Erik Bulatov, the Soviet-born artist known for overlaying Communist Party slogans onto luminous landscapes, died in Paris on 9 November. A key figure in the underground art movement of the 1970s and 80s, he was part of the Sretensky Group alongside Ilya Kabakov and others, navigating state censorship by illustrating children's books. His most famous work, *Glory to the CPSU* (1975), sold for $2.1m in 2008, and in 2025 he was ranked the most expensive living Russian artist by The Art Newspaper Russia.
Bulatov's death marks the end of an era for Soviet nonconformist art, which used ideological text and radiant skies to create layered works that could pass state scrutiny while questioning authority. His career—from selling to a Western collector during the Soviet era to settling in Paris—reflects the shifting boundaries of artistic freedom under repression. His paintings remain powerful symbols of resistance, using visual paradoxes to explore the limits of social and political space.