Another paradox that characterises this situation is that in the Soviet Union these buildings were never called ‘modernist’. ‘Modernism’ was only used in a strictly negative sense. The skulls painted by Pablo Picasso often served as illustrations for anti-modernist books, such as The Crisis of Ugliness: From Cubism to Pop-Art (1968) by Mikhail Lifshitz. Soviet discussions about modernism and modernity are now almost forgotten and Soviet architecture and monumental art have been turned into ‘Soviet Modernism’ for a younger generation.
I picture modernist skulls by Picasso as protecting SovMod building fetishes that still remain untouched in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odessa or in the war zone of Donetsk.
![](https://afterall-wp.imgix.net/sites/13468/2023/04/Scull_3.jpg?crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&w=1125)
![](https://afterall-wp.imgix.net/sites/13468/2023/04/Scull_2.jpg?crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&w=1125)
![](https://afterall-wp.imgix.net/sites/13468/2023/04/Scull_5.jpg?crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&w=1125)
![](https://afterall-wp.imgix.net/sites/13468/2023/04/Scull_4.jpg?crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&w=1125)
![](https://afterall-wp.imgix.net/sites/13468/2023/04/Scull_1.jpg?crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&w=1125)