Portrait of a Russian Commissar

Artist: Unknown Austrian artist

Date: 1945 to 1955

Medium: Watercolour on Paper

Paper size: 44cm by 34cm

Painted on a page from a sketchbook, this 1940s watercolour depicts a Russian soldier, likely to be a commissar. The portrait is part of a series of similar portraits that were executed by an unknown Austrian artist in the 1940s/1950s, presumably during the Soviet occupation of Northern Austria from 1945 to 1955. The portrait offers a close study of the sitter’s character, via his expression, the use of tone, and his pose.