The artist conceived the painting "Farewell Look" to immortalize the story of his own sister. A pianist, she married a violinist, a graduate of the same conservatory. However, the musician failed to manage his talent or his life wisely. He began drinking heavily and eventually became a complete alcoholic. His wife took their daughter and left him. Dobrov depicted this very moment in his painting. [...]
From the memoirs of Gennady Dobrov:
I approached Boris Georgievich Lukyanov, the editor of the magazine "Artist." He looked at "A Farewell Look" and said, "No, Gena, we can't just show your painting like that. The editorial board members are against it, the Union secretaries are against it too... Sergei Petrovich Tkachev brought a delegation of the Komsomol Central Committee to the painting while it was being hung and complained, "We tell him, 'Take the axe out of the alcoholic's hands,' but he doesn't!" He also forbade television crews from approaching it. And he said to me, "You probably think your painting is brilliant? No, no, no, my dear fellow. We don't need that kind of realism." I filed an appeal... It didn't help.
"Farewell Look" was first displayed at the spring exhibition in the Begovaya Street exhibition hall in 1984. The painting caused a sensation, and the number of visitors to the exhibition grew daily. (source)
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