Dmitri Vladimirovich Vrubel (; 14 July 1960 – 13 August 2022) was a Russian painter. He was best known for his East Side Gallery-painting '' My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love'', depicting the kissing

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leaders

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

. Vrubel was born in Moscow,

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. His surname is a

russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

of the common Polish surname Wróbel.

Early life

He was the only child of two engineers. He started painting at 15 and studied at the graphic art department of the Moscow State V.I. Lenin Pedagogical Institute.

Work

Vrubel's most famous work is the

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

piece, painted on the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

entitled '' My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love'' which depicts the kissing communist leaders

and

. It was inspired by a

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

captured by photographer Regis Bossu depicting a socialist fraternal kiss between the leaders

and

in 1979, during a celebration of the 30 years of the GDR. In 2009, the painting was removed by the authorities as part of a cleaning effort in order to have it repainted by Vrubel.

Other works

In 2001, he and his wife, Viktoria Timofeyeva, created a large format calendar containing portraits of Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

called "The 12 moods of Putin". Each page of the calendar portrayed a different image of Putin and was an unexpected hit with the Moscow population.

Death

Vrubel died in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 14 August 2022, at the age of 62.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrubel, Dmitri 1960 births 2022 deaths Painters from Moscow 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters Russian political artists 21st-century Russian painters Kandinsky Prize 20th-century Russian male artists 21st-century Russian male artists Moscow State Pedagogical University alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany