Mikhail Likhachev painted the picture The Turbulent 20s in 1967, for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. The artist recreated on the canvas the turbulent times of the Civil War, when every family lived in fear of night robberies and sudden attacks by the enemy army. Likhachev conveyed the sense of danger primarily through the dynamic poses of the characters: the woman is holding the child protectively, clutching him tightly, the man is preparing to defend them. The sharp, clear-cut, angular lines enhance the anxious feeling. The characters’ faces are painted sketchily, but the artist emphasized their gloomy determined gazes. On the wall, above the man’s head is hanging a Red Army budenovka with a star: this detail immediately indicates to the viewer on whose side the character of the picture is fighting.

For this work, the artist chose a minimalistic colour scheme. The thick shadows and the black silhouette of the woman against the white stove underline the alarming atmosphere: the clothes of the heroine and the fabric in which the child is wrapped became the darkest fragment of the canvas. The lack of small details, the large colour spots and monumentality of the image suggest that Likhachev created this picture in the so-called austere style. This artistic movement appeared in the USSR in the late 1950s — early 1960s. It replaced Socialist realism of the Stalin era.

The lack of small details, the large colour spots and monumentality of the image suggest that Likhachev created this picture in the so-called austere style. This artistic movement appeared in the USSR in the late 1950s — early 1960s. It replaced Socialist realism of the Stalin era.

Mikhail Likhachev was born in 1919 near Voronezh, in the village of Babyakovo. As a child, he studied for several years at the art studio of the painter Alexander Buchkuri, who was Ilya Repin’s student. However, Likhachev never received a complete artistic education. He studied the basics of painting on his own and painted a lot from nature. Soon the young artist was hired as a scene painter at the Voronezh Drama Theatre, and as early as in 1938 the 19-year-old Likhachev’s paintings participated in urban exhibitions.