Soviet Art

USSR Culture

Category Archive: Soviet Posters

Soviet graphic artist Zinaida Lapshina

Soviet graphic artist Zinaida Lapshina (b. 1946). Glory to the Soviet woman - worker. Poster. 1975

Soviet graphic artist Zinaida Lapshina (b. 1946). Glory to the Soviet woman – worker. Poster. 1975

Soviet graphic artist Zinaida Lapshina was born in 1946 in Moscow. She graduated from Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov in 1971. Zinaida Lapshina studied at the workshop of NA Ponomarev, M. Savostyuk, BA Uspensky. She was awarded the first prize for the poster “Glory to the Soviet woman-worker” at the National competition of the poster “the Soviet people – active builders of communist society” (1974). Constantly working on propaganda posters, she became a Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR in 1974. Her major works: “My concern and care will bring great income!” (1970), “Red Devils” (1974), “October” (1974), “Glory to the woman-toiler!” (1975), “Dedicate Labor achievements to the XXV Congress of the CPSU”(1975), “Flourish, my motherland”(1976), “Flourish and grow, our scientific cities!”(1976), “We will build solar cities” (1976), “We – the masters of our country!” (1979).
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Early Soviet film posters

Man with a Movie Camera, 1929

Early Soviet film posters. Man with a Movie Camera, 1929

Movie Posters have long been separate kind of art. Early Soviet film posters adorned the main theaters of the country and places of public festivals. The popularity of cinema in those years was so high that sometimes people had to stand in long queues to buy cherished tickets! Why the old Soviet movie posters were made as a picture and not as staged photography, photo collage or a film frame? The answer is obvious: because it was much cheaper. Digital Technologies of that time did not allow to publish millions of large size photo posters for all the theaters, cultural centers and other institutions of a giant country. It would be impossible and impractical. In addition, to make a big picture in large size and good resolution would be very problematic.
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Thirty Greatest Soviet Films

Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession, 1973. Greatest Soviet Films

Greatest Soviet Films. Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession, 1973. Starred: Alexander Demyanenko, Natalya Selezneva, Yuri Yakovlev, Natalia Krachkovskaya, Leonid Kuravlev, Vladimir Etush, Savely Kramarov, Mikhail Pugovkin, Natalia Kustinskaya

Thirty Greatest Soviet Films
No matter how much Russian citizens talk about how good or bad it was in the Soviet Union, the USSR movies were stunning. Here is the list of Thirty Greatest Soviet Films – the pride of the nation, the wealth of the Soviet and Russian people, along with the great masterpieces of art. And no matter how many years pass, these films are a part of everyone who was born in the USSR. The rankings are based on the results of voting of visitors of kinopoisk.ru website. The first in the list of best Soviet films is “Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession”, 1973 comedy film made by unsurpassed Soviet director Leonid Gaidai. The film in the genre of fantasy, comedy, and adventure. For foreign audience, the film known under the name “Ivan the Terrible: Back to the Future” is worth watching.
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Soviet poster artist Viktor Ivanov

You returned life to us. Soviet poster artist Viktor Ivanov

You returned life to us. Soviet poster artist Viktor Ivanov (29 October 1909, Moscow – 26 November 1968, Moscow)

Born 29 October 1909 in Moscow, Soviet poster artist Viktor Ivanov was an honored Artist of the RSFSR (1955) and Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). A recognized master of political posters, he worked as a painter and artist of cinema. In 1929 he graduated from the Moscow State Technical College of Fine Arts, where he was trained at the Studio of D. Kardovsky. The same year he entered the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of the Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad, from which he graduated in 1933. While a student, he began working as a poster artist of Izogiz. In 1930 he worked as a film artist at the “Mosfilm”. Since 1934, he became a permanent participant of all-Russian, all-Union and international exhibitions.
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Vintage Cigarette ads in USSR

Vintage Cigarette ads in USSR

Best on the Far East cigarettes. Vintage Cigarette ads in USSR

Vintage Cigarette ads in USSR
Java, Capital, Space, Apollo-Soyuz, Prima, Laika – these names are familiar to millions of smokers of the Soviet Union, and not only to smokers. Soviet cigarette story began after World War II. Prior to that, the majority of smokers used cigars and Hand-rolled cigarettes. Cigarettes with filter and form of international standard appeared only in 1966. By the mid 70-ies of the USSR entered the three of the world’s leading manufacturers of tobacco products, giving the palm only the US and China. The Soviet Union produced 365 billion cigarettes per year – about a tenth of the world’s production. Cigarettes have become essential goods for many Soviet people thanks to colorful printed ads, in the form of posters.
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Soviet poster artist Maria Bri-Bein

Woman - Proletarian, master aviation technology ... 1931

Woman – Proletarian, master aviation technology … Soviet poster artist Maria Bri-Bein. 1931

The author of this poster – Soviet poster artist Maria Bri-Bein. Her statement was “for the successful implementation of the historic tasks artist should maintain his two main development tools – clarity and mass.” Maria’s posters are clear, specific, dynamic, expressive, not overloaded with details, and are interesting to contemporaries not only with the plot, but that they were made by the woman – artist. The struggle of the Soviet state for the “liberation” of women, the approval of the idea of ​​the necessity of her participation in the creative work is reflected in the paintings of many painters. The Soviet era heroine in artworks by Bri-Bein is stately, beautiful, confident in her work, mission, and her future.
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World War II Soviet posters

World War II Soviet posters. Motherland calls

World War II Soviet posters. Popular poster “Motherland calls!” was the first and the most famous Soviet poster of the second world war. The text on the sheet in the Motherland hand is the Red Army oath

World War II Soviet posters
The Most famous Soviet posters of the period of World War II are works of art and reflect elements of the Soviet cultural heritage. Such posters have often been displayed at special stands. Military posters differed in the quality of performance, and form. Some posters were rude caricatures, while others were paintings on military subjects or photographs and had been popular with explanations about what is happening. Popular was a poetic commentary, or a quote from the works of Vladimir Lenin or Iosif Stalin. Popular poster “Motherland calls!” was the first and the most famous Soviet poster of the second world war. The text on the sheet in the Motherland hand is the Red Army oath. The Motherland Calls poster was created by artist Irakli Moiseevich Toidze in late June 1941. The artist himself recalled – upon hearing the first report of the Soviet Information Bureau that Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Toidze’s wife ran into his studio with a cry “War!”. Startled by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately began to sketch the future masterpiece.
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