The Ballad Of Trotsky

The Ballad Of Trotsky is a dead taxidermised horse, a statue resembling a horse, and a conceptual art piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Dead horse
A taxidermised horse is aligned to the ceiling of an institutional space.

Statue (horse)
The statue of a horse is installed in an art gallery.

Conceptual art piece
This taxidermised horse is a statue referring to Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky - an influential figure in the Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union, that, thanks to his opposing of Stalin in the 1920s, had to flee to Mexico City; where he consequently was murdered by a devout communist.

Interpretation
Julien Delagrange has viewed the concept to represent a tragedy which aligns with the fate of Trotsky - presented by the work is one of thwarted potential and having to bear witness to the loss of an ideal - Trotsky represents utopia and persistent efforts to achieve a better world, but also a failure, representing the tragi-comic predicament of the human condition as a whole.