This collective portrait, which is meant to be epic, opens a new exhibition -- "We are Russians, God is with us" -- bringing together in Moscow imposing patriotic paintings in the tradition of realism of the Tsarist and then Soviet era, and supposed to galvanize minds in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.

"Stand there, near this painting that shows that our victory will be final," says a mustachioed man to about forty children in black uniforms, students of a military school visiting the exhibition during a school trip.

In the middle of the schoolchildren, Vasily Nesterenko, 56, master of contemporary Russian realist painting and artist covered with honors by Vladimir Putin. He painted the picture.

Before taking a smiling photo with the future soldiers, the painter, white hair and serene face, answers their questions and makes a remark: "Being a soldier is for life, as for artists."

The great hall of the Armoury, a stone's throw from the emblematic Red Square, hosts until June 25 a hundred paintings by Vasily Nesterenko, including several monumental paintings celebrating the exploits of the Russian army through the centuries.

While the latter is struggling in Ukraine, the Kremlin strongly encourages works of art exalting war heroism and the idea of a defensive conflict against Kiev and its allies. At the same time, he repressed dissident artists.

Officials of public cultural institutions, who had chosen not to speak out on the conflict, have also lost their jobs in recent months. Because the state now requires proof of loyalty.

Eternal Wars

Vasily Nesterenko has largely proven himself.

Born in 1967, in Ukraine, he became known for his religious paintings. He has decorated part of the illustrious Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and, more recently, a large church dedicated to the Armed Forces of Russia, inaugurated in 2020.

Russian patriotic artist Vasily Nesterenko in Moscow on May 23, 2023 © Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

Since 2004, he has enjoyed the title of Russian "People's Artist", an honor inherited from the Soviet era, and has important official positions in the cultural field.

"When the canons start talking, we must not be silent," Vasily Nesterenko told AFP, launching into a demonstration of the political commitment of the great European painters of the nineteenth century.

He himself made a trip alongside Russian forces in Ukraine and Syria to feed his very detailed paintings. In his exhibition, some works show the ruins and civilian victims, others exude a certain bonhomie.

Like the "Letter to Russia's Adversaries" which depicts hilarious Russian soldiers, during the intervention in Syria, writing a letter, a pastiche of a famous painting by the Russian master Ilya Repin (1844-1930) featuring Cossacks writing to the Ottoman sultan.

"My historical military paintings are benevolent, optimistic, they don't show the darkness of darkness like Goya's," comments Vasily Nesterenko.

Even if it means showing the war as a blessing for Russia?

"All wars have pushed our homeland to come together, focus and fight back. We had no other story. We have always had war. Whether against the Mongols, the Poles, the Swedes, the French and several times against the Germans," he replied.

The exhibition, as the Kremlin argues, presents Russian history as a necessary succession of glorious military episodes. One of the paintings on display celebrates the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Others are landscapes or biblical scenes.

A woman visits the exhibition of Russian patriotic artist Vasily Nesterenko in Moscow on May 23, 2023 © Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

Mr. Nesterenko defends a classical European figurative painting that he considers seriously threatened, an opinion reminiscent of the discourse of the Russian power on the supposed decadence of Western culture.

"I think the time will soon come when it will be only here (in Russia) that people will love your culture, your art and your religion," said Vasily Nesterenko, who continues to travel regularly to Western Europe to visit museums.

© 2023 AFP