Dmitri Vrúbel has died at the age of 62 in the German capital
If there is a famous mural in Europe, it could be the graffiti painted on the Berlin Wall, shortly after it fell, in the spring of 1991. It is the kiss between the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the president of the German Democratic Republic ( RDA) Erich Honecker. This Monday it became known that its author, the Russian plastic artist Dmitri Vrúbel, died on Sunday at the age of 62 in the German capital, where he had lived since 1990. He suffered heart complications after contracting covid.
The best-known work of this artist has become an icon and one of the main tourist attractions in Berlin. It can be admired in the section of the wall known as ‘East Side Gallery’, in the old eastern part of the city. In the graffiti, in addition to Brezhnev and Honecker kissing on the mouth, there is a sign that says in German and Russian “My God, help me survive this mortal love.”
The mural was removed in 2009 as part of the wall’s restoration. Fortunately, a replica was made by Dmitri Vrúbel himself, at the request of the Berlin authorities. The artist was inspired by a photograph showing the two communist leaders celebrating the 30th anniversary of the GDR’s existence in 1979.
Dmitri Vrúbel and his wife, fellow artist Victoria Timofeyeva, created in 2001 a calendar with portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which they called “Putin’s 12 Moods”, which unexpectedly became a bestseller in Russia. .
Descendant of the modernist pioneer Mikhail Vrubel, the artist had lived in Berlin since 1990 and in recent years was active in the ranks of the Pirate Party,
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