Painting by the artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin “1919. Anxiety” on a vintage postcard. Soviet Union Vintage Postcard, the 1980s

Light pink and blue tones in the room create a feeling of comfort and modest human happiness. But the tense dark blue color of the night in the window breaks into this atmosphere of peace, and it is precisely such a striking contrast that causes a feeling of anxiety. The same feeling, of course, is evoked by the wary pose of a man looking out the window, and the frightened gesture of a woman clutching a girl to herself. The artist depicted a poor family with two children. But the main essence of the picture is not at all in the poverty of the drawn characters. The main thing is a persistent feeling of fear, anxiety, or something threatening. All family members froze in a daze and are waiting for something terrible. Some kind of event that can turn their entire well-established modest, but so sweet and comfortable life. And this expectation is clearly read on the faces of the mother and the eldest child, the daughter. It is guessed in the figure of the father frozen at the window, who in tense silence peers into the darkness of the night, trying to discern the outlines of the impending disaster. And only a small child sleeps serenely and sweetly in his bed, covered with a beautiful patchwork quilt. But what are they so afraid of? The answer is in the title of the painting. 1919 - the time of the Civil War, terrible, with tears and grief, not sparing either family, or fathers, nor children. It is she who terrifies this whole strong, friendly, and sweet family. Everything can collapse overnight, they can lose each other, and their fragile world can collapse. That's what causes their concern. All this is familiar to me. A hundred years have passed. And now I anxiously peered out the window when the air raid alert sounds. Everything that has been achieved, plans for the future lose all meaning. Only fear for relatives and friends, and no plans, just existence. Vintage postcard from 1981. Vintage postcard - 42 years old. 6'' x 4'' (15 cm x 10,5 cm) Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. 1878-1939 “1919. Anxiety" 1934