Support The Moscow Times!

Need a World Cup Mural? Russian Paints Giant Portrait of His Wife on Moscow Wall

Tatyana Makeyeva / Reuters

The head of a Russian advertising agency tasked with decorating Moscow facades ahead of the football World Cup used the opportunity to commission a 12-story high mural of his wife.

The portrait shows Novatek Art director Ivan Panteleev's wife Daria in a gym kit holding a football against the backdrop of a bright blue sky. Cartoon birds fly around her.

"This is the mural with which we are welcoming all foreigners to Russia and inviting them to the football games!" Novatek Art wrote in a description of the picture on social media.

The funding for the facade in Zhulebino district came from the Moscow city budget, Panteleev told Reuters. It is one of four World Cup murals co-sponsored by the city's public relations committee.

"It's true that the model for this painting was my wife," Panteleev said, adding that with such large paintings artists need to rely on a photograph and in this case the model was his wife.

He said one of the two painters is Thai graffiti artist Mue Bon, whose visit to Russia was sponsored by a government department for another Novatek Art project related to the World Cup.

The portrait, unveiled before the World Cup began on June 14, has drawn the ire of many in Russia's street art community.

"Usually (Ivan) says his critics are just jealous. In this case – we're definitely jealous. Don't we all wish we had husbands like that, right ladies?" gallery director Anna Nistratova wrote in a sarcastic post on her Facebook page.

Daria Panteleeva defended her portrait.

"If an artist or an organizer is commissioned to paint a 'blonde Russian woman with a ball'... why should anyone care if the artist paints a woman they know or a stranger?" Panteleeva replied to the public social media post.

A filmed trailer for the World Cup series of facades, showing how Panteleeva was spray-painted onto the building, was a news item on Russia's state-controlled Channel 1 television network.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more