Adólf Lozá is a well-known Ukrainian painter. Born in Mariupól in 1931, he studied, worked and lived in Odésa. He was the author of realistic paintings, mosaics and vitrages. He was favoured by the Soviet authorities for a certain period. It was then that he created large-scale patriotic works. At the end of his life, he turned to mythological and biblical themes. 

The work “Revolutionary March” was created by Adólf Lozá in 1968. Two works are known under the same name.

One is a large “official” picture, for the creation of which the artist was awarded a prize. It depicts a military band of the 1920s. In the centre, there are two musicians in civilian coats with horns and red flags in the background. On the right, there is a boy with cymbals, and on the left, in front, their gallant commander in an overcoat stands with a trumpet and a pistol. He puts his foot forward as if he is going to walk to the right along the band members’ line. Everybody stands straight and confidently looks ahead.

But in the fund of the Museum of Odésa Modern Art, there is another work. Its size is much smaller, but, most importantly, the image of the same orchestra is radically different. A hunched wounded drummer with a bandaged hand and the face of a criminal appeared here as also a flautist. The brave commander turned into a conductor. The boy with the cymbals has survived. However, he is dressed in an old coat and trampled shoes like all the other musicians. This entire orchestra deserves the definition – “shabby”. The author’s attitude towards his “heroes” is obvious — it is ironic.

Of course, Adólf Lozá did not show this picture to anyone, it was kept at home in a closet and was found by museum employees by accident. The history of these works qualitatively describes the attitude of artists of the late USSR to Soviet ideology. Officially, everyone supported the politics of the party, but in the studio, alone, they created honest works “for themselves” that have nothing in common with shameful communist views.