Friday, 15 December

Fine, sunny and cold

At 11.00 a.m. I went to the studio of the famous painter A.M. Gerasimov. He drew a portrait of me because he was instructed by the Soviet Government to draw an oil painting on the signing of the Four Powers Declaration, therefore he wanted to draw my portrait first, so that when he drew my part in the picture he would be able to capture my essence This morning I posed for him three times, each time for half an hour. Probably I need to go there for three more days. He is the best painter in Modern Soviet Union, and was extremely kind.

In the evening, I went to the circus with Hu and Qian. The best of the new acts was A.A. Alexandrov’s performance of seven leopards. The female performer R.M. Nemchinskaya who walked on the highwire was also good.