Ladyzhensky’s youth coincided with a time of great upheaval in Odessa. Many
of his paintings depict the events surrounding the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the endeavors of his family and neighbors to survive in the midst of the ensuing Civil War.

The painting We Were Wrapping Candies refers to a memory from the time of
the Soviet Union’s New Economic Policy of 1921, which allowed private individuals to run businesses. Ladyzhensky recalls, “when some Odessa residents were finally able to exhibit their entrepreneurial zeal, there were many small enterprises. Two or three entrepreneurs who made caramel and sweets, montpensier and toffee, would provide their goods to Madame Styro, who would then wrap them. We, boys and girls who were playing in the yard and had free time, were enlisted into this sweet enterprise.”

In his Petliura’s Gang Comes to Town diptych, Ladyzhensky recalls a violent pogrom carried out under the authority of Symon Petliura, who from 1919-1921 served as president of the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic. “Pogrom” is a Slavic word for a violent riot or massacre, often used to describe attacks against Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe.

In Petliura’s Gang Comes to Town I, Ladyzhensky depicts women, children, and elders inside of a small apartment. It is a crowded room, and the figures are relatively still. They sleep, eat, read, and knit. The windows are barricaded, and the chandelier is out. The room is lit by a single candle. In contrast, In Self-Defense of My Home (Petliura’s Gang Comes to Town II) presents the same moment, but outdoors, where the younger men of Ladyzhensky’s community are moving in all directions. They carry and hoist up furniture to act as barricades.

While many of his paintings take a momentous or violent event as their subject – whether it be a pogrom, a burning theater, or an accident on the rails – Ladyzhensky rarely depicts the event itself; he prefers to paint the hubbub and commotion surrounding it. Along with his flattened compositions and bold colors, this choice demonstrates that these are images of childhood impressions and memories rather than illustrations of notable events in Odessa’s history.