A Soviet Poster A Day

[livius drusus]

If like me you can't get enough of the hotness that are Soviet propaganda posters, check out A Soviet Poster A Day (http://sovietposter.blogspot.com/). Not only does it showcase all kinds of fascinating posters from various periods, but explains their contexts and discusses the artists as well.

Here's one of my favorites so far, just to give you a taste: This is my rifle (http://sovietposter.blogspot.com/2007/09/this-is-my-rifle.html)

http://bp0.blogger.com/_NzHG4HjtdwI/RuqGOqNy90I/AAAAAAAAAM4/jmAfKEueY2Y/s400/10.jpg

“Okna ROSTA” – “Satirical ROSTA Windows” is a series of posters created in 1919-1921 by a group of soviet artists, who worked for ROSTA or Russian Telegraph Agency, which was the first state news agency in the young soviet republic. In Russian ROSTA is not only an abbreviation but the word has a meaning of its own – ROSTA means growth, giving group’s name a forward-motion flavor.

[...]

The author of the cubist poster above is Vladimir Lebedev (1891—1967) – a famous soviet graphical artist. He was one of the founders of Okna ROSTA group, where he created about 500 posters. Vladimir Mayakovsky – the futurist poet of the Revolution wrote a rhythmic and energetic text: “Work is essential, the rifle is near”. The poster has two meanings: the worker should work hard now, but in case of emergency, he is ready to fight. And another one is that those soldiers who were making the Revolution, were to start working and put their rifles aside.

[Crumb]

Very interesting.

[Ensign Steve]

Ooer, I love propagandas! :wriggle:

[ChuckF]

Brezhnev approves!

[livius drusus]

:sheepish:

[fragment]

Interesting pics. I really like some of the modernist Soviet art that was around before socialist realism became the official style, and the SU was in its first excited flush of infancy. It all seems so different looking from past the end of a tired century, back to when it was hoped new machinery and new ideas would usher in an era of liberation and prosperity.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

i love those posters! tres cool :)

[curses]

Ooh, I have an archive of Communist propaganda posters on my hard drive somewhere, lemme see if I can find them.

[curses]

Woo, I found it! Cuban, Chinese, and Soviet propaganda posters! 121 megs of them :/

I guess I should pick a few of my favorites...

[livius drusus]

Much coolness, curses. :thumbup: Do you know any backstory on them?

[curses]

I don't, I found the whole file as is with no text included. I wish I did, though.

[ChuckF]

curses, if you're interested, I can tell you what I can divine about each of those (if you don't already know it). Moving from left to right:

1) The first an advertisement for a "chromolithography" shop in Kazan. It's from before the revolution - evident from the artistic style and its use of pre-revolutionary orthography.

2) The second is the lyrics of the Internationale. This likely dates from 1922 to the early 1930s. The Russian version of the Internationale was the national anthem of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1944. Since this one doesn't include Stalin and gives the lyrics (war-time propaganda had fewer words and more patriotic imagery), I'm inclined to think it comes from somewhere between 1932 and 1936. The style is heavily socialist realist, which indicates that's it probably post-1932.

3) The third poster is not in Russian, but rather in Ukrainian. Its style puts it in the mid- to late-1920s. Its content puts it between 1924 and 1929. I can't read much of it because of some blurring and because I can't read Ukrainian very well. It's advertising an all-union lottery. Since it's the "sixth" one, according to the poster, I'd say it's 1928-9, assuming it was an annual drawing. I will do more research on this one.

4) This poster is in Chinese.

[curses]

Thanks, Chuck!

I can upload the whole Soviet part of the file if you guys want to see them all..

[ChuckF]

A little more research reveals that the third poster is an ad for the Tsoaviaxemu, which is an abbreviation of the Society in Support of Defense - Ukraine (or something like that). This organization was founded in 1927 and supported, uh, defense, aviation, and...chemical engineering (?) if I'm understanding this correctly. In 1951, this organization became DTSAAF, the Voluntary Society for the Support of the Army, Aviation, and Navy. They had an "Aeroklub" subsidiary that assembled aviation enthusiasts from all over Ukraine. Some organizational descendant is still around.

Even with the Ukrainian reading comprehension of a 5 year old, this is rly rly interesting.

[curses]

OK, I put the Soviet posters up on SendSpace if anyone wants them. File size is 107mb.
Posters! (http://www.sendspace.com/file/36ij5p)

[Qingdai]

There is a good coffee table book out with Soviet Graphic design posters in it (Amazon link Amazon.com: Building the Collective: Soviet Graphic Design 1917-1937 (Kiosk Books): Books: Leah Dickerman (http://www.amazon.com/Building-Collective-Soviet-Graphic-1917-1937/dp/1568980744)).

I have a one someone brought from the former Soviet Union in 1986 (Arise Young Pioneers). I also have some 1960s Cuban posters. I am glad I am not alone in my admiration of their style.

[Ymir's blood]

I love the style of no.1.

no.4 is just creepy. :qugh:

[maddog]

I read the thread title, and I thought, "Gee, I didn't know we had that many Soviet posters here."

#1269

[Ymir's blood]

Thanks for the zip file, curses. I made one into an avatar. :wink:

[livius drusus]

I am glad I am not alone in my admiration of their style.
Definitely not. :five: Thank you for the book recommendation.

[godfry n. glad]

Okay...I've a question for Chuckles (or any other reader of Russian).

When I was in Russia, the merchants were flogging this as a postcard:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/stalin_voting_rus.jpg

It is, of course, a pic of ol' Joe seemingly casting a ballot. I'd like to know what the exclamatory text proclaims.

Here's it's transmorgification into English usage in the US:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/stalin_voting.jpg

I'm pretty sure it was a Soviet poster and from the date on the postcard I bought, it's from 1950.

[maddog]

Za Narodnoye Schastve! as I transliterate it.

Za, iirc, is a preposition meaning toward. Naroda is "people" I think. Toward the people's or popular something-or-other is my initial guess. My vocabulary and grammar suck, though.

#1390

[ChuckF]

It says "For the popular happiness!"
Za Narodnoye Schastve! as I transliterate it.

Za, iirc, is a preposition meaning toward. Naroda is "people" I think. Toward the people's or popular something-or-other is my initial guess. My vocabulary and grammar suck, though.
Close. Za narodnoye schast'e. The ь is a soft sign, not a в. Za means a lot of things. In this case, because it takes the accusative case, it means "for" as in "Thank you for the help." Some exchange or reciprocity is implied. The main preposition meaning "toward" is к.

[godfry n. glad]

Thanks.

A student employee of mine, a Ruskie exile of Uzbekistan, translated it as "For the happiness of the nation!"

Same thing as "For the popular happiness!"

So...all that was necessary for the popular happiness was for ol' Joe to vote, eh?

[Kyuss Apollo]

A while back I made my own Soviet motivational poster here (http://diy.despair.com/motivator.php).


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/181848004_59b8f0ee32.jpg