Friday, June 29, 2018

John Keane


Fear No. 59744


Fear No. 59744, 2012, Oil/Linen, 200 x 150cm


The painting is based on an NKVD (soviet secret police) mugshot of Grigory Zinoviev, after he was arrested.  He had been an original member of the Soviet politburo and an ally of Lenin. Having been an architect of the Bolshevik terror he ultimately fell victim to it. He was chief defendant in Stalin’s infamous show trials of 1936, after which he was summarily executed.