Soviet Art

Famous photo of WWII by Soviet photographer Max Alpert ‘Combat’, July 1942

Max Vladimirovich Alpert (18 March 1899 Simferopol, Russian Empire – November 30, 1980, Moscow) – Soviet photographer and photo reporter. One of the founders of the Soviet serial photography. Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR (1966). Together with his brother, Mikhail Alperin, he studied photography in Odessa (1914). After the Civil War, he worked as a photojournalist in the “Workers Newspaper” in Moscow. In 1920s he became a member of the association of photo reporters at the Moscow printing house. In the 1930s, he worked in the illustrated magazine “USSR in Construction”, prepared about 50 photo-essays. The most important works of this period are made on the construction of the plant in Magnitogorsk (MMK), the Turksib, the Great Fergana Canal. He captured the fascinating history page of human labor, developed a monumental image of our era.
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Soviet actress Tatiana Okunevskaya (March 3, 1914 – May 15, 2002)

“I grew up, and realized – there is nothing uglier than revolution, when the people themselves, with their own hands, crumble and destroy all the best that has been created, and then they can not create anything”. Tatiana Okunevskaya. Soviet actress Tatiana Okunevskaya was born March 3, 1914 in Moscow. Her father was tsarists officer Kirill Petrovich Okunevsky. Mother Evgeniya Okunevskaya – excellent housewife, very good at knitting, playing the piano, guitar, embroidery, singing old songs. In her childhood, Tatiana studied at the school that was in front of the Theatre named after Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. After high school, Tatiana tried to enter the Institute of Architecture, but failed. The same year, to 17-year-old Tatiana came up a young man who introduced himself as an assistant director. Dazzled by her beauty, he stated that she was exactly the type they needed for the role. From that very day her film career has began.
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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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Golden Era of Soviet Radiola

Golden Era of Soviet Radiola was in the 1940s – 1970s. Most commonly known as Radiograms, in the USSR it was called Radiola – household electronic device, constructively uniting a radio receiver and electrophone. Nostalgic apparatus of a bygone era, still used, though rarely, in a retro style country house, or dacha. Though it is more than 50 years old, it still works fine. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to the old vinyl record or any radio station, wandering in the memories of the lovely distant.
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USSR letters of lights, Kalinin Avenue, 1977. Soviet photographer Viktor Akhlomov

Soviet photographer Viktor Akhlomov was born March 15, 1938 in Moscow. He is one of the most famous photographers of the USSR and Russia. During his professional lifetime Viktor has captured many celebrities and world-historical scale personalities, such as Yuri Gagarin, Ernesto Che Guevara, and Anna Akhmatova. Viktor Akhlomov is an honored Worker of Culture of Russia. In addition, he is the winner of the Russian Journalists’ Union, many All-Union, Russian and international exhibitions and competitions. Besides, he is the four-time winner of the prestigious competition «World Press Photo», winner of the “Golden Eye” – the highest award of Russian photojournalism, Honorary Member of the Union of Photographers of Russia. Akhlomov started working as a photographer for the newspaper “Izvestia” March 5, 1960. To this day, and it is the only entry in his employment record.
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‘Garnet Bracelet’, 1965, director A. Room. Soviet actress Ariadna Shengelaya as Vera

Soviet actress Ariadna Shengelaya
She was the actress of luxury beauty and played the best aristocratic characters of classic Russian literature. In particular, Tatyana Larina (Onegin, 1958), Evgenia Grandet (main role in the movie “Garnet Bracelet”, 1960) and duchess Mary in “Shot” (1966). Beauty of the actress attracted attention of many filmmakers. In the late 1950’s – early 1960’s she was one of the most popular actresses of the Soviet cinema. Lyrical talent and uncommon poetic charm of the actress fully revealed her best roles of princesses, countesses and duchesses.
Ariadna became the winner of the II All-Union Film Festival in the category “Award for the actors” in 1959, for the film “Evgeny Onegin”. In 1965 she was named Best actress in a poll of the magazine “Soviet Screen” for her role in “Garnet Bracelet”. Shengelaya is People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR (1979), People’s Artist of Russia (2000).
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Natalia Varley and Alexander Demyanenko as Nina and Shurik in Best USSR comedy Kidnapping Caucasian Style, 1966

Best USSR comedy Kidnapping Caucasian Style
Comedy film “Kidnapping, Caucasian Style” (1966), directed by Leonid Gaidai is an unsurpassed classic of cinema, best comedy in history, a real masterpiece of the 20th century! It is no exaggeration to say that the film was watched by every Soviet viewer several times. Only in the USSR it was watched by 76 500 000 people. No one has yet managed to beat Leonid Gaidai. The first time the film was shown on April 1, 1967. The spectators were literally rolling on the floor laughing. In another way, it was simply impossible. It was a completely new approach to cinema. The film “Kidnapping, Caucasian Style” is a masterwork, near and dear to everyone.
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