The sporting theme gave artists a whole host of opportunities for self-expression: from the sincere and apologetic 'one true' Soviet art to attempts to counter this style. Today, we have a chance to look at the issue from a different angle. When the art was finally taken abroad (to London no less, the epicentre of contemporary art), it suddenly became clear how interesting and opulent it was beyond the ideological labels and stamps. // Mikhail N. Izotov (born 1956), Gymnasts. Portrait of Vladimir Artemov and Yury Korolyov, 1987

Institute of Russian Realist Art