Portrait of the Blacksmith S. Petran
1934. Study. From the Baltic Factory series. 1934–1935
- oil on canvas. 98 x 69
- ЖБ-1464
Received in 1935 via the Leningrad City Council from the First Exhibition of Leningrad Artists
- Period Early 20th century
- CategoryPortrait
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Every Soviet painter was expected to paint a major picture extolling the successful building of Communism in Russia in the early 1930s. In 1934, the Leningrad City Council commissioned Israel Lizak to paint a large work on an industrial theme for the First Exhibition of Leningrad Artists. Working at the Baltic and Red Vyborzhets Factories, the artist painted the interiors of the shopfloor and portraits of shock workers — steel founders and blacksmiths. Although the picture was never painted, the many studies for it, including the portrait of the blacksmith Petran, can be regarded as finished works in their own right.