The civil war in Russia (1918-1920) found Solomon Nikritin trying to escape from Ukraine to Moscow in order to survive. He managed and in 1920 he entered the VKHuTEMAS Higher Artistic and Technical Studios, where he studied art. His early drawings capture the scary memories of War. Nikritin said: “What I have painted here is fact, reality and truth. The attitude of each figure was made from the sketch of a concrete person, caught in the moment of a concrete, real situation. My intention has added nothing, exaggerated nothing, lessened nothing, symbolized nothing. All this I say myself and so it was”. [Solomon Nikritin, from the ‘Memories of War’ series, c. 1924, MOMus - Museum of Modern Art-Costakis collection]