Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid

Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago
The Refco Collection
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Carter Ratcliff, Komar and Melamid, New York 1988, p. 149, no. 144, illustrated
Eric Hobsbawm, The Communist Manifesto, New York 1998, illustrated incorrectly in colour on the cover

The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the red tones are brighter and more vibrant in the original. This work is in very good condition. There is a small loss to the extreme overturn upper left edge towards the top left corner and a minute spot of rubbing to the extreme tip of the top right corner. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As the initiators of the Sots Art movement of the 1970s, Komar and Melamid have earned an international reputation as artists whose work is both fearless and infused with a biting, satirical wit. They have essentially reinvented and inverted the Western Pop Art movement, whereby, instead of poking fun at an overwhelmingly consumerist society, they mock one that has conversely been starved of luxury goods and overburdened with socialist ideals.

Where Warhol celebrated consumer culture in his art, Komar and Melamid could be seen to deride Socialist propaganda, but to make such a claim would be an oversimplification. There is an increasing sense of 'homelessness' that pervades their work, as they strive to recreate the history of their childhood. History, for these two artists, is in itself a study in perception and interpretation, and as such provides the perfect canvas for their artistic ideas.

Red Flag is an iconic work from the Nostalgic Socialist Realism series, in which the artists satirised Soviet culture by adopting the ideological style of Socialist Realism, founded on a spirit of unfailing optimism. In Red Flag the canvas is almost completely filled by a rippling flag alluding to the Soviet banner. There is a celebration of Russian history and culture, whatever an individual's interpretation of that history may be. Full of contradictions, the work refuses to shy away from the paradox at the centre of their own lives - the reality of living within an ideological landscape. There is an acceptance, not of Stalin's tyranny, but of what it means to have lived with Stalinist ideals. An expression of nostalgia does not condone such a regime, but we are asked to question whether such ideologies were, or ever could have been fully realised.