The theme of this publication is Russian portraits since 1900, painting a vivid picture of every period in the 20th century. The more than 460 illustrations were all taken from the collection of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, home to the world's largest collection of Russian art. The various movements and styles in which 20th-century artists worked are widely reflected in portraiture. Those whose lives are indelibly linked to the events of the past century are depicted in realistic and avant-garde forms, constituting an unbroken chain of Russian history in faces.