Relay race on the Garden RingДейнека. Живопись [Deineka. Painting] (in Russian). М.: Издательская программа «Интерроса». 2010. p. 125. .Государственная Третьяковская галерея — каталог собрания [The State Tretyakov Gallery: Catalogue of the Collection] (in Russian). Vol. 6: Живопись первой половины XX века, книга 1, А–И. М.: Сканрус. 2009. p. 310. . (Russian: Эстафета, often referred to in art history literature as Relay Race on Ring B; at some exhibitions, the painting was displayed under the title Relay Race on the Garden Ring) is one of the most famous paintings by Soviet artist Aleksandr Deyneka, created in 1947. Deyneka himself wrote that he was inspired to create the painting by the track and field relay race that took place along the Garden Ring (Ring B) in Moscow in May of the same year. The artist also indicated the exact location of the action — the Garden Ring, near Tchaikovsky Street, where he himself lived at the time. According to the assumptions of several art historians, Deyneka included a self-portrait in the painting but depicted himself as he appeared in photographs from the 1930s — 15 years earlier. In the second half of the 1940s, Relay Race on Ring B reinforced Aleksandr Deyneka's reputation as one of the leading Soviet painters and interpreters of the theme of sport. The painting is currently on permanent display at the State Tretyakov Gallery.
The painting was presented at numerous All-Union, All-Russian, and international exhibitions. At the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, Aleksandr Deyneka was awarded the exhibition's gold medal for this work and other pieces presented there, including the panel of the Soviet pavilion For Peace and the paintings The Defence of Petrograd and The Outskirts of Moscow, 1941.Дейнека. Живопись [Deineka. Painting] (in Russian). М.: Издательская программа «Интерроса». 2010. p. 187. .
The painting Relay Race on Ring B attracted the interest of Soviet and contemporary Russian art historians, including Vladimir Sysoev, an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts and candidate of art history; Peter Cheryomushkin, a candidate of art history; Evgeny Shorokhov, a doctor of pedagogical sciences and member of the Union of Artists of Russia; and Nina Vatolina, a poster artist and writer. Mike O'Mahony, Doctor of Philosophy and Professor at the University of Bristol, analyzes the canvas in detail in his book Sport in the USSR: Physical Culture — Visual Culture (2010).
The plot and some interpretation features Aleksandr Deyneka specified in his articles the exact location depicted in the painting — the Garden Ring, near Tchaikovsky Street. The artist portrayed three pairs of athletes (three young men and three women). Behind them lies an empty Garden Ring. British art historian and PhD Mike O'Mahony suggested that the six figures represent the only participants in this stage of the race and are the best representatives of their teams. The composition centers around a white line on the tarmac, marking the finish of one stage and the start of the next. The athletes either approach or move away from this line. Deyneka's depiction shows the women literally passing the baton to the men, who will run the next leg of the relay. The movement in the painting follows a diagonal trajectory, which, according to Evgeny Shorokhov, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences and member of the Union of Artists of Russia, enhances the painting's dynamism.
The artist positioned the spectators of the athletics relay on the right front side of the painting. Among the six distinguishable figures, three are women, two are men, and one is a boy. Two of the women are dressed elegantly, while the girl in the foreground wears fashionable shoes. The man in the background on the right is dressed in a tracksuit, suggesting he is an athlete. The letters USSR on his chest, according to British art historian Mike O'Mahony, identify him as a high-level athlete, likely someone who traveled abroad for competitions. The boy stands closest to the runners, which, O'Mahony suggests, reflects the artist's intent to show the boy's aspiration to join the athletes. Another figure in this group, positioned further away from the viewer, is presumed to be a self-portrait of the artist. O'Mahony highlights the confident posture and well-defined profile of this character. By depicting himself among the characters in the scene, the artist, according to Vladimir Sysoev, candidate of art history, aimed to convey that he was "in the thick of everyday reality, among his favorite heroes”. Aleksandr Deyneka had previously promoted physical culture through self-portraits. In 1947, however, he was over 40 years old, and his physical condition left much to be desired. Several art historians have suggested that Deyneka chose to represent himself as he appeared in photographs from the 1930s — 15 years earlier. The following year, Deyneka painted a full-length self-portrait portraying himself as an athlete. In this work, the artist's head is combined with the body of a younger model.
Deyneka incorporated architectural elements into the painting, including three multi-story buildings that serve as dominant features and form the compositional framework. Compared to the artist's pre-war works, this canvas is notable for its meticulous attention to detail. In the foreground, the artist depicts cracks in the asphalt, a trolleybus stopped at the edge of the street, flags, and other symbols of the Dynamo Sports Club, such as the blue letter D on a white background.
The painting's history and destination
Relay race along the Garden Ring and Aleksandr Deyneka In the second half of the 1940s, significant changes occurred in the artist's life. In March 1945, he was appointed Director of the newly established Moscow Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, while simultaneously managing administrative work in the faculty of mural painting. In April 1947, Aleksandr Deyneka was also appointed head of the department of decorative sculpture at the same institution. During this period, he continued working on major state commissions. Notably, he was tasked with creating a series of paintings under the theme Creators of Industrial Giants. At the same time, Deyneka began producing drawings and sketches for decorative and applied art objects, including dishes, children's toys, screens, decorative panels, vases, stained glass, and even door handles. This shift in focus inevitably took time away from his easel painting.
The artist created the painting Relay Race on Ring B after returning from a trip to Vienna, where he participated in the Exhibition of Works by Masters of Soviet Art (which ran from February 20 to March 16,Дейнека. Живопись [Deineka. Painting] (in Russian). М.: Издательская программа «Интерроса». 2010. p. 143. . with Deyneka returning to the USSR on April 9).Дейнека. Живопись [Deineka. Painting] (in Russian). М.: Издательская программа «Интерроса». 2010. p. 144. . In 1947, he lived in the House of the People's Commissar of the Narkomfin building (at 25 Tchaikovsky Street), near where the traditional track and field relay race on the Garden Ring took place. Deyneka wrote that he was inspired to create the painting Relay Race on Ring B by the track and field relay race that occurred along the Garden Ring (Ring B) in May 1947. The artist's intention was to portray a multitude of figures set within a real, recognizable urban environment.
The artist observed the race firsthand. Military pilot, journalist, and writer Ivan Rakhillo, in his book Silver Lane, described in detail Aleksandr Deyneka's impressions of the track and field relay on the Garden Ring. He wrote that he went for a walk with Deyneka that morning. The streets were decorated with sports flags in honor of the relay. The friends began a conversation about how Moscow was changing: asphalted highways replacing shady boulevards lined with century-old oaks and lindens, where the hooves of horses, the wheels of wagons, and bogies once clattered on the uneven cobblestones, and where drunken craftsmen, indifferent and bored, loitered. Both recalled Vladimir Makovsky's painting On Moscow Boulevard. Rakhillo recounted that during the race, a blonde-haired girl in a blue T-shirt was the first to reach the set point and passed the baton to a young man “with strangely short legs for a runner”. He dropped it on the asphalt, and a tanned young man wearing the uniform of the Burevestnik society took the lead. Nevertheless, the young man with short legs caught up and far outstripped his competitors to the applause and cheers of the admiring crowd.
Rakhillo described his observations of Deyneka during the competition: “His eyes are shining. You can expect him to rush off the start any moment!” Fascinated by the events of the athletics race, Rakhillo and the artist did not notice the onset of dusk. The writer noted that by the end of the day, they were both as tired “as if they had actually taken part in the run”. Many years later, upon seeing the painting Relay Race on Ring B at a vernissage, Rakhillo recalled the day of the event. He observed that not everything in the painting corresponded to the actual events: “The clouds, the flags, the runners — everything is somewhat different. The artist built the composition his own way.” However, Deyneka succeeded in retaining the vivid images of the competition's participants in his memory, including the boy with short legs, ahead of his rivals in the race. The writer also pointed out Deyneka's self-portrait in the painting: “In the picture, in the crowd, I recognized Deyneka himself, as he was in those years—young, tanned, with a ‘boxer-style’ haircut, in an unbuttoned sports shirt, with a taut stomach. He stands thoughtful and unsmiling”.
Deyneka made many sketches, but the idea of creating a large painting did not come to him immediately. The artist later noted that he worked on the painting "with special pleasure". He wrote about his canvas: “This event takes place in Moscow. And for the first time for me, the theme of sport is resolved among the architecture of Moscow. This is quite a specific place — the Garden Ring, near Tchaikovsky Street. I painted this picture in 1947. Moscow has changed so much over the years! There were high-rise buildings, new houses. And my painting became somewhat historical”.