The Revolutionary

Digital drawing, archival pigment inkjet print on fine art paper, Limited edition of 5, 42 x 29.7 cm, 350 USD

The Ottoman Empire’s Balkan War had ended, and it was just before the start of the First World War. This Pasha, a successful commander in the Ottoman army, was called before the Sultan and appointed ambassador to the Russian Empire—at that time boiling with Bolshevik movements. As the son of the former Ottoman ambassador to Russia, he’d been born and raised in Moscow. Some worried he might have been influenced by revolutionary ideas. The Sultan’s ulterior motive for this appointment, of course, was to get this Pasha out of sight and prevent him from spreading venomous ideas in the imperial court.