Imaging the communist leaders was a common practice in the Soviet art. Nurenberg also painted portraits of Lenin, but in his own way. The background to his Lenin's works was always Paris, where Lenin stayed in 1909–1912. Since Nurenberg also lived in 1911–1912 in the same 14th arrondissement of Paris as Lenin, and even could meet him, the historical truth was respected. Reliably it is known that Nurenberg co-organized a lecture of Lenin in the VkHUTEMAS on February 25, 1921 and made sketches of him (there is a Nurenberg’s essay about it).

There is no doubt that Nurenberg, who participated in the Revolution, admired Lenin sincerely. But one can also assume that, having painted Lenin in Paris, Nurenberg found a convenient way to depict favorite places — Luxembourg Garden, banks of the Seine, Paris cafes — without being deplored for "propaganda of the West".

Several Nurenberg’s works devoted to Lenin are in the Museum of Revolution (now the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia), where Nurenberg worked several years after the war. One work from this series is in the Tretyakov Gallery.