the People's Commissar for Educaiton. Contradictions continued. Seeing the rampage of destruction of cultural treasures around him, Lunacharskiy submitted a letter of resignation as Narkom for Education. It was rejected as "untimely", and Lunacharskiy remained in this post until 1929. Ever a "foreign body" among the Bolshevist elite, Lunacharskiy was released from his position as Narkom and appointed as the USSR ambassador to Spain. He never reached Spain, having died of angina pectoris at a resort in France.
The plaque depicting this contradictory figure of the early Soviet pantheon will make a fine addition to a collection of early Soviet memorabilia, and an even finer conversation piece on the subject of true culture clashing with the single-minded destructivity of communist ideology.
Please note that the medal in our last photo is for size reference.
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