For Alexander Gerasimov, the 1930s were the years of intense and fruitful creative activity, when he painted a lot of theme-based paintings and portraits. According to the artist himself, he was then particularly focused on portrait painting. The portrait of Stepan Zotov was made in 1936 as a study for the forthcoming painting “The First Cavalry Army”. Such studies were, in essence, complete portraits of the legendary horsemen of Budyonny. Vivid and authentic, made with great respect for the models, they still retain their value as both objects of art and valuable historical documents.
Stepan Andreyevich Zotov was a Soviet military leader and a corps commander. Stepan Zotov was born in the village of Golubinskaya, Don Oblast, into the family of a Don Cossack. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army and training courses for “sole commanders” at the Military-Political Academy. He joined the army in 1904 and took part in the First World War. In 1918, he created a partisan squad, which operated on the Don. In 1918, he joined the detachment of Semyon Budyonny. Between 1918 and 1920, he was chief of the field headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Army. In 1934, he became an assistant and deputy inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army.
Many well-known works by Alexander Gerasimov are based on a combination of two genres — portrait painting and theme-based painting. These are large multi-figure compositions, group portraits, more precisely, images of various kinds of official events: congresses, conferences, and public festivities. Here, the masses of people do not just indicate the place and circumstances of the action — in these pictures, the people themselves are the main character. This trend is most clearly seen in the history of the creation of the painting entitled “The First Cavalry Army”.
In his memoirs, Gerasimov noted that working on the painting was associated with a challenge never experienced before. Until then, when making a portrait, he had rarely prepared preliminary studies, instead choosing to set up the composition and general color palette right on the canvas. Now he was bound by the need to show a large number of characters (more than 40). Many of the commanders were mostly stationed at their places of service outside of Moscow; therefore, the artist had to paint each of them depending on the time of their stay in the capital. Therefore, working on “The First Cavalry Army” involved making an unusually large amount of preparatory materials.
The picture enjoyed great success both in Russia and abroad. In 1937, it received the highest award — the Grand Prix — at the International Exposition in Paris.
Stepan Andreyevich Zotov was a Soviet military leader and a corps commander. Stepan Zotov was born in the village of Golubinskaya, Don Oblast, into the family of a Don Cossack. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army and training courses for “sole commanders” at the Military-Political Academy. He joined the army in 1904 and took part in the First World War. In 1918, he created a partisan squad, which operated on the Don. In 1918, he joined the detachment of Semyon Budyonny. Between 1918 and 1920, he was chief of the field headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Army. In 1934, he became an assistant and deputy inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army.
Many well-known works by Alexander Gerasimov are based on a combination of two genres — portrait painting and theme-based painting. These are large multi-figure compositions, group portraits, more precisely, images of various kinds of official events: congresses, conferences, and public festivities. Here, the masses of people do not just indicate the place and circumstances of the action — in these pictures, the people themselves are the main character. This trend is most clearly seen in the history of the creation of the painting entitled “The First Cavalry Army”.
In his memoirs, Gerasimov noted that working on the painting was associated with a challenge never experienced before. Until then, when making a portrait, he had rarely prepared preliminary studies, instead choosing to set up the composition and general color palette right on the canvas. Now he was bound by the need to show a large number of characters (more than 40). Many of the commanders were mostly stationed at their places of service outside of Moscow; therefore, the artist had to paint each of them depending on the time of their stay in the capital. Therefore, working on “The First Cavalry Army” involved making an unusually large amount of preparatory materials.
The picture enjoyed great success both in Russia and abroad. In 1937, it received the highest award — the Grand Prix — at the International Exposition in Paris.
