St Petersburg has already seen four exhibitions by Ilya Glazunov, but in communist times two of them were shut before they even opened.
"Mystery of the 20th Century," which Glazunov created in the 1980s, blames communist leaders for the bloody terror going on in Russia and was an open challenge against the regime.
Times have changed, and the exhibition of paintings and collages is now on dispay at the Central Exhibition Hall (Manezh).
Glazunov, born in Leningrad, lost his parents in the Siege and said he considers himself "a Russian from the capital letter" -- even though he barely escaped expulsion from Russia because of "Mystery."
"Russia, wake up," he invites spectators at the exhibition.
In one painting, the burning White House in Moscow is shown against the background of a bloody sunset. In another, a family of peasants, frozen in a windy, snowy field, waits in front of a barrier. A third shows a huge sad blue-faced Christ in a starry night with ancient Russian warriors behind him.
These three paintings are among the simplest in the exhibition. Glazunov's collages are much more complex. One could spend hours or days trying to decipher the warnings Glazunov seems to be sending.
Near the entrance of the exhibition, one of the most ambitious collages shows a variety of contrasting images drawn from history, geography, the Bible and allegory.
Faces of Peter the Great, generalissimo Alexander Suvorov and scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, heroes dear to every Russian, are placed in the top left-hand corner.
Only the thin smoke of the ages is preventing them from seeing what Russia is becoming today: revolting creatures seated around the table where they treat themselves with body parts, including the head of John the Baptist.
Huge pigs, occupying the whole bottom left-hand side, are expecting their feast also: the blood from the dinner table is already pouring...but in the center of the collage, Jesus Christ is forgiving a youngster in blue jeans of his sins.
The exhibition displays about 250 paintings by Glazunov and young artists of his workshop.
Realism as an artistic style and patriotism as the contents is what unites all these pictures.
Domestic scenes of old Russian families by Yuri Sergeyev -- with the most beautifully carved chests, wooden peasant furniture, decorated icons and Russian people of all generations in traditional garments -- bring relaxation from Glazunov's powerful and stressful works.
Sergeyev's "Feast of Ivan the Terrible," with Ivan's colorful court enjoying an abundance of dishes including fried swans, gives historic details of time and characters, which imagination is lacking while reading dry history textbooks.
Dmitry Slepushkin shows a large panorama of military characters of old Russia. Especially powerful is the scene of soldiers praying before going into battle. Even while kneeling, the soldiers are at attention, listening to their spiritual father.
Soon the morning mist will wear off, the prayer will be over and the inspired soldiers will be off for heroic deeds for faith, Tsar and Fatherland.
The exhibition gives new images for historical events and figures -- Alexander Pushkin's death in a duel, the last minutes of Sergei Yesenin, Peter the Great and Tsarevich Alexei.
But there are not only pure Russian images at the exhibition. Bible and mythological plots and picturesque landscapes of Russia and views of St Petersburg are also in abundance.
Glazunov is now a full-time rector of the Moscow-based Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
But in spite of his office, Glazunov's honest, nonconformist and straightforward-to-the-point-of-scandal nature earns him a lot of enemies.
It has already become a tradition that he opposes the rulers of the country, no matter what their political inclination. The tradition did not change with what is now called "democratic" rule.
"I have never seen any live democrat, or real communist, or real fascist in Russia," he said at the opening of the exhibition.
He also said that he did not accept architectural contributions to St Petersburg "after the Aurora shot" in 1917.
Not only rulers suffer from his sharp tongue. At the opening, he managed to blast Shemyakin for his Peter the Great monument at the Peter and Paul Fortress, all Russian art critics for ignorance and journalists for corruption.
Moscow's newly constructed Cathedral of Christ the Savior was pronounced guilty for not inviting him to paint its inside and the St Petersburg Mayor's Office was condemned because it did not help Glazunov organize the exhibition.
He is rejected by the official art criticism of Russia "now more than ever," said Glazunov.
At the same time, the long lines of people waiting to see the exhibition speak for themselves.