The triptych was originally painted at different times for the Leon Trotsky House Museum (MCLT). It consists of the panels "Bolshevik Magiography" (1967), "Vienna 19" (1973), and "The Instant" (1981). Each panel measures 3.16 by 4 meters.
Apparently, the collection was exhibited at the MCLT for 10 years. According to Vázquez Solsona, Magiografía bolchevique was purchased by the MAM; however, he explained, "I'm not sure about the arrival of the other two. There's a lot of contradictory information. For example, in his book Vlady: From the Revolution to the Renaissance , Jean-Guy Rens writes that the artist donated the works to the MCLT, but the museum has no record of this. "At the MAM, I found the Magiografía bolchevique document , but not the other two. Possibly, these documents may appear in the archive, which is still being classified," he mentions.
It was Fernando Gamboa (1909-1990), then director of the MAM, who promoted the purchase of Magiografía bolchevique, the scholar points out. Triptico trotskiano was included in the exhibition Vlady: La sensualidad y la materia , mounted in 2006 at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. Vázquez Solsona became acquainted with the Russian/Mexican painter's work after a visit some 14 years ago to the Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library, which houses his mural work La revolución y los elementos , in search of information on "the dissidences of the 20th century."
Vlady hooked her. She decided to work on the figure for her history thesis. “At the time, I was taking classes with Renato González Mello. One was being held at the MAM, which later transformed into a project cataloging works in conjunction with the Institute of Aesthetic Research and the museum. “Trotskian Triptych ,” given its size, was rolled up in storage. Once I was able to review the piece, González Mello told me: the only way to rescue this work will be through thorough research. I accepted the assignment.”
