Note: The artist portrays a resolute Stalin in a thoughtful pose, standing apart from the ship's crew members. The Cruiser "Molotov" is proceeding to Yalta on the Black Sea for a conference with Winston Churchill and F. D. Roosevelt. This Stalin Prize winning painting was one of several images of the period that depicted Stalin as aloof or separate from the mass in a proper setting that would suggest his qualities and achievements.

Puzyrkov was a graduate of the Kiev Art Institute and a specialist in creating images of the sea. His Stalin on the Cruiser 'Molotov' convincingly renders the effect of light and air on the open sea.