"Untitled II" (1959) by Alexey Glebovich Smirnov explores the tension between physical constraint and spiritual liberation during the Khrushchev Thaw period. Smirnov depicts the body as both prison and means of transcendence, capturing the paradoxical relationship between restriction and freedom that characterised this pivotal moment in Soviet cultural history.

The composition centres on a female figure executed through a single continuous line, creating a form that seems simultaneously bound and breaking free. Smirnov positions the twisted, elongated figure against a vast negative space that emphasises its dynamic tension. The figure's contorted pose suggests both constraint and resistance, with limbs stretched and torso coiled in apparent struggle. Most striking is the interplay between delicate and emphatic line work - lighter, more tentative strokes in the extremities give way to darker, more insistent marks defining the torso, head, thighs and arms. The deliberate variation in line weight, particularly in the compressed central mass of the figure, creates focal points of intense emotional and physical tension.

The drawing's power lies in its exploration of freedom within constraints. While the figure is literally bound by the continuous line that defines it, that same line creates a sense of flowing movement and potential energy. This duality mirrors the artist's own position within Soviet society - working within official institutions while pushing against their limitations. The figure's upward-straining pose and elongated form evoke traditional Russian icons' spiritual verticality, yet the modernist abstraction and psychological intensity place it firmly within contemporary artistic discourse. This synthesis of rebellion and tradition characterises the complex negotiations required of artists during the Thaw period.

Alexey Glebovich Smirnov (1937–2009) came from a family of established Russian artists but carved out his own distinct path. His education at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute laid the groundwork for his later experimentation, which often challenged the boundaries of Soviet artistic conventions. Smirnov participated in numerous exhibitions both in the Soviet Union and internationally, including the 1959 and 1961 Moscow exhibitions of young artists, as well as notable shows in Florence, Zurich, and Barcelona. His work is held in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.