Communist Posters

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During the Cultural Revolution traditional artists were condemned as counter-revolutionaries and their work destroyed. A new style of art was required that supported the Maoist line and served the worker, peasant and soldier. The artists' work was so admired that the city of Krakow announced the first "International Exposition of the Poster" in 1898. Its organizer, Jan Wdowiszewski, believed that posters should combine artistic and utilitarian value, present a critical view of reality, and fit in at both art galleries and alleyways. There's no question that many Polish posters fit that description. We chatted to Harriet about just what's so special about their vintage Polish posters and how she and Sylwia began this unique project. What's so special about these vintage posters?

Propaganda Posters That Are Insidiously Well Made 21 Vile Nazi Propaganda Posters That Are Insidiously Well Made

The Russian Posters Collection is divided into three series spanning the years 1919 to 1989: 30 posters emphasizing the benefits of communism and the first "Five Year Plan" for workers, the achievements of the USSR under communism, religion as an enemy of the people, and the struggle against and decline of capitalism; 14 placards from the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR describing and depicting the strength of the country in industrial development, consumer goods, agricultural production, electrification, and the national welfare; and the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism and the problems facing capitalism; and last, ten posters from the "perestroika" period of the 1980s, most of which were exhibited in Moscow in 1988. In addition, the collection houses nine facsimiles of Russian posters from the 1920s-1930s. The posters have been digitized and are available online. Older posters can fetch much higher prices. Pre-Second World War Soviet posters, in particular, are in demand. Though most Soviet posters were produced in print runs of 30,000 to 60,000, they were meant to be posted on walls and then disposed of, so few older examples have survived. Original Soviet posters will include the print run, date and often the artist's name. Before they buy, collectors also should factor in gallery and auction house commissions and other costs. Lowry said cheaper posters can just be kept in a poster tube somewhere dry, but Grigorian insures his posters and stores them in a special art storage unit.In the 50s and 60s, pop culture media like film and comic books lent themselves particularly well to anti-Communist propaganda, and they were exploited relentlessly by government agencies, production companies, and corporations. Films like I Married a Communist (below) and The Red Menace (top), both from 1949, offered sensationalized pulpy takes on the red scare.

Russian Revolutionary Posters | St Edmund Hall Russian Revolutionary Posters | St Edmund Hall

From images of Vladimir Lenin promising “Land to the peasants!” to those of Mao Zedong declaring the Cultural Revolution, communist regimes have relied on powerful—and often beautifully wrought—artwork to ensure the successes of their revolutions. Because of their ease of distribution, posters in particular have figured as central vehicles of propaganda in nearly every communist nation. In this book, Mary Ginsberg offers the first truly global survey of the history and variety of communist poster art.And while we’ve all seen our share of wartime propaganda, we may be less familiar with the decades-long propaganda war the U.S. and Western Europe waged against socialism and Communism, even decades before the Cold War era. It may surprise you to learn that this offensive began even before the start of World War One, as you can see above in a British Conservative Party poster from 1909. A new travelling exhibition organised by The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford explores the art made during the tumultuous decade, and includes propaganda posters, revolutionary landscapes, papercuts and household objects. Wikimedia Commons Stanisław Wyspiański, depicted in this self portrait, was a Polish poster maker at the end of the 19th century.

Communist Posters for Sale - Fine Art America

Beautifully arrayed, the posters in this collection offer a comprehensive look at the broad range of visual works that have both expressed and fueled one of the most powerful political ideas of the modern era. Russian and international collectors are enthralled by the history, subject matter and extraordinary graphic imagery of posters produced from 1917 to 1991. Prices have increased considerably since the Soviet Union broke up. Chisholm Larsson's founder, Robert Chisholm, says that posters bought in 1991 are probably worth three-times the amount today. In some cases they could be worth much more. Often, poster makers were hired in-house by theaters, operas, and museums. This resulted in many unique perspectives on popular films. More often than not, Polish artists avoided a "literal translation of the plot" and instead sought to express the overall mood of the movie.There are some hungry, aggressive poster collectors and you're speaking to one of them,” joked Dr Sergo Grigorian, a Russian collector based in London who has over 2000 political Soviet posters. Between World War I and World War II, the purpose of posters changed slightly. Instead of promoting artistic events and performances, many posters were more geared toward advertising products. Other posters would promote Poland itself and encourage tourists to visit the country. By its very nature, propaganda distorts the truth or tells outright lies. It targets our basest impulses—fear and anger, flight or fight. While works of pure propaganda may pretend to make logical arguments, they eliminate nuance and oversimplify complicated issues to the point of caricature. These general tendencies hold true in every case, but nowhere, perhaps, is this gross exaggeration and fear mongering more evident than in times of war. This blog is inspired by a recent donation of Russian Revolution posters by Bill Broadbent to St Edmund Hall.

Russian Revolution: Ten propaganda posters from 1917 - BBC News Russian Revolution: Ten propaganda posters from 1917 - BBC News

For those fascinated by Soviet graphic design and communist history, posters are an easy way to start a collection. Their topics touch on the environment, health, film and space exploration, as well as classic propaganda, depicting Lenin, Soviet workers and Stalin's five-year plans. Calling themselves The Red Guards, radical students set out to destroy the "four olds": old ideas, customs, habits and culture. They spearheaded the interrogation, humiliation and beatings of teachers and intellectuals, and travelled the country destroying cultural heritage.

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These images permeated all areas of everyday life and were reproduced on all manner of objects including matchboxes, which before had usually shown images from Chinese folklore. It didn’t stop at posters. All facets of media were used as political tools to install kitschy hope and pride into societal bloodstreams. Representing socialism as an ape-like demon strangling some sort of goddess of “prosperity,” this striking piece of poster art sets the tone for almost all of the anti-Communist propaganda to come in the wake of the Russian Revolution. At least since this early graphic salvo, Communists and socialists have generally been depicted as terrifying monsters. See, for example, an early, post-WWI example of Russian anti-Communist propaganda above, portraying the Communist threat as an apocalyptic horseman of death. Some Soviet graphic artists are particularly prized, such as Georgii and Vladimir Stenberg, Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Gustav Klutsis, partly because their vibrant, avant-garde designs have greatly influenced today’s western artists. But private entities did their share in the comic book war against Communism as well. Witness a particularly wild example, Is This Tomorrow?, above. Published by the “Catechetical Guild Educational Society” in St. Paul, MN, this 1947 comic implicates government regulation of business, social welfare programs, anti-religious sentiment, and “people giving up their silly ideas about ‘sacredness’ of life” in a fiendishly orchestrated plot to take over America. Workers who embrace Communist doctrine are little more than dupes and pawns. You can read the whole feverish scenario here.