Posters from the 70s and 80s. Propaganda posters in the early USSR

Another important type of agitation used by the Bolsheviks in the early years is poster agitation. The role of the poster was especially great during the years of the civil war. We can say that in those conditions posters replaced the lack of newspapers. The poster is clear, understandable even to an illiterate person.

The importance the Bolsheviks attached to poster propaganda is evidenced by the fact that the transportation of political propaganda posters was equated with the delivery of urgent military supplies. It was forbidden to tear down or damage posters with political content.

From an article by Chaus N.V. “Soviet posters 1917-1920. the main means of propaganda of socialist ideology":

“It is strictly forbidden to rip off and stick up the poster - the guilty will be held accountable,” was printed on many posters. “Anyone who tears down this poster or sticks a poster over it is committing a counter-revolutionary deed.” This was the stern warning printed during the civil war on political posters pasted on the walls of houses, on fences, on train cars sent to the front.

B1917 - 1920s propaganda teams () practice such a form of work as a poster exhibition.

Agitation train car

In the 1920s. propaganda posters are beginning to be actively used as social advertising: the struggle for universal literacy, health (the fight against tuberculosis, drunkenness, improper child care), women's equality, the fight against homelessness, etc.

Orphanage, 1920

E. E. Lezhen in the article “Poster as a means of political agitation in 1917-1930s” writes:

Most of the pre-revolutionary artists began to cooperate with the Soviet authorities. Among them were Wanderers, and Russian impressionists(A.A. Rylov, K.F. Yuon), and World of Art(E.E. Lansere, M.V. Dobuzhinsky), and members of the association "Blue Rose"(P.V. Kuznetsov, M.S. Saryan), and supporters "Jack of Diamonds"(P.P. Konchalovsky, I.I. Mashkov, A.V. Lentulov). At first, a special place in the department of fine arts of the Narkompros was occupied by abstractionists V.V. Kandinsky and K.S. Malevich.

The revolution gave birth to new directions. Russian revolutionary avant-garde "UNOVIS"(“The Approvers of the New Art”, 1919 - 1920: K.S. Malevich, M.Z. Chagall, L.M. Lissitzky) declared a struggle for “pure” art and set about developing propaganda forms. "KNIFE" ("New Society of Painters") was close to the jacks of diamonds. Proletcult made an attempt to create an organization of a new proletarian culture "on the ruins of the past", abandoning the classical heritage, but did not last long.

Moore, Red Gift, 1920. The picture shows: the House of mother and child,Council of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, Kindergarten, adult school, Library, Workers' Club

In the 1919s, the so-called "Windows of GROWTH":

In the post-revolutionary years, V. Mayakovsky contributed to the organization of the so-called "Windows of ROST" (Russian Telegraph Agency), in which M.M. Cheremnykh and D.S. Moor. At that time, artists were involved in the creation of agitation and propaganda materials that were understandable to the illiterate population. The posters were exhibited by the telegraph agency in the windows of the first floor, hence the name of the organization appeared - "Windows of GROWTH".

V.V. Mayakovsky. Poster about electrification for Windows ROSTA. December 1920

V. V. Mayakovsky. “Each absenteeism is a joy to the enemy…” 1921

Art critic Igorshina Tatyana Sergeevna writes:

The poster works of the first revolutionary decades were characterized by avant-garde compositional, graphic and stylistic devices. This is an active use of photomontage in the image, complemented by font compositions and hand-drawn background elements; eccentric diagonal compositions made up of graphic illustrations, letters, arrows, raster motifs, exclamation marks. In social posters, dominant figures were used in unusual angles and poses, reinforcing the appeal and emotionality of the poster. Avant-garde experiments of constructivist artists (A. M. Rodchenko, V. V. Mayakovsky, L. Lissitzky, brothers V. A. and G. A. Stenberg, D. A. Bulanov, G. G. Klutsis, S. Ya. Senkin and others) in the poster genre enriched the world's poster graphics with original means of artistic expression.

D.Moor, All-Russian subbotnik, 1919

Malyutin, 1920

In Soviet times, posters were extremely popular. Soviet posters can be divided into advertising, information and. Professional artists were engaged in their creation, and talented authors, who are now commonly called "creatives", came up with the text. Such posters not only carried a semantic load, told about important things, warned, called for or brought up certain values ​​in people. Accurate phrases, as well as a talented image of the main characters of the posters, distinguished by the presence of humor and sarcasm, look very funny and funny.

Posters in Soviet times hung almost everywhere - on the streets, in shops, factories and factories, in public transport. Moreover, the posters were so bright, attention-grabbing and funny that they were hung with pleasure in houses and apartments, just like in our time they hang photos of their favorite movie or music stars, or beautiful posters from http://tvoyposter.ru/. The most famous among all types of Soviet posters are propaganda war posters and propaganda posters against drunkenness, but there were many other areas of this type of art.

Next, you can see a selection of posters from the Soviet era about work or on the topic of various professions. These posters just belong to the propaganda and have a bright appealing character. The main meaning that was invested in such images was the promotion of honest work, the fight against loafers, loafers and, of course, the most important misfortune in our country - drunkenness. Posters with concise and precise phrases that stick in the memory, with beautiful, clean, well-groomed, well-dressed and happy people urge people to lead an honest working lifestyle, give up dubious undertakings and bad habits. Only such a person is able to achieve success in life, and a society consisting of such people can boldly hope for a bright and happy future.

USSR posters about work

Modern PR technologies are far ahead of the propaganda tools of relatively recent times. Today, the electronic media influence to the greatest extent, among which the worldwide Internet is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, such, at first glance, already outdated way of suggesting and forming the right thoughts, like a propaganda poster, remains in demand and effective.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, leaflets and other printed media, including posters, were rarely used by the authorities. But in the early years, this type of propaganda acquired a special significance, received rapid development and even became a separate type of modernist and futuristic art. The people should have outlined the joyful prospects of the new world, created an impression of the laws of the ongoing changes and instilled the idea of ​​an inevitable and difficult bloody struggle and selfless labor. Bright and bold colors were required, unusual approaches to the design of these massively replicated works of art. Soviet propaganda posters of those years are distinguished by their expressiveness and revolutionary nature, not only in content, but also in form. They urge to sign up as volunteers for the Red Army, to beat the bourgeois, to hand over bread to the proletarian food detachments and not to drink raw water, avoiding dangerous vibrios teeming in it. Poets (Denny, Mayakovsky and others) also had a hand in the creation of these masterpieces (their rare copies are now at a great price), which explains their high artistic merit.

Interwar period

The harsh years have passed, and after them new ones began, also difficult. The curves of the party's political line echoed the propaganda posters. The USSR was building socialism, the NEP was curtailed, the scale of the creation of an industrial base was accompanied by no less grandiose transformations in the countryside. Industrialization was accompanied by collectivization, which left the peasants practically without property, both private and personal. People were hard and hungry. There was a need to explain why and why they must patiently endure hardships and hardships, in the name of what.

Today, in some countries, this task is performed by television, less often by radio, pointing to bright prospects, for example, democracy and freedom. At that time, these funds were not available, at least among the broad masses, but the propaganda poster hanging on the fence, billboard, or even just on the wall, successfully replaced them. In addition to calls to work hard and strengthen everything that is possible, warnings about insidious enemies and spies, from which one defense is vigilance, have become relevant. And you don't have to talk much...

Holy war

The most famous propaganda poster of the war years in the Soviet years was familiar to everyone, both old and young. It depicts a woman whose face expresses anger. Against the backdrop of rising bayonets, the Motherland called everyone who could intercede for her, under fluttering banners. Perhaps there are no more posters in the world that are equal in their expressive power to this work. The song "Holy War" resounds in the ears of everyone who sees it.

There were other examples of propaganda printing from the times of the Great Patriotic War, they clearly showed the crimes of the invaders, children clinging to the wall in front of a fascist bayonet aimed at them, black bombs flying at peaceful Soviet cities, and Soviet soldiers crushing the Nazi hordes with a decisive blow.

Posters ridiculing the German Fuhrer and his political environment deserve special attention. The artists wittily noticed the caricature features of the faces and figures of the Nazi "Parteigenosse", and their works caused laughter, and in war it is so needed ...

Postwar decades

The propaganda poster did not lose its relevance even after the victory. Glorifying the Soviet soldiers-liberators, the authors should not forget about the urgent tasks of restorative and creative work. Many samples of those years, despite the impeccability of the artistic form, acquired signs of bureaucracy, unnecessary splendor, and sometimes complete meaninglessness. What, for example, is the call to vote for “the further flourishing of our cities and villages” worth? And who in 1950 (yes, in fact, today too) would oppose? Or here's another topic - about collective farm crops. To whom is it addressed? Collective farmers already knew how they lived. Bad and poor. And the townspeople knew about it.

The ensuing decades, alas, continued this sad tradition. Posters dedicated to the corn epic, virgin lands, BAM and other accomplishments not only did not reflect reality (this is not required from propaganda tools), but in an artistic sense they were much inferior to the early works of proletarian artists.

Favorably stood out only those that were dedicated to our astronauts. They were truly drawn from the heart.