Soviet Art

Revolutionary Era First Soviet toys. Pilot. Aircraft. Board Game ‘Following the path of heroes’. 1930s

Revolutionary Era First Soviet toys

Immediately after the revolution, the need for a toy has become a requirement of life. But in the country, fighting on the front, and then selflessly restoring the destroyed economy, there were not, and could not be companies that produced such products. It is no coincidence one of the first government regulations partially permitted free trade in toys, among other handicrafts. In the 1920s and even the 30s in different parts of the USSR, especially in the provinces, the most common and affordable remained homemade toy. It was made for and by the children themselves, as well as single artisans, selling their simple goods in the markets and fairs. Living in the distant cities and villages, they kept folk art features in their handmade products.
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Soviet Anti-Alcohol Poster. No!

Soviet Anti-Alcohol Poster
The struggle with alcoholism began with the arrival of Soviet power. In December 1917, the Soviet government extended the ban on the sale of vodka. December 19, 1919 the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree signed by Lenin – “On the Prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, spirits and alcohol-containing substances on territory of the country”, providing stricter measures: at least 5 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
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The hostess. 1970. Oil. Soviet artist Yuri Kugach

Soviet artist Yuri Kugach (1917–2013) – Winner of the Stalin Prize of the second degree (1950), People’s Artist of the USSR (1977), member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1975). In 1936 he graduated from Moscow art school of memory of 1905, in 1942 – the Moscow State Academy of Fine Arts named after Surikov; in 1945 – post-graduate studies. In 1948-1951 he taught at the Academy. His works are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the art museums of Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Omsk, Kiev, Kharkov, Lvov and others. Kugach had excellent teachers: Nikolay Krymov, Igor Grabar. Kugach was one of the favorite students of Sergei Vasilievich Gerasimov.
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Comrade Stalin is greeted by the young pioneers. 1935. Photo by Soviet photojournalist Ivan Shagin (1904 ̵ 1982)

Soviet photojournalist Ivan Shagin (1904-1982) became one of the leading photojournalists of the USSR by the end of the 1930s. He was shooting war time from the first to the last day, as a front line photo correspondent of “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. His photo chronicles include genre scenes on the streets of Moscow with the announcement on the radio about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany to the hoisting of the Victory Banner at the dome of the Reichstag. He photographed major combat operations on almost all fronts. Since 1950, Ivan Shagin worked in publishing houses “Izogiz”, “Soviet Artist”, “Art”, “Progress”, APN Novosti, and “Pravda”. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of II degree, and several medals of the USSR.
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Che. Soviet poster artist Igor Aksenov

Few people know that the Lenin Komsomol Prize award in the arts, among hundreds of professional artists, its winners, was once given to a non-professional artist from Siberia. This artist was Igor Aksenov – representative of the Novosibirsk State University. Alongside with the Lenin Komsomol Prize, he was awarded the highest award of the Soviet Peace Committee – an honorary medal “Fighter for Peace”, as well as a silver medal of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition of the USSR (1985, 1986) and the Medal of Honor of the World Peace Council (1984). Soviet poster artist Igor Aksenov was a member of the Soviet Committee for Solidarity with Latin America. His posters are really very popular. They have become collectors’ items among the wide range of fans around the world. The number of exhibitions of his work has been enormous. To name the exact number and venue is not possible, especially abroad, as along with a few officials, there was a set of spontaneous, organized by fans of his work. They are devoted to topical political issues – the issue of disarmament, the fight against the aggressive aspirations of the imperialist forces and solidarity with the peoples fighting for their national and social liberation.
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Samantha Smith visiting Soviet Union. Soviet woman-cosmonaut, Hero of the USSR Valentina Tereshkova and Samantha Smith, 1983

Samantha Smith visiting Soviet Union
“Dear Mr. Andropov,
My name is Samantha Smith… I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country”…
Samantha’s letter was sent to the Soviet Union in November 1982, and in early 1983 – the newspaper “Pravda” published it. Samantha was happy when she found out about it. April 25, 1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov invited American girl Samantha Smith and her parents to the Soviet Union. Samantha Reed Smith (1972-1985) – beautiful and brave American schoolgirl from Maine, has become world famous thanks to the letter, which she wrote to the General Secretary of the CPSU in the midst cold war. For two weeks, the Smiths spent in the Soviet Union, Goodwill Ambassador Samantha visited Moscow, Leningrad and chief pioneer camp “Artek” in Crimea. In the camp “Artek” she lived like all Soviet children, wore a traditional pioneer form. She liked it very much, and took it to the US. Although seriously ill Andropov never met Samantha, they talked on the phone.
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The Family of Vasily Shukshin. 1976. Painting by Soviet artist Elena Romanova (1944-2014)

Soviet artist Elena Romanova was born in 1944 in Moscow, the USSR. She graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov. In 1975 she became a laureate of the Moscow Komsomol for creating portraits of contemporaries, and later was awarded a diploma of I degree of the USSR Academy of Arts for her work “Portrait of a family of Vasily Makarovich Shukshin.” Pictures of Elena Romanova are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, in the collections of different cities and countries. She worked on a series of graphic works dedicated to the workers of Tajikistan and Baikal-Amur Mainline.
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