Dmitri VrubelEstate of Dmitri Vrubel · 1960–2022

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Press & Voices — Dmitri Vrubel

Dmitri Vrubel in international media, interviews, criticism and cultural history.

Featured press

The Calvert Journal / New East Archive

Brotherly love: 25 years on, the artist behind the iconic Berlin Wall mural tells his story

2014 · United Kingdom · EN
Interview

A major English-language interview with Dmitri Vrubel: the origins of The Brotherly Kiss, the Régis Bossu photograph, the early sketches, Dmitri Prigov, his arrival in Berlin and the painting of the Wall. A key primary source in English.

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Die Zeit

Profile and studio visit with Dmitri Vrubel and Viktoria Timofeeva, Berlin

2017 · Germany · DE
Press

A German profile and studio visit that treats Vrubel as a living artist decades after the Wall, and discusses the continuing cultural status of The Brotherly Kiss on the East Side Gallery.

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Der Tagesspiegel

Dmitri Vrubel: Kult um knutschende Kommunisten

2009 · Germany · DE
Press

Report on Vrubel returning to repaint The Brotherly Kiss during the 2009 restoration of the East Side Gallery. The paper reports that the gallery had received more than 45 press enquiries from around the world about the repainting.

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The Guardian / The Observer

International coverage of the East Side Gallery restoration and the return of its artists

2009 · United Kingdom · EN
Press

International coverage of the restoration of the East Side Gallery and the return of the original artists to repaint their works on the Berlin Wall.

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El País

Spanish coverage connected with “Twelve Moods of the President”

2001 · Spain · ES
Press

Spanish coverage connected with the project “Twelve Moods of the President” — evidence of international attention to Vrubel beyond The Brotherly Kiss.

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El País

East Side Gallery photo feature, including The Brotherly Kiss and Thank You, Andrei Sakharov

2014 · Spain · ES
Press

A Spanish photo feature on the East Side Gallery that includes The Brotherly Kiss and Vrubel’s fresco Thank You, Andrei Sakharov.

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Der Tagesspiegel

Nachruf auf Dmitri Wrubel: Bruderkuss-Maler und Meister des Zeitgeists

2022 · Germany · DE
Obituary

A major German obituary and retrospective of Dmitri Vrubel, “the Brotherly-Kiss painter and a master of the Zeitgeist.”

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In his own words

Interviews with Dmitri Vrubel

The Calvert Journal / New East Archive

Brotherly love: 25 years on, the artist behind the iconic Berlin Wall mural tells his story

2014 · United Kingdom · EN
Interview

A major English-language interview with Dmitri Vrubel: the origins of The Brotherly Kiss, the Régis Bossu photograph, the early sketches, Dmitri Prigov, his arrival in Berlin and the painting of the Wall. A key primary source in English.

Read at source →
Kommersant

«Как ни смешно, но это реставрация Берлинской стены»

2008 · Russia · RU
Interview

A Q&A in which Dmitri Vrubel speaks directly about the Berlin Wall mural and the restoration of the East Side Gallery.

Read at source →
Gazeta.ru

Большое интервью с Дмитрием Врубелем

2012 · Russia · RU
Interview

A long interview with Dmitri Vrubel in the culture section of Gazeta.ru.

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Bumaga (paperpaper.io)

«Если до искусства трудно добраться, скажите сразу — только для богатых»

2015 · Russia · RU
Interview

A long interview with Dmitri Vrubel: the author of the Brezhnev–Honecker kiss on Russians in the West and on Russia seen from outside.

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Current Time (Настоящее Время)

«Любовь с таким крепким поцелуем между столь возрастными людьми»

2019 · International · RU
Interview

An interview with Dmitri Vrubel about The Brotherly Kiss and political art, marking 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

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Voices on Vrubel

Artists, critics and thinkers on Dmitri Vrubel and his work.

Boris Groys
Art critic, philosopher and curator

Writing on the Gospel Project, Boris Groys read Vrubel and Timofeeva’s pairing of Gospel text with contemporary news imagery as exposing the shared structure of modern faith in the “news” — the sense in which, as he put it, only bad news is good news, because even something terrible that is new outweighs the familiar and old.

Paraphrase · source · permm.ru · www.kommersant.ru
Dmitri Prigov and the idea of the Wall
Poet and conceptual artist (1940–2007)

By Vrubel’s own account, he showed early sketches connected with the image to the poet and conceptual artist Dmitri Prigov, who suggested that the work belonged on the Berlin Wall. It is an origin story rather than an endorsement — an archival thread in how The Brotherly Kiss came to be.

Paraphrase · source · www.new-east-archive.org

Museum & institutional references

Archive and catalogue records — institutional documentation, not endorsement.

Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou holds an artist record for Dmitri Vrubel, with works in its collection (created with Viktoria Timofeeva). An institutional catalogue record, not an endorsement.

Read at source →
Russian Art Archive Network (RAAN)

The Russian Art Archive Network holds a person record for Dmitri Vrubel; at the time of writing the database associates 138 archival records with the artist. An archival reference, not an endorsement.

Read at source →
PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art

The PERMM museum page for the Gospel Project, including Boris Groys’s reading of the work. Institutional documentation, not an endorsement.

Read at source →

Full press archive

2014
The Calvert Journal / New East Archive · United Kingdom
A major English-language interview with Dmitri Vrubel: the origins of The Brotherly Kiss, the Régis Bossu photograph, the early sketches, Dmitri Prigov, his arrival in Berlin and the painting of the Wall. A key primary source in English.
Interview
EN
2017
Die Zeit · Germany
A German profile and studio visit that treats Vrubel as a living artist decades after the Wall, and discusses the continuing cultural status of The Brotherly Kiss on the East Side Gallery.
Press
DE
2009
Der Tagesspiegel · Germany
Report on Vrubel returning to repaint The Brotherly Kiss during the 2009 restoration of the East Side Gallery. The paper reports that the gallery had received more than 45 press enquiries from around the world about the repainting.
Press
DE
2009
The Guardian / The Observer · United Kingdom
International coverage of the restoration of the East Side Gallery and the return of the original artists to repaint their works on the Berlin Wall.
Press
EN
2001
El País · Spain
Spanish coverage connected with the project “Twelve Moods of the President” — evidence of international attention to Vrubel beyond The Brotherly Kiss.
Press
ES
2014
El País · Spain
A Spanish photo feature on the East Side Gallery that includes The Brotherly Kiss and Vrubel’s fresco Thank You, Andrei Sakharov.
Press
ES
2022
Der Tagesspiegel · Germany
A major German obituary and retrospective of Dmitri Vrubel, “the Brotherly-Kiss painter and a master of the Zeitgeist.”
Obituary
DE
2008
Kommersant · Russia
A Q&A in which Dmitri Vrubel speaks directly about the Berlin Wall mural and the restoration of the East Side Gallery.
Interview
RU
2008
Kommersant · Russia
Anna Tolstova on the Gospel Project by Vrubel and Timofeeva, including Boris Groys’s reading of the relationship between the Gospel text and mass-media imagery.
Criticism
RU
2022
Kommersant · Russia
Kira Dolinina’s obituary of Dmitri Vrubel and a reflection on the artist behind the Berlin Wall’s most famous image.
Obituary
RU
2012
Gazeta.ru · Russia
A long interview with Dmitri Vrubel in the culture section of Gazeta.ru.
Interview
RU
2015
Bumaga (paperpaper.io) · Russia
A long interview with Dmitri Vrubel: the author of the Brezhnev–Honecker kiss on Russians in the West and on Russia seen from outside.
Interview
RU
2019
Current Time (Настоящее Время) · International
An interview with Dmitri Vrubel about The Brotherly Kiss and political art, marking 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Interview
RU
2022
Meduza · International
A large biographical and critical article on Dmitri Vrubel and how he created the main symbol of the end of the Cold War.
Obituary
RU
2000
Ogonyok (Огонёк) · Russia
An early profile of Dmitri Vrubel in Ogonyok, covering the Brezhnev–Honecker kiss and the emerging series of works on Vladimir Putin.
Press
RU
Centre Pompidou · France
The Centre Pompidou holds an artist record for Dmitri Vrubel, with works in its collection (created with Viktoria Timofeeva). An institutional catalogue record, not an endorsement.
Institutional
FR
Russian Art Archive Network (RAAN) · International
The Russian Art Archive Network holds a person record for Dmitri Vrubel; at the time of writing the database associates 138 archival records with the artist. An archival reference, not an endorsement.
Archive
RU
2009
PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art · Russia
The PERMM museum page for the Gospel Project, including Boris Groys’s reading of the work. Institutional documentation, not an endorsement.
Institutional
RU

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