Photo: N. Chelovsky, Russian, 20th century, Man with a Movie Camera, 1926, lithograph, 113.03cm x 81.28cm Gift of James T. Van Loo, 2013/2.232
During the 1920s the Soviet Union emerged on the world stage. The first decade following the revolution was full of faith, hope, and trust that a new day had come, a day that would be born from the rejection of the Tsarist traditions, customs, values, and rules and would fully embrace the common man and woman and their struggles in the modern age.
Vladimir Stenberg, Russian, 1899-1982 and Georgy Stenberg, Russian, 1900-1933 Zvenigora, 1927, lithograph, 114.3cm x 80.01cm Gift of James T. Van Loo 2013/2.228
Centered in Moscow, a group of young artists, spearheaded in part by Vladimir (1899-1982) and Georgy Stenberg (1900-1933), championed an art that promoted the egalitarian ideals of the New Order and contributed to the growth of the Soviet Union. Known as the Constructivists, they embraced the utilitarian aspect of art, treating art as a practice for social purposes. Easily accessibly to the masses, the Constructivist influence was pervasive throughout the arts, with major impacts on architecture, graphic and industrial design, theater, film, dance, and fashion.
Vladimir Stenberg, Russian, 1899-1982 and Georgy Stenberg, Russian, 1900-1933 The Eyes of Andozia, 1926, lithograph, 116.84cm x 80.01cm Gift of James T. Van Loo
Constructivists showed a willingness to involve themselves in the mass market. In 1921, the New Economic Policy stimulated the growth of co-operative and commercial businesses, and with that came a need for advertising. From this, a new style of design was born, one which featured eye-catching images, bright colors, geometric shapes, and bold lettering to draw attention to itself. Here, the tension between Communist beliefs and consumerist work become palpable. Whatever its chosen medium, Constructivism found its way into the bones, aligning itself with the ability to transform the medium into an intensely sensual spectacle that inflamed the mind, body, and soul of the masses.
Anonymous, Russian, 20th century, October, 1928, lithograph, 75.57cm x 159.39cm Gift of James T. Van Loo, 2013/2.225
Among the most provocative works of this period were the posters advertising Soviet films, for they portended a visual revolution that the Soviets actively waged on the cinema screen. The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, presents “Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order,” now through February 21, 2016. Featuring a selection of posters by the Stenbergs and other Constructivists for some of early cinema’s most inventive films including Sergei Eisenstein’s October and Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera.
Nikolai Prusakov, Russian, 1900-1952 The Communard’s Pipe 1930, lithograph, 116.84cm x 78.74cm Gift of James T. Van Loo 2013/2.224
The Constructivists used the movie poster as the Russian Orthodox Church used the religious icon: as a space for a spiritually arresting and psychologically overwhelming visual meditation. Using dynamic compositions, strong colors, and emblematic images, the Constructivists sought to use the posters as the means to announce the Soviet Union was a progressive nation ready to bring society to its rightful utopian state. The iconography of Communism found a natural home in the Constructivist impulse, as it introduced the idea of art as a means to codify and catalogue the look and feel of the Soviet ideals. It was palatable propaganda that appealed to the workers movement, that sought to replace the Tsarist regime with a philosophy that proposed the common man and woman would inherit the earth. “Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order” recaptures the glamour and the glory of this period of idealism early in the regime, a time of strength, innovation, and optimism that unknowingly prefigured the coming darkness of Joseph Stalin’s brutal regime.
“Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order” is running at The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor now through February 21, 2016.
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
