This publication features the works of the outstanding Russian painter and artist Marlen Spindler (1931–2003) which he painted in freedom. Soviet prisons and internal exile stole 15 years of his life, but his truly great talent, originality of ideas, creative energy and boundless love of painting were not misspent and resulted in stunning works. Inspired by Old Russian art, he diligently examined and analysed ancient icons and frescoes and studied how the great master icon-painters structured their compositions and developed their range of colour. The signs and symbols he conceived in the early 1960s bring something basic and fundamental to his oeuvre as demonstrated by all the Marlen Spindler works, including depictions of countenances and totems which feature in this publication. The artist’s brave ideas, unbridled temperament, total liberation of body and soul and, of course, restricted freedom, give purpose to his artistic fantasies. This publication features a number of Marlen’s paintings. The unique and unusually powerful fresco works painted on sackcloth using paints made as in the old days are especially noteworthy, as are the dynamic compositions which conquer us with their colour combinations. They are a triumph of freedom and of his huge strength of will.