Femmes gagnantes
During Cold War, growing up on the other side of the Iron Curtain, I collected stamps, among which those celebrating the Spartakiade games, which played an important role in Communist propaganda.
In this painting, I depict the figure of an athlete from a 1960 stamp celebrating the games held in Prague. It was also a few years later, in 1968, that the Soviet tanks rolled in. Contrary to the supposedly historical image, the woman carrying the red flag in the painting suggests that she is adding as many stars to the scene as she likes, giving the finger of honour to the dictatorship.
Born in Leningrad into a Polish-Ukrainian Jewish family, Irena Szewinska-Kirszenstein took part in five Olympic Games and won 7 medals.
At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico she beat the world record in the 200 metres, but on her return to Poland she was the victim of anti-Semitic and misogynistic violence.
In 1974, United Press International named her the best sportswoman in the world, cementing her place in the pantheon of athletics.