Painter Of Iconic Brezhnev-Honecker 'Kiss' On Berlin Wall Dies At 62
Artist Dmitry Vrubel touches up his famous mural in Berlin in April 2014.
Dmitry Vrubel, the author of the iconic painting on the Berlin Wall depicting Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing East Germany's communist leader, Erich Honecker, has died in the German capital at the age of 62.
Chief editor of The Art Newspaper Russia, Milena Orlova, said on Facebook that Vrubel died late on August 14.
Titled "My God! Help Me Survive This Deadly Love," Vrubel's painting on the remains of the Berlin Wall became a symbol of Germany's unification in 1990.
Sometimes also referred to as "The Fraternal Kiss,' the graffiti artwork became enormously popular and has decorated souvenirs in Germany ever since.
The Soviet Kiss, Gone But (Mostly) Not Missed
1/13Soviet dictator Josef Stalin looks unsure as pilot Valery Chkalov (right) leans in for a kiss in 1936.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
2/13By 1937, Stalin seems to have warmed to the practice. Here, he lunges for a peck from pilot Vasily Molokov.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
3/13Red Army soldiers kiss after victory was declared over Nazi Germany. The "socialist fraternal kiss" was reportedly an expression of equality -- upturning the ancien regime's custom of lowly subjects kissing noble hands (or feet, in ancient Rome and Persia).
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
4/13What looks like a last dance is actually a state event to welcome cosmonauts back to Earth led by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (third from left).
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
5/13Another angle of the 1962 event shows Khrushchev mid-kiss. The socialist fraternal kiss was usually reserved for the cheeks, but as enthusiasm for communist utopia began to wane, stately kisses only grew in passion.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
6/13And no one kissed like Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, pictured (center) greeting communist heart-throb Konstantin Chernenko in Crimea in 1980.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
7/13As Brezhnev locks lips with Nikolai Podgorny in the Kremlin in 1975, two elder statesmen (right) suffer instant demotion to third and fourth wheels.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
8/13The Brezhnev kissinvolved three kisses, usually on alternating cheeks; but the closer the ties between Soviet states, the closer wrinkled lips slid. This famous greeting between Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker in 1979 was later immortalized in a mural titled God Help Me Survive This Deadly Love.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
9/13Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured greeting Honecker) may have ushered in a new era when he rose to lead the U.S.S.R., but the Soviet kiss was one custom that continued unchanged.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
10/13Three years before the Berlin Wall came down, Honecker grips Gorbachev tight during the latter's state visit to East Germany in 1986.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
11/13In the dying days of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, Soviet official Ivan Silayev grabs a last kiss as tennis champion Andrei Cherkasov dreams of a brighter future.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
12/13This 2005 photo of Vladimir Putin being kissed by a WWII veteran is the last image we can find of a Soviet kiss being planted on official cheeks.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
13/13But for die-hard communists like Ushangi Davitashvili, who keeps a shrine to Stalin in his garden in Tbilisi, the lip-smacking tradition continues, even if those lips have long-since turned to stone.
Men locking lips in public might be a rare event in today's Russia, but comrades kissing behind the Iron Curtain was once the height of fraternal protocol.
Previous slide
Next slide
In 2009, Vrubel's painting was removed from the wall's remains, but the artist painted it again.
In June, Vrubel was hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms. In early August, he underwent heart surgery.
RFE/RL's Russian Service is a multi-platform alternative to Russian state-controlled media, providing audiences in the Russian Federation with informed and accurate news, analysis, and opinion.
