Weightlifting / Olympic Games / Summer 1972-1976 / Munich-Mo - Lot 107

Weightlifting / Olympic Games / Summer 1972-1976 / Munich-Montreal / USSR / Alexeiev Anonymous, circa 1980 Tribute to Vasili Alexeiev Oil on canvas, signed lower left (signature illegible) Imposing and astonishing painting produced in the 1980s (160 x 107 cm), depicting Vasily Ivanovich Alexeiev (1942-2011), considered the strongest man of modern times. Depicted full-length, in full exertion, this work captures all the power and complexity of the legendary Soviet athlete, whose extraordinary career marked the history of weightlifting. A mining engineer from the Ryazan oblast, Alexeiev established himself among the super-heavyweights (1.83 m, 153 kg, 1.50 m waist circumference) by becoming the first athlete in the world to exceed 600 kg in all three compulsory movements. A double Olympic champion in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976), between 1970 and 1977 he held 22 world records and won 22 world titles, including 8 in total movements, making him an absolute in the former USSR, where he became a veritable icon of the national sport. His colossal success was based on an infernal training schedule of 4 to 6 hours a day, but his career was also one of excess. A great lover of caviar - his favorite doping agent - and alcohol, Alexeiev went through a dark period that culminated in his crushing failure at the 1980 Moscow Games, on home soil, marking the end of his hegemony. The artist's juxtaposition of soft pink and muted grey tones subtly captures this duality: that of the monumental athlete and the colossus with intimate flaws. This work of great expressive force and astonishing purity bears witness not only to the ultimate incarnation of human power, but also to the vulnerability of a giant, ranked 90th champion of the century by L'Équipe in 2000. A spectacular and singular piece, it is a vibrant tribute to one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.