Painted either in muted tones or even in grisaille, the paintings from Nikolai Makarov’s series “Die späte Freiheit” [lit. late freedom—a term describing the increasing trend toward late retirement] portray elderly people, depicted by the artist either in complete solitude or in small groups. The resigned postures, gestures and mimic of the figures testify to a deep sense of despondency and an acquiescent bearing of affliction. Whether presented frontally or in profile, crouched before a diffuse background of monochrome color, and devoid of any objects, or portrayed, with loaded symbolism, seated together in a single boat, these well-aged individuals from the era of späte Freiheit impart a metaphorical viewpoint concerning the personal crises of a generation that has been robbed of life and will no longer be able to taste the fruits of its own freedom—a generation which has been forced to acknowledge that it still has an account to be settled with life.