A Soldier with a Rifle 1917

Boris Kustodiev’s 1917 charcoal drawing, *A Soldier with a Rifle*, depicts a Russian soldier during World War I. The soldier is shown standing tall, clutching a rifle, in front of a background of blurred and fragmented imagery, which may represent the chaos of war. The drawing, made with bold strokes, conveys a sense of strength and determination, as well as the anxieties of the time. *A Soldier with a Rifle* is an example of Kustodiev’s use of simplified lines and expressive forms, a style that was particularly effective in capturing the emotional intensity of the Russian Revolution.