Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky was a Soviet painter whose work is especially notable for its role in the formation of the socialist realism art movement and for his works depicting Lenin. His paintings capturing events of the Russian Civil War and the Bolshevik Revolution are also notable. Brodsky was Ilya Repin’s favorite student, one of the favored artists of the revolution (not to be confused with Joseph Brodsky, one of the least-favorite poets of the same regime) and holds the honor of being one of the founders of Socialist Realism.
Brodsky lived in a large and beautiful apartment on Arts Square in the very center of St. Petersburg for the last 15 years of his life, from 1924 until 1939. Today, the house serves as a museum and displays a unique collection of paintings - both by Isaak Brodsky and various Russian artists (the painter was also an avid arts collector). His collection contains thousands of works, including lesser-known paintings by top 19th-century artists such as Repin, Levitan and Kramskoy. Also, here you can see the original furniture, books, photographs signed by outstanding people of that time and other valuable memorabilia that helps create a very special atmosphere of the 1920's and 1930's. The museum exhibition hall often hosts temporary exhibitions of modern artists.