Posters of the Soviet Period September 18, 2011 Internet, Phone and Mail Bid Auction Lot 65

Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc Phone: +1.609.632.1692 • Fax: +1.609.235.9667 • [email protected] • www.memiauctions.com A Few Words About This Sale Let me start by thanking all our customers who took part in the March and June Poster Auctions. Finding new material is the most challenging part of the auction business, and nothing helps the auctioneer more in talking with potential vendors than the ability to point at the history of good results. Success breeds success, and for this sale our vendors came through with some very interesting posters. Our September sale opens with a small selection of poster artworks that includes 1935’s prophetic The Arms Race, by Grigory Roze, created after Hitler had started rearming Germany. Seven years later the artist lost his life at the front lines. My personal favorite is the 1937-8 work of Andrei Simonov, who, like so many other talented Leningrad artists, had studied as a youth with Grigory Dlugach. In pointing out the posters section highlights, one starts with the iconic Pomogi! by D. Moor, which the artist himself considered his best poster, or possibly with the rare 1918 posters portfolio (Ivan and Xenia Puni, Kozlinsky, text by Mayakovsky). Mayakovsky considered this work very important: “every revolutionary poster came out of this portfolio”. Among the Civil War–period posters, you will find the classic Vrag u vorot! by N. Kochergin and a very unusual poster of the Interim Irkutsk Government that does not fit the traditional Bolshevik poster mold. Posters of the 1920s are particularly well represented, and include the rare Rodchenko-Mayakovsky collaboration; rare Far Eastern Republic posters by the avant-garde artist “Nik” Naumov; a few wonderful regional Proletkult posters (Usenko, Bigos), and a selection of unusual “sponsored” posters of the Navy Commissariat that combine elements of propaganda and advertising. One “sleeper” that should attract bidders’ attention because of its topic is the very early anti-corruption poster . The vendor dates it to 1923 because “he was told so”; in my opinion, it is more likely that the poster was produced after the formation of Rabrkrin in 1920. Posters of the 1925-30 period include the 1926 poster by Lavinsky proclaiming that moviemaking is an industrial process (a great topic for a Constructivist), and interesting works of Samokhvalov and Zelikhman. An interesting 1930s posters selection includes Klutsis’s Maxim Gorky and an early Kukryniksy poster. Collectors interested in posters by women artists will have a field day browsing through this section – there are posters by Lavinskaya and Semenova, Shubina, and Volkova. As always, the popular WWII posters are also well represented. Poster production in the Soviet Union did not end in 1945, and this time we decided to include a post-1945 section. The selection illustrates the drastic contrast between the Soviet poster art of the late Stalinist period and the posters of Khrushchev’s far more liberal reign. The sale concludes with an interesting selection of Space-era posters. The auction will again be conducted in the Internet, mail, and phone auction format. For Internet bidding, we are using the Liveauctioneers platform. To participate in live bidding by phone, please put the numbers of the lots you are interested in on the bidding form, including your phone number, and fax or email it to us. Yakov Lurye, auctioneer, Mercer and Middlesex Auctions Contents of the Sale

1. Artwork For Posters (lots 1–8) ...... 1

2. Poster Portfolios (lots 9–10) ...... 5

3. Millitary Communism Period, 1917–1920 (lots 11–34) ...... 7

4. Famin, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 (lots 35–78) ...... 19

5. USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 (lots 79–106) ...... 42

6. Patriotic War, 1941–1945 (lots 107–132) ...... 56.

7. Late Stalinist Period, 1946–1954 (lots 133–140) ...... 69

8. Early 1960s (lots 141–144) ...... 73

9. Space Posters (lots 145–148) ...... 75 Terms and Conditions By bidding at our auction, whether in person, by phone, absentee bid, or unequivocally that the auctioned item is a forgery. on the internet, you agree to be bound by the following terms and condi- 9. A prospective buyer must complete and sign a registration form before tions. As used in the following terms and conditions, MMA, We, and Us bidding. MMA reserves the right to require bank or other financial refers to Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC. references for participation in the auction or bidding on a specific lot. 1. There is a 20% buyer’s premium added to the successful hammer price MMA has the right at our complete discretion to refuse any individual of every lot, which the purchaser of the lot agrees to pay along with bidder’s participation in any auction. 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Bidding on any item indicates your acceptance of these terms and accept liability for failure to do so or for errors and omissions in con- conditions, as outlined above. nection with telephone bidding. We are also not liable for any failure September 18, 2011 at 1 p.m. Internet, phone and Mail bid auction – Yakov Lurye, Auctioneer Pre-auction viewing is available at the Cranbury, NJ offices of Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, by appointment only. Please call us in advance at +1.609.632-1692 with a list of lots you wish to view. Correspondence may be sent to Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, P. O. Box 3040, Princeton NJ 08540. Phone: +1.609.632.1692 Fax: +1.609.235.9667 email: [email protected] Website: www.memiauctions.com The following conventions had been used in this catalog: (2) English translations of Russian names of books, posters and other items offered for the auction usually follow the Russian (1) In some cases, the auctioneer was unable identify with sufficient transliteration. Such transliterations are enclosed in square brackets, degree of certainty the name of an author, or an artist of the item e.g. Posolon [Sunward]. being offered. In this case, the name of an artist will appear in square brackets: [ ]. P.O. Box 3040, Princeton, NJ 08540 USA Phone:+1.609.632.1692 Fax:+1.609.235.9667 Email: [email protected] web: www.memiauctions.com

Auction Bidding Form September 18, 2011 at 1 p.m. (via Internet, phone or mail bid) Name______Address 1 ______Address 2 ______City ______State/Province ______ZIP CODE______Phone 1 ______(required for phone bidding) Phone 2 ______Fax ______e-mail ______

Lot Bid (Phone) Lot Bid (Phone) Lot Bid (Phone)

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SIGNATURE: ______DATE:______Artwork For Posters 1 Lot 1 [ROZE, G.] Arms Race, Artwork for Poster, c. 1935 Armament Race. Preliminary artwork for a poster attributed to prominent caricaturist and poster artist Grigory Roze (Grigory Rozenblit, 1900–1942), gouache and pen on cardboard, [1935], 63 x 44 cm. Having forgotten the millions of victims of the first World War, British and German militarists are busily building their arsenals. Roze’s design reflects the concerns publicly expressed by the Soviet leadership after Hitler withdrew Germany from the Versailles treaty (March 1935) and embarked on the policy of open rearmament. Notably, French imperialists are not included in the design, because in response to the rising German threat, the Soviet Union and France immediately signed a mutual defense treaty. In the 1930s, Grigory Roze was considered one of the leading Soviet political caricaturists. His works were published by the leading Soviet newspapers, including Pravda itself, and he was also active in the field of poster production. Roze started his artistic career as a front artist during the Civil War; tragically, he lost his life serving as a front artist in 1942, near Smolensk. $5,000–$7,000

Lot 2 Speshili v Astoriyu . . ., Artwork for WWII Poster Speshili v Astoriyu, i popali v istoriyu. Artwork for a WWII period poster by an anonymous artist, watercolor and ink on paper, [1944], 58 x 43 cm. Finding a worthy English equivalent to the idiomatic versed caption is not an easy task. Roughly, it can be translated as “Germans, who were in a hurry to celebrate their victory in the Leningrad’s best hotel (Astoria), find themselves in an unenviable position”. The sketch may date to the early war period and refer to the Germans’ failure to capture the city. More likely is that it refers to the successsful 1944 Soviet offensive that had ended the Siege. $1,200–$1,800

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 2 Artwork For Posters Lot 3 RUKHKYAN, R. Artwork for a Poster, 1946 (Armenian) [My First Vote in the Motherland Will Be For the Candidates on the Communist List]. Signed and dated artwork by Rachiya Rukhkyan (1915–?, Meritorious Artist of Armenia) for a 1946 poster. Gouache and pen on paper, 57 x 42 cm. The intended audience for this poster was 150,000 diaspora Armenians that returned to the Motherland under the “open doors” policy briefly adopted by the Soviet Government after the end of WWII (1946–1948). An interesting memento of a little-known page of Soviet history. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 4 RUKHKYAN, R. Artwork for a poster, c. 1946 [Stalin’s Constitution is the Most Democratic Constitution in the World]. Artwork by Rachiya Rukhkyan (1915–?, Meritorious Artist of Armenia) for a 1946(?) Constitution Day poster in Armenian, gouache, pen, and pencil on paper, 44 x 59 cm. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Artwork For Posters 3 Lot 5 RUKHKYAN, R. Artwork for a Poster, 1948 [30th Anniversary of Komsomol (Communist Youth League)]. Artwork by Rachiya Rukhkyan (1915–?, Meritorious Artist of Armenia) for a 1948 poster, Watercolor, pen, and pencil on paper, 40 x 22 cm. $800–$1,200

Lot 6 Let’s Ride!, Artwork for a Gagarin Poster, [1961] Poyekhali! [Let’s Ride!]. Artwork for a poster celebrating the first manned flight, gouache and pencil on paper, [1961], 58 x 43 cm. The “Let’s Ride” caption refers to Gagarin’s exclamation at the launch moment, which almost immediately became the part of the flight lore. We were unable to identify the name of the artist. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 4 Artwork For Posters Lot 7 SIMONOV, A. 1937–1938, Artwork for a Poster, 1988 1937–1938. Artwork by Andrei Simonov (b. 1961) for a poster prepared for a 1988 competition, mixed media on carton, 90 x 60 cm. From 50 years distance, artist, poet and linguist Andrei Simonov turns to one of the darkest periods of Soviet history. Like a cloud of smoke from the Stalin’s pipe, menacing black birds rise in the dark night sky, growing larger and larger as they gain altitude. In a second, the viewer realizes that these are not really birds, but chimeric winged cars, a powerful metaphor for the dreaded chyorniye voronki [black ravens], the windowless trucks that were used by secret policemen coming after their victims and that came to symbolize the horror unleashed by the Great Leader and his oprichniks on the Soviet people. The impact of the Goya- esque nightmare image is further accentuated by the deliberately muted quote caption in the lower right corner: 1937–1938 is the most democratic period in Soviet history - Joseph Stalin. When asked about his teachers, Andrei Simonov mentions “analytical copying” studies in the Hermitage under the legendary Leningrad artist and pedagogue Grigory Dlugach; a blurb-sized biography found on the Internet states that after studying with Dlugach, he continued his analytical studies independently. He widely exhibited in Russia and abroad, taking part in 70-plus international, all-Russia, and regional exhibitions; and between painting and writing poetry, found time to obtain a doctorate from the Sorbonne. His thesis deals with the concept of image as a primal and universal linguistic form. $2,500–$4,000

Lot 8 USHENKO, S. Bureaucracy Slows . . ., Artwork for a Poster, 1990 Byurokratizm - Tormoz Rabochemu Dvizheniyu [Bureaucracy Is the Brake That Slows Down the Labor Movement]. Artwork reportedly prepared for a 1990 poster competition by Sergei Ushenko (b. 1952), collage on carton, 90 x 60 cm. Ushenko’s economic and effective design relies on the familiarity of his viewers with the iconic The Worker and the Peasant Woman image of Vera Mukhina’s statue, as ubiquitous in Soviet everyday life as the Red Star or Hammer and Sickle. Coincidentally, Ushenko is a graduate of the Mukhina Art Academy, where he studied graphic design (1987–1992). The artist works in a variety of art disciplines, and is a regular participant in national and international exhibitions. $1,200–$1,800

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Poster Portfolios 5 Lot 9 An important forerunner of ROSTA Windows posters Oktyabr’ 1917–1918. Geroii i zhertvy Revolyutsii [October 1917–1918. Heroes and Victims of the Revolution]. A portfolio of 18 lithographed sheets by Vladimir Kozlinsky (1891–1967), Ivan Puni (1894–1956), Xenia Boguslavskaya-Puni (1892–1956), and Sergei Makletsov (1893–?), texts by Vladimir Mayakovsky. Published by the Petrograd IZO, Petrograd, 1918, 35 x 26 cm. Heroes and Victims was published to mark the first anniversary of the Revolution. The idea for the portfolio originated with Vladimir Mayakovsky, who provided captions for each poster. Ten years later, Mayakovsky underscored that in his view these were posters, and not just lithographed sheets: “First attempts of agitpoeziya took place. For the October Anniversary IZO published a portfolio of mono-color posters, with ditty captions. . . . from this portfolio grew . . . the ROSTA Windows (cited from Tol`ko ne vospominaniya [Anything But a Memoir], 1927, in Complete Works of Mayakovsky, GIKhL, Moscow, 1957). Of the four Petrograd avant-garde artists that took part in the project, two (Ivan Puni and Xenia Boguslavakaya-Puni) soon left Russia. Kozlinsky and Makletsov stayed and took active part in producing posters for the Petrograd branch of the ROSTA. Kozlinsky went on to become a highly respected book illustrator and theater artist. In the 1920s, Makletsov worked as a caricaturist; we could not find any information about his activities after 1926. $5,000–$7,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 6 Poster Portfolios Lot 10 KOCHERGIN, N. Isotype Diagrams Portfolio, 1933 Pod Maskoi Razoruzheniya – Voina, Albom Diagramm [War Preparations Under the Guise of Disarmament – A Diagrams Portfolio]. A portfolio of 30 lithographed pictorial sheets by N. Kochergin (1897–1974, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), edited by I. Ivanitsky, published by Lenizogiz-Izostat, Leningrad, 1933, 31 x 24 cm each. A tour de force by Nikolai Kochergin, a talented graphic artist with extensive experience in the field of propaganda graphics since the Civil War years (see, for example, lot 13). Kochergin occupies a prominent place in the history of Soviet experiments with Otto Neurath’s theories on the pictorial representation of statistical information. A small historical note is in order here. In 1931, the rise in demand for propaganda materials detailing the Five Years Plan goals led to creation of IZOSTAT, the Institute of Pictorial Statistics, that would specialize in producing visual materials for the Statistics Directorate. Austrian Otto Neurath, the creator of the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics and the driving force behind the Isotype movement, played an important role in setting up the new institute. IZOSTAT’s early leader, I. Ivanitsky, was a firm believer in Neurath’s ideas, and even published a book on the Vienna Method. Ivanitsky, who had worked with Kochergin on several occasions, invited the artist to work on IZOSTAT projects Kochergin’s work is emblematic of the evolution that the Wiener Bildstatistik method had undergone in the Soviet Union. It preserved many of Neurath’s ideas - for the sake of clarity and simplicity, the artist avoids the use of potentially misleading realistic images in favor of pictographs and forgoes the use of perspective in design. At the same time, some of Neurath’s canonic rules are ignored, most notably his insistence on eliminating any design elements that could distract the viewer from acquiring the statistical data. Soviet campaigns invariably included a propaganda component that could not be ignored. Kochergin manages to achieve a delicate balance between two seemingly contradictory goals. In his designs, strong visual images emotionally impact the viewer while the clarity of the statistical presentation is generally preserved. With the ascent of Social Realism as the predominant art style, “formalistic” pictograms largely disappeared from Soviet posters. This makes the Pod Maskoy cycle particularly relevant – it provides a fresh perspective on Kochergin’s legacy, that of an artist closely attuned to avant-garde artistic ideas $5,000–$6,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 7 Lot 11 APSIT, A. Stepan Razin, 1918 Stepan Timofeevich Razin, poster by Alexander Apsit (1880–1944). Lit. Izdat. Otd. VTsIK, Moscow, 1918, 35 x 53 cm. After the October Revolution, Stepan Razin, the leader of the major 18th-century peasant uprising in Russia, was declared an early martyr for the cause of liberation of oppressed masses. Modern art historians consider Apsit the “first real master of the Soviet political poster” (Stephen White in The Bolshevik Poster, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1988). Early Soviet critics were far less kind to the artist, calling him a mere draftsman who was adept at carrying out the instructions of his superiors, but who lacked originality and a true revolutionary spirit. Undoubtedly this attitude influenced Apsit’s 1919 decision to run away from Moscow. $800–$1,200

Lot 12 APSIT, A. Wounded Red Army Man Day, 1919 Den’ ranenogo Krasnoarmeitsa [Day of the Wounded Red Army Man], poster by Alexander Apsit (1880–1944). VTsIK Publishing, Moscow, 1919, 66 x 101 cm. This poster promotes the 1919 statewide charity action for the benefit of wounded Red Army soldiers, repeated in an extended format as “Wounded and Sick Soldier Week” at the end of the year. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 8 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 13 KOCHERGIN, N. The Enemy Is at the Door!, 1919 Vrag u vorot! Vsye na zashitu Petrograda! [The Enemy Is at the Door! Everybody Must Rise to the Defense of Petrograd], poster by Nikolai Kochergin (1897–1974, People’s Artist of the USSR). VTSiK, Moscow, 1919, 106 x 71 cm. This is probably the best known early work of the talented poster artist and book illustrator Nikolai Kochergin. It dates to October 1919, when Yudenich’s army was advancing on Petrograd. $2,500–$3,500

Lot 14 KUPREYANOV, N. Protect the Art Heritage, 1919 Grazhdane! Khranite pamyatniki iskusstva [Citizen! Protect the Art Heritage], poster by Nikolai Kupreyanov (1894–1933), ordered by the Narkompros Museum Affairs Section, Moscow, 1919, 74 x 52 cm. Specialists agree in attributing this poster to Nikolai Kupreyanov, but we have seen both 1918 and 1919 datings. The latter is more common. Kupreyanov, a talented graphic artist and pedagogue, rarely worked in the poster genre; this makes the poster offered particularly desirable. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 9 Lot 15 MOOR, D. Take Good Care of Clothes and Shoes, 1919 . . . Odezhdu i obuv’ beregi! [Take Good Care of Clothes and Shoes], poster by Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation). Publishing Section of the Military Council, 1919, 84 x 57 cm. A reminder to Red Army soldiers that workers and peasants are making great personal sacrifices to supply the army. Illustrated in Polonsky’s “Russian Revolutionary Poster”, also in White’s “The Bolshevik Poster’. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 16 MOOR, D. Tsar’s Regiments and the Red Army Tsarskiye Polki i Krasnaya Armiya [Tsar’s Regiments and the Red Army], poster by Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), published by the Political Directorate of the Defense Council of the Republic, Moscow [1919], 51 x 74 cm. Interesting poster executed in the lubok style, fairly uncommon for Moor. E. A. Dinnerstein suggests that in this case, Moor was influenced by an earlier 1917 lubok poster, Za chto srazhalis’ prezhde I za chto srazhayutsya teper’ [What Had We Fought For Before, and What Are We Fighting For Now?] by Mayakovsky and Lebedev. $1,500–$2,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 10 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 17 Everything for Miners, a rare Glavkomtrud poster, 1920 Vsyo dlya shakhtyora [Everything for the Miner], poster by an anonymous artist, produced by the Publishing Section of Glavkomtrud and Narkomtrud, Moscow, 1920–early 1921. Versed text includes lines like “Teper’ Donbass, odin Donbass / Sud’bu Respubliki reshayet” [Right now, the fate of the Republic is decided by Donbass, and only by Donbass], and contains promises that miners will be supported with the same enthusiasm as Red Army soldiers. Coal was considered critical for the survival of the Republic, and in 1920, the Soviet government organized a Labor Army of Don Cossacks. Joseph Stalin went to Donbass to supervise the formation of the Labor Army; over 10,000 workers were sent to work in the coalmines. Day to day operations were supervised by Glavkomtrud, a special Section of the Defense Council in charge of conscription labor, and inspected by Narkomtrud, the Department of Labor Protection. $500–$700

Lot 18 Greed Punished, 1920 Prodrazverstka poster Pozhalel ty khleba sduru . . . [You Did Not Want to Provide Your Army With Bread — Now Polish Pan Will Beat You Up, and the Bread Will Go to Shlyakhta (Polish gentry)], 1920, 44 x 36 cm. Russo-Polish War period poster of the prodrazverstka campaign in Ukraine. Handing over surplus grain and fodder to the Soviet State is presented as the only way to avoid the return of the bad old times. To drive in this point, the anonymous artist relies on the archetypal image of a hated Polish “pan” mistreating his Ukrainian serfs that dates way back to the times preceding the Khmelnitsky Uprising. $400–$600

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 11 Lot 19 How Petlyura Kept Betraying Ukraine, 1920 Kak Petlyura predaval Ukrainu [How Petlyura Kept Betraying Ukraine], a lubok-style poster by an anonymous artist. Publishing Section of the Odessa Military Council Political Directorate, Odessa, 1920, 99 x 62 cm. Ukrainian nationalist leader Simon Petlyura is accused of siding with a succession of occupiers, all of whom had mistreated the Ukrainian population. The Red Army comes to the rescue, and pushes out Petlyura and his latest ally, the Polish Army. $800–$1,200

Lot 20 Rare poster of an interim regime in Irkutsk, 1920 Voina prezhde (1914) — voina teper’ (1919) [War Before and the Current War], poster by an anonymous artist, produced by Lit. EZGB (Publishing Section of the Expedition for Printing Government Paper — the Russian equivalent of the American Bureau of Engraving and Printing), Irkutsk, [1920], 103 x 68 cm. World War fought at the bidding of “clergy, kings, and bankers” is compared to the current war fought “in the name of Justice, for Soviets and Labor”. While the message is consistent with the themes of Red propaganda of the Civil War period, the poster design exhibits a number of odd anomalies. Ubiquitous Soviet propaganda symbols like the Red Star or Red Banner are conspicuously missing; the allegorical Republic Committed to Liberty and Justice figure is rarely, if ever, found on the Soviet posters of the period. Even the warrior in the lower panel does not look “quite right”, and may be just as easily taken for an officer as for a soldier. The EZGB imprint itself presents another problem — Soviet bonds and banknotes were printed in Moscow, not in remote Eastern Siberia; besides, the bureau was renamed, and since mid-1919 was called Goznak. To summarize these observations in a nutshell, this is not a White poster, but it does not fit the Bolshevik poster mold either. Despite the 1919 date in the “Current War” pane, it is unlikely that the poster was produced in 1919, because practically for the whole year the city was controlled by forces loyal to Admiral Kolchak and the Temporary Russian Government opposed to the Soviet regime. However, in the last week of December, power in Irkutsk was seized by Politcenter, a coalition of left-of-center parties, dominated by the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs). After intensive fighting, the Whites were pushed out, and in early January, Politcenter declared the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions a territory “freed from reactionary forces”; the Temporary Government army units that had sided with the SRs became a “People Liberation Army” that was reinforced by volunteers. Given this historic background, it appears likely that the poster was produced under the caretaker Politcenter regime, after the SR-led uprising, but before the arrival of regular Red Army units in March 1920. With regards to the poster imprint, it turns out that the Provisional Russian Government had set up its own printing works, also designated as EZGB. The “provisional” EZGB was originally set up in Omsk, and transferred further east to Irkutsk in November 1919. One may speculate that the poster was likely produced by one of the EZGB staff artists. The EZGB archives were preserved (they are now in RGIA, the Russian State Historical Archive), so further research may provide definitive information about the poster, including the name of its author. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 12 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 21 Three Propaganda Posters of Baku Khud Agit, 1920 Three posters produced by the Khud Agit (propaganda art) workshop of the Azerbaijan Commissariat of Enlightenment (Aznarkompros), monocolor lithography with captions in Arabic-script Azeri, [Baku, 1920], each ca. 46 x 32 cm. We were unable to obtain translations for the texts, but the poster topics appear fairly self-explanatory, and seem deal with workers’ solidarity — in the Caucuses, and worldwide. In addition to producing propaganda materials, Aznarkompros Khud Agit workshops also became training centers, where workers and students could gain hands-on experience in the fields of printing and graphic design. Probably the best-known graduate of the Aznarkompros system was Solomon Telingater. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 22 The Rising Tide of World Revolution, Azeri Poster Poster with inscriptions in Arabic-script Azeri, somewhat larger in size than the Khud Agit posters of the previous lot, and somewhat different in the manner of execution. Anonymous artist, Baku, c. 1920, 63 x 48 cm. The rising sun breaks through the clouds; monarchies and capitalist regimes worldwide are swept away by the rising tide. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 13 Lot 23 Rare Petrograd BMKhD poster, c. 1920 Krest’yanin! Podderzhi Krasnoarmeitsa Khlebom . . . [Peasant! Support the Red Army Soldier with Bread . . .], poster by an anonymous artist, produced by the Petrograd Region Commune’s Bureau for Design and Production of Artistic Diagrams (BMKhD Petrogubkommune), Petrograd, c. 1920, 31 x 49 cm. BMKhD workshop was organized with the support of the important art critic and proletarian art theoretician N. Punin to popularize and promote the Commune’s activities. When H.G. Wells visited Petrograd in 1920, local newspapers reported that the guest was shown “cartograms and artistic diagrams illustrating the Petrogubcommune system of food distribution”. Petrogubcommune existed as an administrative entity for about a year — from July 1920 to September 1921. The poster’s captions are fairly consistent with the rhetoric of the prodrazverstka era, and imply that an active military campaign is still in progress. These observations suggest the fall of 1920 as the poster production period. It is worth noting that while the poster itself is quite traditional in style, ideas of the BMKhD workshop organizers were decidedly modernistic. The “artistic diagram” concept, reflecting the twin beliefs that artists should be guided by the scientific method and that organizational paradigms could be presented as a work of art, was subsequently embraced by a wide range of Soviet avant-garde movements. $500–$700

Lot 24 DENI, V. To the Aid of Pans!, 1920 Na pomosh panam! Posledniye reservy Marshala Fosha [To the Aid of Pans! Marshal Foch’s Last Reserves], poster by Victor Deni (Victor Denisov, 1892–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Soviet Union), GIZ, Moscow, 1920. The poster refers to the decision by the French to send a group of 400 military advisors to assist Poland during the Russo-Polish War of 1920. The mission was headed by Marshal Ferdinand Foch, later awarded the honorary title Marshal of Poland by the Poles. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 14 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 25 DENI, V. It’s All in the Past, 1920 Vsyo v proshlom [It’s All in the Past], poster by Victor Deni (Victor Denisov, 1892–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Soviet Union), GIZ, Petrograd, 1920 or 1921, 34 x 49 cm. The 1920 dating follows Polonsky’s monograph; the NYPL collection catalog dates the poster to 1921. The bourgeoisie and ideological enemies of the Bolsheviks (represented by Julius Martov, the last leader of the legal opposition, forced into exile in 1920), are rendered irrelevant. In this work, Deni returns to his pre-revolutionary magazine caricaturist roots, when he could presume a degree of sophistication in his well-educated target audience. In a nod to the new reality, he directly credits the title and the setting to the popular 1889 painting by Vasily Maximov. $800–$1,200

Lot 26 IVANOV, S. Reading Is a Responsibility . . ., 1920 Chteniye — odna iz obyazannostey cheloveka [Reading Is One of the Responsibulities of a Human Being] by Sergei Ivanov (1885–1942), GIZ, Peterburg, 1920, 48 x 66 cm. A widely reproduced poster by the important theater artist and posterist S. I. Ivanov. Judging by official biographies, artist’s life was tied to Moscow, but the large number of the Ivanov’s posters published in Petrograd in 1920 suggests that he may had spent 1920 in that city. In attribution, we follow Stephen White in The Bolshevik Poster. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 15 Lot 27 IVANOV, S. ONO Exhibition, 1920 1917–1920: Vystavka Petrogradskogo Otdela Narodnogo Obrazovaniya [1917–1920: Exhibition of the Petrograd Department of Public Education], by Sergei Ivanov (1885–1942), GIZ, Peterburg, 1920, 63 x 51 cm. A publicity poster for a 1920 exhibition organized by the Petrograd ONO (the 1920s name of the Petrograd branch of the Commissariat for Enlightenment). The otchyotnaya [report] exhibition was envisioned by its organizers as an event that would highlight every facet of Petrograd’s cultural life in post-revolutionary years. The poster is signed S. Ivanov; in its attribution we are following the lead of the experts from the Lenin Library in Moscow. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 28 IVANOV, S. Railwayman, Stay On Guard, [1920] Zheleznodorozhnik, stoi na strazhe Krasnogo puti [Railwayman, Guard the Red Railways], poster by Sergei Ivanov (1885–1942), published by GIZ for the Propaganda Section of the Political Directorate of the Commissariat of Transportation (Peterburg Branch). Petrograd, c. 1920, 102 x 68 cm. Poster is signed SI in the plate, as are many Ivanov’s posters. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 16 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 29 KOGOUT, N. Workers of All Countries, Unite! 1920 Poster with text in a Turkic language (Tatar or Azeri) produced by Nikolai Kogout (1891–1959). Litizdat VTsIK, Moscow, 1920, 83 x 59 cm. A Turkic soldier ignores the exhortations of assorted enemies of the Soviet State, and instead of fighting the Red Army, joins it in battle. Stephen White reproduces this poster in his book, and states that the text is in Crimean Tatar. Assuming this is correct, the poster must had been produced in the final stages of the Wrangel campaign, after the Red Army had pushed its way into Crimea. Kogout is widely regarded one of the founding fathers of the Soviet political poster. $1,200–$1,800

Lot 30 MOOR, D. The All Russian Voluntary Workday, 1920 1-oe Maya — Vserossiisky Subbotnik [May 1st is the All- Russian Voluntary Workday], poster by Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), published by the Political Directorate of the Defense Council of the Republic. Moscow, 1920, 71 x 53 cm. An often-reproduced poster issued in preparation for the first all-state volunteer work day, an event that was highlighted in every Soviet history schoolbook. The idea of subbotniks and voskresniks was hailed by Lenin as the forerunner of the voluntary labor that would characterize the future Communist society. Just like many other noble undertakings of the first post-revolutionary years, it was soon subverted, with subbotniks morphing into obligatory unpaid workdays. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 17 Lot 31 MOOR, D. Comrades! With Rifle and Hammer . . ., 1920 Tovarishi! Vintovkoy i molotom otprazdnuyem Krasny Oktyabr’ [Comrades! Let Us Celebrate the Red October with Outmost Effort in War and in Labor (literally, With Rifle and Hammer, Let Us Celebrate the Red October”)], poster by Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), published by the Political Directorate of the Defense Council of the Republic. Moscow, 1920, 51 x 74 cm. Workers and soldiers deliver powerful blows to the common enemy, Wrangel. The poster is Illustrated in Polonsky’s monograph and also listed under Moor in the Russian State Library collection. $2,000–$3,000

Lot 32 NU-AR. White Landing, 1920 Bely Desant [White Landing], Wrangel-Campaign-period poster published by Tsentropechat, Novorossiisk, 1920, 98 x 73 cm. The poster celebrates the failure of the Bely Desant, an expeditionary force under General Ulagai sent from the White Army base in Crimea across the Azov Sea to the Kuban region in August 1920 in hopes that the Kuban Cossacks, considered sympathetic to the White cause, would rise against the Bolsheviks. As it turned out, the expeditionary force found little support from the population, despite initial military success. Ulagai’s advance towards Kuban’s capital, Yekaterinodar (Krasnodar) soon stalled, and to avoid encirclement, he retreated back to Crimea. The authors of this attractive poster are identified only by the initials NU-AR. Alexander Roslavlev (1883–1920), a Symbolist poet of considerable renown and an enthusiastic supporter of the Revolution, contributed the text. In 1920, Roslavlev was sent to Novorossiisk, the Kuban region’s main seaport, to run the local Soviet newspaper; while residing there, he also founded a satirical theater company. The name of artist has not been identified, but it seems safe to assume that he was either a member of Roslavlev’s theater or a newspaper colleague. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 18 Military Communism Period, 1917–1920 Lot 33 RADAKOV, A. Life of an Illiterate . . ., 1920 Zhizn’ bezgramotnogo — Zhizn’ Gramotnogo [Existence of an Illiterate Person vs. The Life of a Man That Can Read], poster by Alexei Radakov (1872–1942), GIZ, Peterburg, 1920, 53 x 71 cm. Alexei Radakov’s name became familiar to the Russian reading public long before the Revolution — he was a regular contributor to the popular Satiricon and New Satiricon magazines. Much of Radakov’s poster art of the Soviet period is purely political in nature — during the Civil War, he produced posters for ROSTA Windows; later, he was a regular contributor to a number of Soviet satirical magazines. The poster shown illustrates a different facet of Radakov’s poster legacy — the artist was a tireless propagandist of self-improvement through reading and education. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 34 RADAKOV, A. Illiterate and Literate, 1920 Bezgramotniye — Gramotniye [Illiterate and Literate], poster by Alexei Radakov (1872–1942), GIZ, Petrograd, 1920, 81 x 58 cm. Another literacy campaign poster by Radakov, signed in the plate A. Radakov 1919, but published in 1920. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 19 Lot 35 Peasants! Fulfill Your Duty . . ., 1921 Krest’yanin! . . . Ispolni svoi dolg — vnosi prodnalog! [Peasants! Fulfill Your Duty, Pay the Prodnalog Tax. GIZ, Peterburg, 1921, 72 x 104 cm. Introduction of the prodnalog system of paid in-kind taxes; an improvement in comparison with the war-years prodrazverstka system, under which the state claimed all surplus crops. The poster’s message is that voluntary compliance with the new system will ultimately benefit the peasants. Likely issued in March 1921, shortly after the publication of the prodnalog decree. $800–$1,200

Lot 36 In Memory of the Fallen Heroes, stenciled poster, 1921 K 4-y godovshine — iz goda v god my chestvuyem pamyat’ pavshikh bortsov za Oktyabr’ [Towards the 4th Anniversary — Every Year We Celebrate the Memory of the Heroes That Fell in the Cause of October]. A stencil-technique poster produced by a group of Voronezh Region IZO workshop (Vorongubagit IZO) artists. Voronezh, IZO, 1921, 71 x 52 cm. The use of stencils in poster production was fairly widespread through the early post-revolutionary years. Professional artists of ROSTA Windows used this technique, as it allowed them to design posters at great speed; amateurs of the numerous Proletkul’t-run workshops were likely attracted by the relative simplicity of the technique compared with lithography. These advantages came at a price — stenciled posters could be produced only in small quantities. As a result, they rarely come to the market these days. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 20 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 37 Independent, Get off the Fence, 1921 Bespartiyny! . . . Ne sidi v storone. [Independent! . . . Get off the Fence.] Poster by an anonymous artist. GIZ, Peterburg, 1921, 54 x 39 cm. ”Independent! World capitalists want to strangle the working class. Get off the fence! Become a Communist Party member, and our joint efforts will defeat the enemies of the proletariat” $500–$700

Lot 38 Red Soldier, Protect the People’s Property, 1921 Krasnoarmeyets, beregi narodnoye dobro [Red Army Soldier, Protect the People’s Property]. A poster by an anonymous artist published by GIZ for the Visshy Voyenno Redaktsionny Soviet (Supreme Military Editorial Council), Moscow, [1921], 107 x 71 cm. An attractive poster with versed captions, likely issued for the “Take Care of the Army Property Week” campaign of December, 1921. Soldiers are asked to keep their uniforms mended, their barracks clean, their horses fed, their rifles oiled, etc. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 21 Lot 39 SAYANSKY, L. Before and Now, Ural ROSTA, 1921 Prezhde — Teper [Before and Now]. A poster signed by Leonid Sayansky. Ural ROSTA, [Ekaterinburg, c. 1921], 24 x 43 cm. Reading must replace getting drunk as a favorite pastime, to the great benefit of peasants.. The Ural ROSTA branch opened in Ekaterinburg shortly after the city was retaken by the Red Army in 1919, and Leonid Sayansky played an important role in its operations. A number of Ural ROSTA posters bear his signature, but it is unclear whether he signed these posters as editor-in- charge or as an artist. Later, he worked primarily as a journalist and satirical writer, although occasionally he did publish caricatures. In 1920s, Sayansky edited the satirical magazine Bich [Whip]; he also was a frequent Krokodil contributor. See also lot 56. $800–$1,200

Lot 40 USENKO, [V.] Workers . . . Must Conquer Art, 1921 Rabochiy yavilsya pobeditelem v ekonomicheskoy I politicheskoy bor’be s burzhuaziey. Yemu teper’ nado zavoyevat Znanie i Iskusstvo [The Worker Has Won the Political and Economic Struggle Against the Bourgeoisie. Now He Must Conquer Knowledge and Art]. A poster by [Vitaly] Usenko. Ordered by the Proletkult Federation of the East Caucasus Region, published by Don GIZ, 1921, 96 x 67 cm. A beautiful poster promoting the Proletkult program of educating workers and raising new proletarian intelligentsiya. It is signed V. Usenko; tentatively attributed to avant-garde graphic artist Vitaly Usenko, a close friend of the Imaginist poet A. Marienhof and the illustrator of the first Imaginist poetry collection, Iskhod (1918). $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 22 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 41 Only Proletarian Organization and Solidarity . . ., 1921 Lish v proletarskoy organizovannosti i solidarnosti / Gibel’ Tsarya — Goloda [Only Proletarian Organization and Solidarity Can Defeat the King Hunger]. A famine-related poster by an anonymous artist. Ryazan, 1921, 94 x 62 cm. The poster bears imprints of the regional Ryazan branches of the State Publishing Trust (GIZ) and of the Political Enlightenment Directorate (Politprosvet); the RVTs registration marking suggests that this may be a regional printing of a poster produced in Moscow. The title could be traced to the 1895 classic work of Russian Marxism, Tsar Golod, by Alexei Bach. Bach, a revolutionary of the People’s Will school (and a world class biochemist), was, in turn, inspired by a line from a Nekrasov poem, Zheleznhaya Doroga [The Railway]. $500–$700

Lot 42 MOOR, D. Help!, 1921 Pomogi! [Help!] Volga Famine Relief campaign poster by Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), Moscow, printed at MOSKUST Lithographic Works, 1921, 106 x 71 cm. An iconic work, familiar to every student of early Soviet art. Moor himself considered Help! the most successful of all his posters. $7,000–$10,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 23 Lot 43 [MOOR, D.] 1 lb of Church Silver = 5 Saved Lives, 1922 1 funt tserkovnogo serebra — 25 pudov khleba — 5 chelovek golodnykh spaseny I prokormleny do avgusta [One Pound of Church Silver = 25 Puds {a unit of weight} of Bread = 5 People Saved and Fed Until August]. A poster attributed to Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946). Printed at MOSKUST Lithography Works, R.V.Ts. registration no. 1158, Moscow, 1922, 32 x 62 cm. This poster was produced in support of the February 1922 decree that required churches to surrender their gold, silver, and other valuables. The decision was described as an extraordinary measure undertaken to fund the famine relief efforts. The attribution to Moor is by the consignor, with references to source literature unavailable to the describer. $1,500–$2,500

Lot 44 [Moor, D.] For the Volga Region . . ., 1922 Dlya Povolzh’ya . . . [For the Volga Region . . .]. A poster suggesting that expropriation of Church’s valuables would provide a major boost to Volga Famine relief efforts — there is enough gold and silver to fill a train 7 vyorsts (roughly 7 km) long. A poster attributed to Dmitry Moor (Dmitry Orlov, 1893–1946). Printed at MOSKUST Lithography Works, R.V.Ts. registration no. 1157, Moscow, 1922, 36 x 61 cm. Another poster defending the February 1922 expropriation decree, produced at the same time as the poster offered in the previous lot — note the sequential registration numbers. This raises the likelihood that both posters, executed in similar technique, are the work of the same artist [Moor]. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 24 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 45 The Bony Hand of Hunger . . ., Text Poster, 1922 Yet another poster produced in defense of the February 1922 expropriation decree. Printed at MOSKUST Lithography Works, R.V.Ts. registration no. 1159, Moscow, 1922, 61 x 27 cm. “Former Moscow banker Ryabushinsky, now abroad, had said: The bony hand of Hunger will choke the Soviets in Russia. It is necessary to make sure that the Soviet Government has no gold to purchase bread for the hungry. A small clique of Church seigneurs, playing with the suffering of the hungry, had decided to implement the directions of this stock trader. The card played by the counter-revolutionaries will be trumped. The Worker will take the temple gold and silver, trade the gold for bread, and feed the hungry with this bread.” The poster’s author plays rather loosely with the historic facts. Ryabushinsky had provided the Bolsheviks with invaluable ammunition for their rhetoric by suggesting that “the bony hand of hunger will suffocate the Soviets,” but his speech was made back in mid-1917, when the Soviet Government did not even exist, and the second part of the quote is simply made up. As for the “clique of Church seigneurs” passage, it refers to the Patriarch Tikhon’s opposition to the announced expropriations. Tikhon was subsequently arrested in May of 1922. $300–$500

Lot 46 ARA Contest Poster, Moscow, 1922 Amerika — Golodayushim Rossii [From America — To the Victims of Russian Famine]. A lithographed poster by an unidentified artist. Printed at Moskust Lithography Works, Moscow, 1922, 62 x 93 cm. A poster with an interesting story behind it. According to Bertrand Patinoe, “in late winter 1922, Colonel Haskell [the head of the American Relief Administration Mission to Russia] decided to bypass the Soviet government and launch an ARA advertising campaign. He held a competition among Moscow artists for the best poster design. The two winning entries . . . were lithographed by the hundreds of thousands and pasted onto both doors of every freight car leaving the ports . . .” (in The Big Show in Bololand: The American Relief Expedition to Soviet Russia in the Famine of 1921). Patinoe goes on to suggest that “most of the posters were torn down very soon after leaving port”. It appears that Patinoe overestimates the quantity of ARA posters produced — the indicated run for the poster (that was registered with and approved by the Soviet authorities, as evidenced by the R.V.Ts. permit number), is 10,000 copies. The poster is signed, but this is a late arrival, so there was insufficient time to successfully identify the artist’s name. $1,500–$2,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 25 Lot 47 ARA Contest Poster II, Moscow, 1922 Dar Amerikanskogo Naroda [From America — To the Victims of Russian Famine]. A lithographed poster by an unidentified artist, printed at Moskust Lithography Works, R.V.Ts. registration no. 51, Moscow, 1922, 66 x 53 cm. The second winning design of the 1922 poster contest organized in Moscow by the ARA Mission to Russia. For information about the contest, see the previous lot description. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 48 Auctions to Benefit the Famine Victims, 1922 Narkomvneshtorg — Golodayushim / Loterei, Auktsiony / byvsh. G-tsa Metrolpol. Otkrytiye 1 Maya [Commissariat for Foreign Trade — Auctions and Lotteries for the Benefit of Famine Victims / To Be Held at Former Metropol Hotel Starting May 1st. An advertising poster by an anonymous artist, [Moscow, 1922], 91 x 59 cm. Fine art objects from museums and from expropriated private collections were auctioned for hard currency, with the proceeds earmarked for Famine Relief. The auctions were conducted under the aegis of the Foreign Trade Commissariat that controlled all exports. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 26 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 49 (Trains) Shoddy Inspection . . . Tsektran poster, 1922 Transportnik, Bolshe bditel’nosti pri semennykh i khlebnykh perevozkakh [Transport Worker! Be Alert When Transporting Seeds and Bread (Grain)]. A poster by an anonymous artist. Publishing Section of TsekTRAN (the Central Committee of the All-Russian Transport Workers Union), Moscow, [1922], 62 x 88 cm. An RSFSR (= pre-1923) period poster, directly tied to the Famine Relief efforts. The caption below reads “Shoddy inspection and maintenance, poor lubrication cripple the railway equipment and serve a heavy blow to the grain campaign”. After years of war, the Russian railway system was in poor shape. Along with setting up the long-term plan for equipment repairs (see lot 71), the State unleashed an endless propaganda campaign imploring the railway workers to take better care of equipment and to avoid preventable mistakes. The task of political propaganda among the transport workers, originally the responsibility of GlavPolit Prosvet, was transferred to TsekTRAN in 1921. $700–$900

Lot 50 (Trains) Negligence . . ., Tsektran poster, c. 1922 Another poster from the Transport Worker! Be Alert series. Anonymous artist, Publishing Section of Tsektran, Moscow, [1922], 97 x 64 cm. The caption at the bottom reads “Shoddy work by dispatchers is a common cause of crashes”. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 27 Lot 51 (Trains) AXELROD, [M.] Poor Maintenance . . ., 1922 Transportnik! Gotov’ vagony k khlebnym perevozkam . . . [Transport Worker! Service the Cars Before Using Them to Transport Bread]. A poster attributed to Meir Axelrod (see below), Tsektran Publishing Section, Moscow, [1922], 62 x 88 cm. The caption at the bottom of the poster reads Poor Maintenance Is a Crime Before the Country. The poster is signed Axelrod; tentatively attributed to the Moscow artist Meir Axelrod, a student of Favorsky at VKHUTEIN at the time. Several articles about the artist mention that as a youth he supported himself by producing posters, but this attribution is not definitive; another possible name that comes to mind is that of the graphic artist Arii Axelrod, whose lithographed portraits of Soviet leaders were mass produced throughout the 1930s and 1940s. $700–$900

Lot 52 Trade and Charity, Poster by Saratov artists, 1922 Nizhnevolzhskoye Krayevoye Tovarishestvo Roznichnoy Torgovli “Laryok” 25% pribili idet na uluchsheniye zhizni besprizornykh detei [Low Volga Region Joint Venture “Stall” 25% Of Profits Goes to Improve the Life of Homeless Children]. A poster by an anonymous artist, printed at GubPoligrafprom, Saratov, 1922, 97 x 67 cm. A poster announcing the formation of the regional Trust for Small Retail Trade. The citizenry is implored to support the newly formed company that gave a quarter of its profit to the Commission for Protection of Children and also promised to give homeless children a chance to earn a living by hawking its wares. Laryok operated from 1922 to 1928, before being merged into a larger state-owned entity. The high artistic quality of the design is not surprising, given the historic role of Saratov as a major arts center associated with the names of Borisov-Musatov, Kuznetsov, Petrov-Vodkin, and many other prominent artists. The poster came to us with the (unverified) story that it was designed pro bono by the students of the Practical Arts Institute (the former Bogolyubov Art School). $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 28 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 53 NAUMOV, N. Down With Illiteracy, DVR Poster, 1922 Doloy bezgramotnost’! [Down With Illiteracy!] A poster by Niktopolion Naumov (1891–1928). Publishing Section of the VoyenPUR (the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic), Chita, 1922, 65 x 94 cm. The short-lived Dal’nevostochnaya Respublika (Far Eastern Republic), existed as a formally independent entity in 1920–1922, later becoming a part of the Russian Federation. This poster demonstrates the considerable talent of N. Naumov, a self-taught artist that belonged to the Zelenaya Koshka [Green Cat] Futurist group. Artists of the Green Cat were strongly influenced by contacts with David Burliuk. An active supporter of the Revolution, Naumov produced a large number of VoyenPUR posters. Through the 1920s, he was considered one of the brightest stars of the regional arts scene in the Russian Far East. $2,000–$3,000

Lot 54 NAUMOV, N. Vote for Communists, DVR Poster, 1922 Tovarishi rabochiye, krestiyane i boitsy! . . . Golosuite za spisok kommunistov! [Comrades, Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers! Vote for the Communists List]. A poster by Niktopolion Naumov (1891–1928). Publishing Section of the VoyenPUR (the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic), Chita, 1922, 72 x 92 cm. A poster for the Far Eastern Republic election campaign. Signed in plate “Nik”, a pseudonym often used by Naumov in his graphic works. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 29 Lot 55 NAUMOV, N. May Day, DVR Poster, 1922 1 Maya — Den’ podschyota nashikh sil! [May Day Is the Day to Measure Our Strength]. A poster by Niktopolion Naumov (1891–1928). Publishing Section of the VoyenPUR (the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic), Chita, 1922, 72 x 92 cm. The design of this International Workers Solidarity Day poster reflects the geography of the Russian Far East, with its proximity to China, Korea, and Japan. Interestingly, the inscriptions on the banners held by the foreign workers and peasants are inscribed in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and English. Signed in plate “Nik”, a pseudonym often used by Naumov in his graphic works. $2,000–$3,000

Lot 56 SAYANSKY, L. End of the Economic Blockade, 1922 Boy Reshitel’niy . . . [A Decisive Battle . . .]. A regional poster by L. Sayansky, published by Ural OGIZ, [Ekaterinburg, 1922], 74 x 57 cm. This poster hails the signing of free trade agreements between Russia and a number of European countries through the first half of 1922. These are presented as important victories for the Republic that will benefit the workers, and proof that the economic blockade had failed. Sayansky played an important role in organizing poster production in the Ural region — see the description for lot 39. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 30 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 57 Red Soldier Week in Moscow, 1922 Chto sdelala rabochaya Moskva v Nedelyu Krasnoarmeitsa [Working Moscow Accomplishments During the Red Army Soldier Week]. Poster by an unidentified artist, signed in plate with the initials M.I. Printed to the order of Gubtroika Nedeli Krasnoarmeitsa, the executive triumvirate in charge of running the Soldier Week campaign in the Moscow region. Moscow, c. 1922, 104 x 66 cm. Army-support campaigns were ran with some regularity in early 1920s — the cash- strapped regime kept looking for non-traditional ways of supporting the Army. Interestingly, the poster reports that 50,000,000 rubles were raised; the amount is really not that large, considering the rampant inflation. The volume of in-kind services provided, on the other hand, is quite impressive. The poster appears in the online catalog of the NYPL collection of early Soviet posters, with a 1922 dating. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 31 Lot 58 (Trotsky) Workers Fleet . . ., Morkom Poster, 1922 Rabochiy flot, proletariat, i kommunism — napominayte vy flotu / Nauka I tekhnika — napominayet vam flot [Keep Reminding the Fleet — (This is) Workers Fleet, (Dedicated to) Proletariat and Communism; (While) the Fleet Reminds You (of the Importance) of Science and Technology]. The first in the series of unusual “sponsored” propaganda posters produced by Morkom (the Naval Commissariat), and its successor, Morved (the Naval Office), from late 1922 through early 1924. By an unidentified artist (monogram KS in lieu of signature), Morkom Printing Works, Petrograd, 1922, 72 x 109 cm. Morkom posters are highly unusual, and combine elements of propaganda and advertising. In line with the spirit of the New Economic Policy era, Morkom Publishing Department was expected to operate at no cost to the Commissariat; thus the idea of a “sponsored” poster, with Morkom’s “poster within poster” in the middle, and sponsor messages occupying the two side panes. Contents of sponsor panes varied greatly, ranging from straight advertising from State-controlled Trusts on the early poster to proclamations of support for the Red Fleet later in the series. Besides being first in the series, this poster is of special interest because it contains a direct reference to Leon Trotsky — very few such posters survive. The somewhat confusing two-part message is loosely based on Trotsky’s speech at the Komsomol Congress, after Komsomol had declared its patronage over the Fleet. The “Keep reminding . . .” slogan at the top underscores the importance of indoctrinating the Navy personnel, a subject considered very important by the regime, especially after the Kronstadt uprising of 1921. The slogan at the bottom reflects Trotsky’s deep-rooted interest in modernizing the Soviet Armed Forces. The Komsomol declaration of sponsorship over the Fleet dates to October 1922; the ship depicted by the artist is called Komsomolets. Originally, she was called Okean; the change of name also occurred in October 1922. This suggests the end of 1922 as the time of poster publication. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 32 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 59 The Red Fleet and Naval Aviation . . ., Morkom Poster, 1922 Krasny Voyenny Flot i gidroaviatsiya zashishayet interesy trudyashihsya vsego mira [The Red Fleet and Naval Aviation Protect the Interests of Workers of the World]. A poster by an anonymous artist, Morkom Printing Works, Petrograd, 1922, 72 x 109 cm. Poster no. 8 in the Red Fleet propaganda series, sponsored by a variety of state-owned commercial organizations of the Vologda region. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 33 Lot 60 PLANSON, A. The Red Fleet . . ., Morkom Poster, 1923 Krasnyi Flot obespechivayet snabzheniye nashey promyshlennosti neft’yu [The Red Fleet Assures Oil Deliveries to Our Industries ], Morkom series poster produced by Alexei Planson (1896–1964), printed at Morkom Printing Works, Petrograd, 1923, 72 x 109 cm. This poster was sponsored by Azneft Trust, the state-controlled oil company formed in 1920 to operate the Baku oil fields. The slogan at the top of the central pane reads “Greetings From Azneft to the Red Fleet and Its Hydroaviation”. Alexei Planson’s name appears on the lists of participants of several art exhibitions of the post-revolutionary period, including the major 1919 Free Art Exhibition in Petrograd. Painting was not his main occupation though — he was a professional Navy officer. In 1917, Warrant Officer Planson was the watch commander of the legendary Avrora, and sided with the sailors, even though his father was a Fleet admiral. $1,500–$2,500

Lot 61 PLANSON, A. Naval Aviation . . ., Morkom Poster, 1923 Sozdavaya gidroaviatsiyu mi ukreplyayem mosh Krasnogo Flota [By Creating Naval Aviation We Are Strengthening the Red Fleet], Morkom series poster by the artist — and Naval officer on active duty — Alexei Planson (1896–1964; see previous the previous lot description for additional information). Sponsored by the Tsentrsoyuz Trust, Moscow; printed at Morkom Printing Works, Petrograd, 1923, 71 x 108 cm. A poster of considerable interest to aviation memorabilia collectors. Leon Trotsky, at the time still in charge of the Soviet Armed Forces, was a major proponent of the rapid development of military and civilian aviation. In a 1923 speech he declared “In the period immediately ahead, the basic technical need of the Red Army is for aircraft. . . . The airplane is the greatest weapon of the future.” For additional information on the artist see the previous lot description. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 34 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 62 The Red Fleet Protects Fishing . . ., Morkom Poster, 1923 Krasnyi Flot oberegayet ribniye promysly i presekayet kontrabandu [The Red Fleet Protects Fishing and Prevents Smuggling]. Poster no. 16 in the “sponsored” propaganda posters series produced by Morkom. Produced by the same artist as the poster offered as Lot 58, (monogram KS in lieu of signature), Morkom Printing Works, Petrograd, 1923, 71 x 109 cm. This poster was sponsored by the Volga River State Shipping — a good match for a poster describing the Red Fleet activities in the Caspian Sea. The small-print slogan at the bottom of the central pane reads “Long Live the Unbreakable Union of the Red Navy and the Red Merchant Fleet”. $1,500–$2,500

Lot 63 (Arctic) The North Sea Route . . ., Morkom Poster, 1924 Plavaniye Severnym Morskim Putyom obespechivayetsya Gidrographiyey R.Kr.Kr. Flota [Operations on the North Sea Route Depend on Support of the Red Fleet Hydrography Department]. A poster by an anonymous artist, no. 34 in the Red Fleet propaganda series, text for the side panes provided by the poster sponsor, the Kostroma Soviet. Produced by Morved (The Naval Office), Leningrad, 1924, 71 x 105 cm. This is the earliest Soviet poster dealing with the topic of Arctic exploration that we have offered (or seen). Changes in the imprints reflect the administrative reorganization of the Soviet Armed Forces in the end of 1923 — the former Naval Commissariat became the Naval Office of the Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs. (Also, with the death of Lenin, Petrograd became Leningrad.) $2,000–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 35 Lot 64 All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition, 1923 Vserossiiskaya Sel’skokohozyaistvennaya Vystavka v Moskve [All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow]. A poster by an anonymous artist calling on Muscovites to welcome the visitors, and inviting Moscow Region peasants to take an active part in the Exhibition. The All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition was originally scheduled for the autumn of 1922, but because of widespread crop failures, the opening was postponed until August 1923. $700–$900

Lot 65 Death to Bribery, Regional Poster, [1923] Smert’ vzyatke! [Death to Bribery!] A very early poster of the anti-bribery campaign by an anonymous artist. Politprosvet of Oryol Government, Oryol, [1923 — or possibly 1920]. Organized campaigns against bribery had started with the March 1918 decree “On Bribery”, and continued, with varying degrees of intensity, until the collapse of the Soviet Union. In dating this poster, we defer to the consignor, but in this describer’s opinion, wording suggests that it was issued shortly after creation of Rabkrin, the Workers and Peasants Inspection (February 1920). Rabkrin was set up “to control every branch of the administration, from top to bottom, with a view to eliminating inefficiency and corruption”, and immediately started soliciting complaints and reports from the population. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 36 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 66 On the Day of Paris Commune . . ., MOPR Poster, 1923 V Den’Parizhskoy Kommuny krepite ryady MOPR [On the Paris Commune Day, Rally Around MOPR]. A poster by anonymous artist, ordered by MOPR Executive Committee, Moscow, [1923], 92 x 63 cm. MOPR, the International Red Aid Society, had proclaimed March 18, 1923 (the anniversary of the Paris Commune) to be the “International Day of Aid for Political Prisoners”. The tradition continued in the following years, so the 1923 dating is tentative. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 67 [CHEREMNYKH, M.] Tsarism Legacy, 1923 Golod — Nasledstvo tsarisma i pomeshich’yei vlasti . . . [Famine is the Legacy of Tsarism and of the Landlords’ Rule . . .]. A prodnalog campaign poster attributed by the consignor to Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962). Krasnaya Nov’ Publishing, Moscow, 1923. Famine and poverty are the legacy of the old regime. The Soviet State is eager to restore peasants to prosperity by making major investments in cattle-raising and farm equipment, but to fund these investments it relies on tax collection. Peasants are asked to pay taxes in full and on time. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 37 Lot 68 SOBOROVA, A. An Unusual Mother/Child Poster, 1923 Deti — zalog budushego, radost nastoyashego [Children Are Our Downpayment Towards the Future, and the Source of Joy Today]. A poster by Alexandra Soborova (1882–?). [Moscow], 1923, 121 x 68 cm. This poster was issued to mark the 1923 Protection of Mothers, Infants, and Homeless Children Week. Soborova still seems comfortable with introducing the Madonna and Child reference into her poster; but in her later works, the artist had stayed away from such experiments — the use of religious archetypes was considered inappropriate in the Soviet poster art. Soborova studied art in Moscow, and later in Paris; in 1979, her early works were included in the major Paris-Moscou, 1900–1930 retrospective. Throughout the Soviet period, she worked primarily as a posterist, largely specializing in health posters, and as an illustrator of children’s books. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 69 A Quarter for a Nickel . . ., 1924 Kak za pyatak muzhik kupil chetvertak [How a Peasant Managed to Buy a Quarter for a Nickel]. Published by Novaya Derevnya, Moscow, regional Kazan printing, 1924, 34 x 53 cm. A New Economic Policy period poster promoting the use of scientific methods in agriculture. A peasant prospers after consulting with an agronomist, who teaches him new plowing techniques, and advises him to supplement his income by raising pigs. The small investment pays for itself manifold. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 38 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 70 BIGOS, S. Empowerment Through Self-Education, 1924 Cherez Samoobrazovaniye—k sile, svetu, znaniyu [Towards Power, Light, and Knowledge Through Self-Education]. A beautiful poster by Sergei Bigos (1895–1937), published by the Irkutsk Gubkom RKP (Irkustk Regional Committee of Workers in the Fields of Culture and Education), Irkutsk, 1924, 43.5 x 34.5 cm. Graphic artist Sergei Bigos spent the early 1920s in Irkutsk before moving to Moscow. The topic of the poster reflects Bigos’s deep involvement with Proletkult — he taught in IZO studios, and several important Siberian artists talked of him highly as of their first teacher. In 1937, Bigos fell victim to Stalin’s purges. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 71 (Trains) SOKOLOV, N. Hail to 4-1/2 years . . ., 1924 Da zdravstvuyet 4-1/2 goda upornogo truda [Hail to 4-1/2 Years of Hard Work. A poster by N. Sokolov, Glavpolitput’ [Publishing house of the Commissariat of Transportation, NKPS], Moscow, 1924. The slogan at the bottom of the poster, reading “Let us execute the repairs plan as defined in the Order No. 1042”, deserves some attention. Order No. 1042 was issued by the Transportation Commissariat in 1920, and set the long-term plan for locomotive repairs, extending to January 1925. This plan, that had to be adjusted and reassessed several times, was considered one of the first attempts to introduce long term planning into Soviet economy, and as such, became a subject of polemics among various party factions. Even Leon Trotsky, who had signed the original Order, felt compelled to interfere, and dedicated a full chapter to the discussion in his “New Course”, published in January 1924. It is not surprising that, under the circumstances, the fairly obscure Order became the topic of several posters. According to the consignor, the author of the poster is Nikolai Sokolov of Kukryniksy fame. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 39 Lot 72 RODCHENKO, A. and MAYAKOVSKY, V. Profplakat no. 7, 1924 Bez gramoty vtroye nad rabotoy poteyem / SOYUZ rabochego sdelayet gramoteyem [Illiterate, We Sweat Over the Job Thrice as Much (As We Should) / The UNION Will Turn Workers Into Proficient Readers]. A poster by Alexander Rodchenko (1891–1956) with text by Vladimir Mayakovsky. Trud I Kniga, Moscow, 1924, 35 x 27 cm. An important example of the Mayakovsky–Rodchenko collaboration in the field of poster production. In 1924, the two LEF leaders received an order for a series of posters for MGSPS — the Moscow City Council of Professional Unions. Ten posters were published; they are often referred to as profplakats. The definitive 1957 edition of Mayakovsky’s Complete Works lists the profplakat shown as no. 7 in the series. $3,000–$5,000

Lot 73 Join the “Down With Illiteracy” Society, c. 1925 Vstupaite v Obshestvo “Doloi Negramotnost” [Become a Member of the “Down With Illiteracy” Society]. A poster produced by Gosizdat, Moscow, c. 1925–1926, 50 x 35 cm. The Down With Illiteracy Society (ODN) was created in 1923 with the aim to combat illiteracy and near-illiteracy among the adult population. Under the five-year plan adopted by ODN, the literacy campaign originally concentrated on the city population; in two years, campaign’s main focus had shifted to the Russian countryside. The poster dates to this second phase. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 40 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 74 Sell Your Tobacco to Cooperatives, c. 1925 Sdavai Makhorku Kooperatsii . . . [Sell Your Tobacco to Soviet Cooperatives . . .]. A mid-1920s poster by anonymous artist, Rabochaya Gazeta Newspaper Publishing, 73 x 50 cm. With the advent of the New Economic Policy, the prodrazvertka system, under which the State claimed the right to all food surpluses, was replaced by a milder prodnalog (food tax). Peasants were obligated to sell a predetermined portion of their crops to the State, but the rest could be sold in the open market. The poster urges tobacco growers to sell their surplus tobacco to Government-controlled cooperatives and not to “speculators, enemies of the Soviet State”. $700–$900

Lot 75 KOMAROV, A. Protect Pregnant Women, 1925 Oberegaite Zhenshinu-Mat’ [Peasants, Protect Pregnant Women]. A poster by A. Komarov. [Leningrad, Narkomzdrav, c. 1925], 103 x 70 cm. ”The same farmer that protects a horse with foal, or a cow in calf, does not pity his pregnant wife. Do not assign heavy work to pregnant women, do not let them to lift heavy loads — this can kill the mother and the child!” From 1925 to 1926, artist A. Komarov produced a number of health posters for the Narkomzdrav (People’s Commissariat of Public Health). Examples can be found in the Trinity College collection. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 41 Lot 76 Lavinsky, A. From Script to Screen, 1926 Ot stsenariya k ekranu [From Script to Screen]. A poster by Anton Lavinsky (1893–1968). Kinopechat’, Moscow, c. 1926, 41 x 113 cm. Graphic artist, stage designer, and sculptor Anton Lavinsky was one of the pioneers of applying photomontage techniques to movie poster art. Not every order that came his way was for a poster for Battleship Potemkin, but as a dedicated Constructivist, the artist probably found considerable satisfaction in the topic moviemaking as an industrial process. The poster’s text is by the prominent Soviet film director, screenwriter, and critic Leo Moore (Leopold Murashko, 1889–1938), who fell victim to Stalin’s purges. $3,000–$5,000

Lot 77 We Lend Out Money Only to the State, 1927 My dayom den’gi vzaimy tol’ko gosudarstvu [We Lend Our Money Only to the State]. A poster produced by an anonymous artist for the publishing house of the Finance Ministry (Narkomfin), Moscow, 1927, 107 x 68 cm. Encouraging savings was a government priority in the late 1920s. The first Five-Year Plan of 1928–1932 set ambitious targets for the promotion of personal savings, but the plan was only about 50 percent fulfilled since few people had any money to save. As an aside, this elegant poster was prominently displayed at the entrance to the “World of Paper Money” exhibition held in Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in 2004 (the fact that the exhibition was sponsored by the Sberbank [Savings Bank] might have play a role in the selection). $1,500–$2,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 42 Famine, Inflation, NEP Recovery: 1921–1927 Lot 78 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 SAMOKHVALOV, A. Marx’s Social Theory, c. 1927 Skhema Sotsial’noy Teorii Karla Marksa [Scheme of Karl Marx’s Social Theory]. A poster by Alexander Samokhvalov (1894–1971, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation); design by A. Malinovsky. Published by the Production Bureau of the Arts Academy, Leningrad, c. 1927, 69 x 100 cm. Samokhvalov is severely hampered by Malinovsky’s rigid table-like overall setup, but the design of the individual panes is indicative of the artist’s talent. One of Petrov-Vodkin’s favorite students, the artist worked in a variety of genres with equal success; in the 1930s, he had won three international gold medals — one for a painting , one for a panneau, and one as a book illustrator. He also worked in stage design — and occasionally produced posters. $1,500–$2,500

Lot 79 KOGOUT, N. Religious Indoctrination Methods, c. 1928 Kak vkolachivayut v cheloveka religiyu [Methods of Religious Indoctrination]. A poster by N. Kogout, likely produced in course of his work for the magazine Bezbozhnik [The Atheist]. Graphic artist Nikolai Kogout (1891–1959) is considered one of the “founding fathers” of the political Soviet poster. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 43 Lot 80 ZELIKHMAN, S. Civil War Timeline (1928 style) Kalendar Grazhdanskoi Voiny, 1917–1922 [Civil War Timeline, 1917–1922]. A poster by Solomon Zelikhman, (1900–1967). GIZ -Voyennyi Otdel (Military Department of the State Publishing Trust), Moscow-Leningrad, 1928, 96 x 63 cm. The official History of Civil War as it was taught in Moscow in 1928. Do not look for the chief architect of the Soviet victory, Leon Trotsky, but a number of future “enemies of the people” are still hailed as war heroes. This attractive poster in mixed photomontage technique was pro- duced by the former konarmeyets Solomon Zelikhman, who went through the war with the legendary Budenny’s 1st Cavalry. Zelikhman is primarily remembered as a talented painter of battle pieces, but during WWII he temporarily returned to poster graphics. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 81 [KOGOUT, N.] Render Unto Caesar . . ., [1929] Vozdai Kesariyu . . . [Render unto Caesar]. Lithographed sheet by Nikolai Kogout (1891–1959; attribution by consignor), Moscow, [Bezbozhnik, 1929], 61 x 38 cm. Kogout’s design centers around a Bible opened on the “Render unto Caesar . . .” passage, routinely criticized by Soviet propagandists as antithetical to revolutionary ideals. The lack of a formal caption is rather unusual; it is possible that this sheet was designed to be displayed as a part of a larger group. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 44 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 82 CHEREMNYKH, M. Bird Catchers, 1930 Ptitselovy [Bird Catchers]. A mass-produced lithographed sheet after the original work by Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962), GIZ, Moscow, 1930, 50 x 35 cm. A priest and a preacher fail to lure new converts into the “cage of religion”; only an old ignorant woman is still susceptible to their tricks. Cheremnykh worked for a number of the League of Militant Atheists publications and produced a large number of anti-religious posters and caricatures. $500–$700

Lot 83 CHEREMNYKH, M. Ne otstavaite!, 1930 Ne Otstavaite! [Do Not Fall Behind (with the pest control campaign)]. Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962), text by Demyan Bednyi. AKhR Publishing, Moscow, 1930, 72 x 70 cm. An interesting example of the Cheremnykh — Bednyi collaboration stemming from their work in the magazines of the League of Militant Atheists: Bezbozhnik [Atheist] and Bezbozhnik u stanka [Atheist at the Workbench]. Even a campaign promoting the use of chemicals for pest control provides an excuse for an attack on organized religion. In Bedny’s fable, a priest (pop) tries to damage the crops by teaching peasants that pests are God’s creatures and should be spared. Naturally, his ploy fails. The irate peasants confiscate the church building to use it for a school. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 45 Lot 84 KOTOV, N. The Beast of Mismanagement, 1930 Rabochy! Ty vidish potok poter’? Milliardy Zhryot Beskhozyaistvennosti zver’ . . . [Worker, Do You See the River of Losses? Billions Are Devoured By the Beast of Mismanagement]. Poster by Nikolai Kotov (1889–1968), versed text by the prominent Soviet poet Semyon Kirsanov. Moscow, 1930, 79 x 54 cm. One of the founders of AKhRR, Nikolai Kotov worked in a variety of genres, including easel and monumental painting, as well as poster production. As an art student, he was exposed to the world of pre-revolutionary Russian avant-garde; there also exists Kotov’s sketch portrait of David Burliuk produced in 1919 in Siberia, where both artists found themselves during the Civil War $1,000–$1,500

Lot 85 LEBEDEV, V. Sectarian “Brothers”, c. 1930 Sektantskiye “bratsy” — kuklatskiye svyatsy [Sectarian “Brothers” and Kulak’s Religious Calendar]. Poster by V. Lebedev to the text of Demyan Bedny, Bezbozhnik, Moscow, [1930], 67 x 87 cm. Sectarians (members of various Christian sects not associated with the Orthodox or Catholic Churches), are accused of trying to derail the collectivization drive. Under the Soviet regime, many such sects fared even worse than the established Churches, and some were suppressed outright for “promoting religious fanaticism”. Among them were the Khlysty, specifically mentioned in Bednyi’s text. The poster is signed in plate by the artist (V. Lebedev); we are reluctant to ascribe it to any particular artist that shares this fairly common name. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 46 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 86 VYEZMENSKY, N. Meeting Quotas Is Not Enough, 1930 Malo Vypolnit’ Promfinplan — Nado Perevyponit’ [Meeting Production Quotas Is Not Enough — They Must Be Exceeded]. Poster by Lev Vyezmensky (or Vyazmensky, 1901–1938), and Naum Neiman. AKhR (Association of Artists of the Revolution) Publishing, Moscow, 1930, 73 x 102 cm. An interesting poster, reflective of the style of poster production adopted by the OMAKhR Monumentalists, a group of recent VKHUTEIN graduates that came to dominate the youth section of AKhR. Vyazmensky soon rose to prominence as one of the leaders of RAPKh (Russian Association of Proletarian Artists, 1931–1932), For a short period, RAPKh gained a dominant position on the Soviet art scene, claiming that it represented the true proletarian vision (and, indirectly, the viewpoint of the Party). After the 1932 decree abolishing all art groups and creating the Artists Union, RAPKh leaders were criticized for excessive formalism. In 1938, Vyazmensky, along with several of his former RAPKh colleagues, was arrested, accused of participating in a terrorist organization, and executed. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 87 Bolshevik Tempo For River Transport, 1931 Rechnoi Transport — Na bol’shevistskiye Tempy [River Transport Should Operate With Bolshevik Tempo], Moscow, 1931, 72 x 104 cm. Constructivist poster by an anonymous artist (or artist brigade, as was common in 1931). The formation of the Water Transport Commissariat (January 1931), charged with the task of ramping up the volume of goods transported by water, led to an extensive propaganda campaign. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 47 Lot 88 LAVINSKAYA, e., and Semyonova, E. Protect the Power Lines, 1931 Budem Okhranyat’ Elektroprovoda [Let Us Protect the Power Lines]. A photomontage poster by Elizaveta Lavinskaya (1901–1950) and Elena Semyonova, Glavpolitprosvet, Leningrad, [1931], 101 x 69 cm. Artists E. Lavinskaya (wife of the prominent Constructivist Anton Lavinsky), and E. Semenova became close friends as students at VKHUTEMAS. Under the influence of Constructivist ideas, they chose to study applied art at the VKHUTEMAS United Workshops. Early and active members of LEF, they worked both as designers (the pair is credited with designing the modular system of book displays for the GIZ advertising campaign that had also attracted such artists as Rodchenko, Stepanova, and Anton Lavinsky) and as posterists. The poster speaks of the need to protect the power distribution system from vandals and saboteurs. Its topic reflects the constant efforts of the Soviet propaganda machine to instill a siege mentality in the population. $3,000–$5,000

Lot 89 Let Us Strengthen Collective Farms . . ., 1931 Osennim sevom ukrepim kolkhozy Len — Oblasti [Let Us Strengthen the Collective Farms of the Leningrad Region Through (An Efficient) Fall Sowing Campaign]. OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow- Leningrad, 1931, 104 x 71 cm. An attractive Constructivist poster by an anonymous Leningrad artist or, possibly, by an artist brigade — in 1931, the brigade approach to poster production was actively promoted by Leningrad art functionaries. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 48 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 90 Kulak Is Our Worst Enemy Kulak — nash zleishii vrag, net mesta yemu v sovete [Kulak Is Our Worst Enemy — There Is No Place For Him on the (Village) Council]. Anonymous artist, OGIZ-IZOGIZ, 1931, 104 x 75 cm. A poster of the “dekulakization” campaign of 1931 that resulted in mass deportations of rich peasants (kulaks) and their families. $800–$1,200

Lot 91 KAIDALOV, V. Idite v Partiyu, c. 1931 Idite v Partiyu [(Workers), Become the Party Members]. A poster of the “workerist” campaign by Vladimir Kaidalov (1907–1985), published by the Party Committee of Leningrad’s Narvsky District, ca. 1931, 100 x 69 cm. The “workerist” campaign aimed at building a cadre of party-loyal workers, the “enthusiastic builders of socialism”, ran through 1930–1931. The poster’s dating is indirectly confirmed by the fact that in 1932, Kaidalov, who studied in the Leningrad AKhRR studios (1927–1930), had moved from Leningrad to Tashkent. Post-WWII Soviet art books characterize Kaidalov as the leading Uzbek painter; he was awarded the honorary title of the People’s Artist of Uzbekistan. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 49 Lot 92 KOGOUT, N. The Forthcoming War . . ., 1931 Gryadushaya voina — mogila kapitalisma [Capitalism Will Find Its Grave in the Forthcoming War]. A poster by Nikolai Kogout (1891–1959). OGIZ- IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, 1931, 53 x 36 cm. After causing numerous wars that had claimed millions of victims, capitalists and their servants in Geneva are giving lip service to promoting peace. As explained by Comrade Stalin, they are not to be believed, as they keep increasing their military budgets. The world proletariat will not be fooled, and will turn on the oppressors the moment they decide to attack the Soviet Union. $500–$700

Lot 93 ROTOV, K. The Shock Brigades’ Song, 1931 Pesnya Udarnykh Brigad [The Shock Brigades’ Song]. A poster design by Konstantin Rotov (1902–1959), verse by the poet Nikolai Aseev (1899–1963). IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, submitted by the artist in 1930, published in early 1931, 69 x 52 cm. Socialist competition, and support of udarnichestvo (the shock workers movement), are recommended as the best remedy for the various ills plaguing the Soviet workplace. Rotov’s artistic career started during the Civil War in the provinces. He soon moved to Moscow, where he worked as a posterist and a newspaper artist; Rotov’s works appeared regularly in Pravda and Krokodil. A victim of the 1940 purges campaign, he spent the next fifteen years in labor camps and in administrative exile in Siberia. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 50 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 94 VADBOLSKY, M. Throw Out . . ., 1931 Von chuzhdy element is apparata ERKOOPa [Throw Out the Non-Proletarian Element From the ERKOOP Apparatus]. A poster by Mikhail Vadbolsky (1902–1977), published by the ERKOOP Culture and Lifestyle Section, Tbilisi, 1931, 70 x 97 cm. Poster of the statewide campaign started to address widespread reports of assorted shortages and rising food prices. The problems were blamed on local profiteers, bunglers, and saboteurs in the distribution channels, and were accompanied by calls for strengthening “workers control over cooperation”. This particular poster calls for “cleaning up” the ERKOOP Trust that ran the food and consumer products distribution network in Tbilisi. Graphic artist Mikhail Vadbolsky was, by all accounts, a man of many interests. Aside from working as a journalist and caricaturist, he also wrote extensively on such subjects as the history of chess and Georgian heraldry, and had published several illustrated children books. Sources disagree on his date of birth; we are following the date given by the Russian State Historical Archive in its online catalog. $800–$1,200

Lot 95 Shock Worker, Think of a Way . . ., 1932 Udarnik, dai predlozheniye gde i v chyom primenit’ elektrosvarku v tvoyom proizvodstve [Shock Worker, Come Up With A Proposal How to Use Electric Welding In Your Line of Work ]. An attractive poster by an anonymous artist. OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, c. 1932, 98 x 65 cm. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 51 Lot 96 KLUTSIS, G. Maxim Gorky, 1932 Zachinatelyu Proletarskoy Literatury . . . Maximu Gor’komu . . . Plamenny Privet [Our Heartfelt Greetings to Maxim Gorky, the Founder of the Proletarian Literature]. A poster by Gustav Klutsis (1895–1938), OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow- Leningrad, 1932, 93 x 60 cm. A representative work of this important master. The poster was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of M. Gorky’s career as a satirical writer. $2,500–$3,500

Lot 97 KUKRYNIKSY. Charade in Geneva, 1932 Dogovorilasya v Zheneve kamaril’ya . . . [The Camarilla had come to an agreement in Geneva . . .]. An early Kukryniksy poster, OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, 1932, 73 x 107 cm. In line with official Soviet position, artists made fun of resolutions adopted at the 1932 World Disarmament Conference. While paying lip service to disarmament in Geneva, participants keep building up their arsenals. The sickly “Angel of Disarmament” is dead; it is served on a platter of League of Nations resolutions to the hungry crowd of militarists of various stripes. The Kukryniksy artists collective was formed by Mikhail Kupreyanov (1903–1991), Porfiry Krylov (1902–1990), and Nikolai Sokolov (1903–2000). Kukryniksy became popular in 1930s, and eventually came to occupy the top spot among the satirical artists in the Soviet art hierarchy. Artists were showered with honors and titles — each one was elected a full member of the Academy of Arts, and became a People’s Artist of the Soviet Union, and a Hero of Socialist Labor. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 52 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 98 What Can You Learn On a Tour, [1933] O chyom mozhno uznat v ekskursii? [What Can You Learn on a Tour]. A curious constructivist poster by an anonymous artist, ordered by OPTE (Obshestvo Proletarskogo Turizma i Excursiy, Proletarian Tourism Society), and Public Health Ministry, Moscow, [1933], 80 x 61 cm. The Proletarian Tourism Society (years of operation: 1930–1936) was a state-sponsored voluntary organization that promoted tourism as recreation and as a sport. OPTE was also involved in organizing topical tours and excursions. The poster shown, aimed at boosting the OPTE membership among the rural population, talks about the wide range of potential tourist destinations that could be of particular interest to peasant tourists. The slogan in the upper right corner (“Our task is to make every collective farm a Bolshevik collective farm, and to make every peasant prosperous”) comes from the 1933 Stalin’s speech, and can be used in determining the time of publication. $500–$700

Lot 99 BERSIAN, I. Every Kolkhoznik Will Prosper, 1933 [We Will Make Every Bolshevik Collective Farm, And Every Collective Farmer Prosperous]. Moldavian language photomontage poster, Moldavian State Publishing, Tiraspol, 1933, 95 x 62 cm. This poster’s slogan paraphrases one of the main talking points of Stalin’s 1933 speech at the First All-Union Congress of Collective Farm Shock Workers. The lengthy quote below the leader’s portrait corresponds to the following speech passage: “We have achieved a position where the majority of the collective-farm households already have a cow each. Another year or two will pass and there will not be a single collective farmer without his own cow.” $1,500–$2,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 53 Lot 100 KANEVSKY, A. Lazy Bum, 1933 Lodyr’ [Lazy Bum]. A poster by Aminadav Kanevsky (1898–1976, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), text by Demyan Bednyi. Partizdat, Moscow, 1933, 70 x 107 cm. The poster promotes the introduction of the trudoden’ (distribution according to labor) system in Soviet agriculture. In Bednyi’s version of Krylov’s popular fable Strekoza i Muravei, an unpleasant surprise awaits the lazy kolkhoznik Alyosha when the time comes to divide the harvest. Children’s’ books illustrated by Aminadav Kanevsky had delighted several generations of Soviet children. He was also a popular satirist — Kanevsky’s caricatures appeared regularly in Krokodil and other satirical publications for 40 plus years. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 101 ALFEROV, N. Early Vegetables for Industrial Centers Ranniye ovoshi — promishlennym tsentram [Let Us Supply the Industrial Centers with Early Vegetables]. A poster by Nikolai Alferov (1906–?), OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow- Leningrad, 1934, 71 x 102 cm. This poster’s slogan can be traced to Nikita Khrushchev’s speech at the XVIIth Communist Party Congress. The future Soviet leader was at the time considered the protégé of the Moscow Party Secretary, Lazar Kaganovich. Artist Nikolai Alferov was arrested in 1937 and sentenced to hard labor for counter-revolutionary propaganda; no further information is available, except that his conviction was struck down in 1957. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 54 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Lot 102 VOLKOVA, M. Let Us Transform Parks . . ., 1934 Prevratim parki v obraztsovye predpriyatiya otdykha i vesel’ya trudyashikhsya [Let Us Transform Parks Into Model Enterprises of Rest and Merriment for Workers]. A poster by Marina Volkova (1905–1979), OGIZ- IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, 1934, 72 x 103 cm. After graduating from the Kharkov Art Institute in 1931, Marina Volkova found employment as a posterist in Moscow. She also worked as a book illustrator and was considered a talented easel artist. An attractive poster. $1,500–$2,500

Lot 103 SHUBINA, G. Mother Is At Peace . . ., 1936 Kogda v kolkhoze khoroshiye yasli, spokoina mat’ i rebyonok schastliv [A Mother Is at Peace and a Child Is Happy When Kolkhoz Has a Good Nursery]. Poster by Galina Shubina (1902–1980, Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation), OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, 1936, 94.5 x 61.5 cm. Before finding success as a poster artist, Galina Shubina, a graduate of the Petrograd VKHUTEIN (1924), worked in a variety of graphics genres and tried her hand in stage design in the provinces. Her poster career took off in the mid-1930s. In this interesting transitional poster one can still notice traces of Symbolist influences that were prominent in Shubina’s early works, but that disappeared from her political posters of later years. $800–$1,200

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 55 Lot 104 PERNIKOV, E. Photomontage Poster, 1937 Konstitutsiya SSSR yavlyaetsya yedinstvennoi . . . [The Soviet Constitution is the Only Truly Democratic Constitution in the World]. A poster by graphic artist Efim Pernikov (1903– 1966), OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow- Leningrad, 1937, 53 x 67 cm. Adoption of the new Soviet Constitution (December 5, 1936). $700–$900

Lot 105 SHUBINA, G. Long Live The May Day, 1937 Long Live the May Day. Poster by Galina Shubina, OGIZ-IZOGIZ, Moscow, 1937, 37 x 24.5 cm. In Soviet history, 1937 is associated with the atmosphere of fear and bloody purges; but nothing bad ever happens in the imaginary Utopian world of Shubina’s posters. In this case, the happy citizenry is merrily celebrating International Solidarity Day. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 56 USSR in Construction: 1929–1940 Patriotic War,Lot 106 1941–1945 SHUBINA, G. Stalin’s New Year Tree, 1938 Stalinskaya Yolka [Stalin’s New Year Tree]. Poster by Galina Shubina (1902–1980), text by the author of the Soviet anthem, poet Sergei Mikhalkov (1913–2009). Iskusstvo, Moscow- Leningrad, 1938, 100 x 67 cm. Soviet children are celebrating the New Year. Mikhalkov’s verse reads “We are dancing, singing and laughing, our life is full of Joy — all of this because Stalin in Kremlin takes care of every one of us”. $700–$900

Lot 107 KOCHERGIN, N. Increase Your Effort Tenfold, 1941 S udesyaterennoy energiyey rabotay dlya fronta [Increase Your Effort Tenfold When Working For the Front]. A poster by Nikolai Kochergin (1897–1974, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), Iskusstvo, 1941, 54 x 71 cm. This August 1941 poster bears the names of two important artists — Nikolai Kochergin designed it, and Vladimir Lebedev was the art editor. Kochergin returns to the imagery of his youth and invokes the archetypical revolutionary metaphor, that of a worker grabbing a bayonet to defend the Republic. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 57 Lot 108 KUKRYNIKSY. Napoleon was Defeated . . ., 1941 Napoleon poterpel porazheniye / To zhe budet i s Zaznavshimsya Gitlerom! [Napoleon Was Defeated, So Will Be Hitler]. Poster by Kukryniksy. Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1941, 88 x 64 cm. This Kukryniksy poster is considered particularly desirable by collectors, primarily for historic reasons — it was produced at the start of the war. $1,200–$1,800 512.jpg

Lot 109 KURDOV, V. Baltiytsy, BK poster, 1941 Baltiytsy [Baltic Fleet Sailors]. Poster by Valentin Kurdov (1905–1989, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation), Boyevoi Karandash series poster, LOSKh, 1941, 56 x 43 cm. Leningrad will never be captured as long as it is protected by the heroic sailors of the Baltic Fleet. Victor Kurdov was one of the Boyevoi Karandash founders, and his work as a posterist is largely tied to this collective. As a young student, Valentin Kurdov worked under Malevich in VKHUTEIN, but encounters with the avant-garde had little effect on his style (at least, on the style of his officially exhibited works), and he went on to a successful career as a realist artist, posterist, and book illustrator. During the Siege, he also produced a well-received series of lithographs (Po Dorogam Voiny [War Roads], 1942–1944). $400–$600

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 58 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 110 LEBEDEV, V. Ran Into Trouble! 1941 Naporolsya! [Ran into Trouble!]. Poster by Vladimir Lebedev (1891–1967, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation), Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1941, 58 x 43 cm. Lebedev’s minimalist design is built on a wordplay — in Russian, “naporolsya na shtyk” literally means “ran into a bayonet”; while the word “naporolsya” alone is used to describe running into unexpected trouble. The organic combination of wit and simplicity is the hallmark of Lebedev’s posters from all periods of his career. Lebedev’s legacy as a posterist can not be overestimated. It is not limited to his collaboration with Mayakovsky on 1917 lubok plakats published by Parus, to the nearly 500 posters of the Petrograd ROSTA period, or to his experiments in lithography through 1920s. Of equal importance is the influence exerted by Lebedev on the whole culture of poster production in Leningrad before the war. Lebedev held a number of important positions in publishing, and this allowed him to nurture talented artists. It is because of Lebedev that art critics now talk of pre-war “poster artists of the Leningrad school”. When it comes to Lebedev’s posters of WWII, one can distinguish two periods. In 1941, Lebedev had little time for making posters on his own. His name appears on scores of Leningrad posters of the period, but usually in the supervisory position, that of the Art Editor. Only a few posters are known from this period drawn by the artist himself. The second period starts with 1942, after his evacuation to Moscow. There, Lebedev started producing posters for TASS Windows on a regular basis. $1,200–$1,800

Lot 111 MURATOV, N. Dva Khrebta, BK poster Dva Khrebta (literal translation Two Spines). A poster of the Boyevoi Karandash series produced by Nikolai Muratov (1908–1992), LOSKh, Leningrad, [1941], no. 53 in the series. It is difficult to come up with an English equivalent of the poster title. The design is based on a wordplay — the Russian word “khrebyot”, depending on context, may mean “spine” or “mountain range”. Hitler dreams of advancing all the way to Ural Mountains that separate European Russia from Asia, but ends up with his spine broken by the relentless blows delivered by the Red Army. Nikolai Muratov worked primarily as a newspaper and magazine artist and as a book illustrator. Efim Efimovsky, in his book about the Boyevoi Karandash, speaks very highly of the artist, declaring him the best satirist among the BK founders. $400–$600

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 59 Lot 112 MURATOV, N. and PETROV, Yu. Three Crosses, 1941 Tri kresta [The Three Crosses]. A Boyevoi Karandash series poster by Nikolai Muratov (1908–1992) and Yurii Petrov (1905–1944), LOSKh, Leningrad, [1941], no. 41 in the series. A German aviator, the recipient of two Iron Crosses, finds his end in the skies over Leningrad. Yurii (Georgii) Petrov was killed at the front in 1944. He was considered a rising star of Soviet graphics before the war; his Spanish Diaries, based on the artist’s experiences in the Spanish Civil War, are praised by modern Russian critics as “one of the most honest, heartfelt cycles in our graphics”. It appears that between 1941 and 1943 he was in charge of Boyevoi Karandash operations; he was also a regular contributor. For information about N. Muratov, see the previous lot. $400–$600

Lot 113 SEROV, V. XXIVth Anniversary of October Revolution, 1941 XXIV Godovshina Oktyabrya [XXIVth Anniversary of October Revolution]. A poster by Vladimir Serov (1910–1968, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1941, 98 x 68 cm. An important Soviet artist, Vladimir Serov spent the first three years of the Patriotic War in Leningrad (1941–1943). As the head of the Leningrad Section of the Artists Union, he carried overall responsibility for the production of propaganda art in the besieged city. Serov eventually became the President of the Soviet Academy of Arts. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 60 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 114 TAMBI, V., and KOBELEV, V. War Episodes, BK poster, 1941 Episody Otechestvennoy Voiny [Episodes of the Patriotic War]. A Boyevoi Karandash series poster (no. 13) produced by the Leningrad artists Vladimir Tambi (1906?-1955) and Vasily Kobelev (1895–1946), LOSKh, Leningrad, 1941, 44 x 61 cm. A collection of vignettes illustrating the heroic deeds of Soviet warriors from the different branches of the armed forces. The names of both artists are quite familiar to collectors of Soviet book graphics. It is worth noting that both artists worked on the children’s maga-zines Czizh and Yozh, and in Detgiz under Lebedev. $500–$700

Lot 115 AKHUNDOV, I. Display Windows Poster, Baku, 1942 Bolgariya, Ruminiya I Vengriya ob’yavili voinu SShA [Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary Declare War on United States]. A bilingual Azeri-Russian language poster in the Display Windows format (no. 59 in the Agitokno series), by Ismail Akhundov (1907–1952, Meritorious Art Worker of Azerbaijan), Azernashr Publishing, Baku, August 1942, 92 x 62 cm. The decision to declare war was actually initiated by the United States (June 5, 1942), but Soviet propagandists thought it fit to portray the Axis members as the true aggressors. Posterist and theater artist Ismail Akhundov held a number of important posts in the art hierarchy of the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic. He was the first head of the Artists Union of Azerbaijan and later became the director of the Museum of Azeri Literature. $1,200–$1,800

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 61 Lot 116 KHALYKOV, G. Display Windows Poster, Baku, 1942 Na Balkanakh [In the Balkans]. A bilingual Azeri-Russian language poster in the display windows format (no. 68 in the Agit-okno series), by Gazzanfar Khalykov (1898–1981, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan), Azernashr, Baku, 1942, 92 x 62 cm. This poster hails the successes of Yugoslavian partisans in their fight against the German and Italian occupiers. $1,200–$1,800

Lot 117 KHARSHAK, A. Leningrad TASS Windows Poster, 1942 Voiny Krasnoy Armii! Besposhadno Mstite . . . [Red Army Warriors! Show No Mercy In Revenging . . .]. A Leningrad TASS Windows series poster by Alexander Kharshak (1908–1982, Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation). Leningrad, 1942. Graphic artist Alexander Kharshak studied under Bilibin and Shillingovsky. In July 1941, he went to the front as a volunteer, later becoming the staff artist of the army newspaper. Kharshak’s posters are largely limited to this period. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 62 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 118 KUKRYNIKSY. Fiery Treatment . . ., 1942 V Moskve kalachi kak ogon’ goryachi / Po nocham fashistskikh gadov gradom ognennykh snaryadov ugoshayut mosckvichi [Moscow Is Famous for Its Fire-Hot Rolls. Every Night, Muscovites Treat The Fascist Scum to a Hail of Fiery Missiles]. A poster by the SY collective, Iskusstvo, Moscow- Leningrad, 1942, 83 x 58 cm. Among numerous awards showered by the Soviet regime on the Kukryniksy trio, one must mention the 1942 Stalin prize for their poster production. $1,200–$1,800

Lot 119 KUKRYNIKSY. Enemy Will Not Escape This Noose, 1942 My zlomy vragu vse otrezhem puti / Iz petli iz etoi yemu ne uity [We Will Cut Off Evil Enemy’s Escape Routes / He Will Not Get Out of This Noose]. A poster by the Kukryniksy collective, Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1942, 89 x 57 cm. New agreements between the U.S. and Russia and the signing of the Anglo-Russian Treaty strengthen the Allies’ cause. $1,500–$2,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 63 Lot 120 PAKHOMOV, A. Extract Revenge!, 1942 Otomsti [Extract Revenge]. A poster after the lithograph of Alexei Palhomov (1900–1973, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), versed text by A. Prokofiev, Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1942, 80 x 58 cm. Artist Alexei Pakhomov excelled in a variety of disciplines, from easel and monumental painting to book and magazine graphics. His talent was noted very early; admirers of the impoverished young prodigy’s talent raised funds to send him to study in St. Petersburg. Pakhomov stayed in Leningrad throughout the Siege, producing posters and lithographs. His lithograph series Leningrad v dni blockady I voiny [Leningrad at the Time of Siege and War] earned him the 1946 Stalin’s Prize. $400–$600

Lot 121 Allies Land in Sicily, Georgian poster, 1943 Allies Land in Sicily. A WWII poster in the Georgian language, Tbilisi, July 1943, 71 x 53 cm. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 64 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 122 Red Army Photo Gazette No. 70, 1943 Fotogazeta [The Photo Gazette], no. 70, photomontage-style broadside produced by the propaganda section of the Political Directorate of Red Army, 1943, 53 x 69 cm. The Photo Gazette was produced on a regular basis (six issues a month) through the whole duration of the Great Patriotic War. $300–$500

Lot 123 ASTAPOV, I. Medal For Defense of Leningrad, 1943 Introduction of the “Za Oborony Leningrada [For The Defense of Leningrad]” Medal (established December 22, 1942). A Boyevoi Karandash poster by Ivan Astapov (1905–1982), text by V. Sayanov, LOSKh, Leningrad, 1943, 55 x 37 cm. Ivan Astapov (1905–1982) studied art at the Saratov Art School and later in Moscow under D. Kardovsky. A well-respected realist painter and book illustrator, Astapov was one of the principals of the “Boyevoi Karandash” during the war, and became the head of the “Boyevoi Karandash” art council after this artist collective was re-established in 1956. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 65 Lot 124 KAZANTSEV, A. Free Me!, 1943 Osvobodi [Free Me!]. Poster by Anatoly Kazantsev (1908–1984), Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1943, 70 x 52 cm. Kazantsev’s posters are largely limited to the war period. He was a well-respected easel and monumentalist painter and a professor at the Vera Mukhina Arts Academy. $500–$700

Lot 125 GADZHIYEV, A. Display Windows Poster, 1942 Doroga na Zapad . . . [Westward Road . . .]. A bilingual Azeri-Russian language poster in the small Display Windows format (No. 120 in the Agit Okno series) by Amir Saakli Gadzhiev (1899–1972, Meritorious Arts Worker of the Soviet Union), Azernashr Publishing, Baku, [1943], 35 x 47 cm. One would not guess it from the poster being offered, but several Russian language art references characterize Amir Gadzhiev as an avant-garde artist. Gadzhiev was a prominent book illustrator; according to the online article by B. Gashizadeh for Bolshaya Entsiklopedia Karikatury, he also worked for a number of Azeri satirical magazines, including the popular Kirpi [The Hedgehog]. $1,000–$1,500

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 66 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 126 OREKHOV, L. Red Army and Armies of Allies . . ., 1943 Krasnaya Armiya sovmestno s armiyami nashikh soyuznikov slomayet khrebet fashistskomu zveryu [The Red Army and the Armies of Our Allies Will Break the Fascist Beast’s Spine]. A poster by Lev Orekhov (1913–1992), Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1943, 89 x 58 cm. The poster production of Leningrad painter Lev Orekhov is limited to the Patriotic War period. $700–$900

Lot 127 PINCHUK, V. Show No Mercy . . ., 1943 Mstit’ besposhadno nemetskim zakhvatchikam za krov’ i slyozy . . . [Show No Mercy to German Occupiers in Revenging the Blood and Tears . . .]. A poster by Veniamin Pinchuk (1908–1987, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union), Iskusstvo, Leningrad, 1943, 72 x 54 cm. During the Siege of Leningrad, renowned sculptor and portraitist Veniamin Pinchuk became a poster artist. Show No Mercy is probably the best known of his war posters. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 67 Lot 128 SOKOLOV-SKALYA, P. TASS Windows Poster no. 675, 1943 Kharkiv Radyans’kii! [Kharkov is Soviet (again)!]. A TASS Windows series poster (text in Ukrainian) by Pavel Sokolov- Skalya (1899–1961, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation), Moscow, 1943, 193 x 84.5 cm. The Red Army recaptures the major Lot 129 Ukrainian city of SOKOLOV-SKALYA, P. TASS Windows Kharkov (February Poster no. 697 1943). This success proved short-lived, Svirepost’ beshenogo psa [Rabid Dog’s as the Germans Ferocity]. A TASS Windows series poster regrouped and by Pavel Sokolov-Skalya (1899–1961), recaptured Kharkov versed text by Demian Bedny. a month later. This German success Hitler’s attacks had gained in ferocity, but as set the stage for the with all rabid dogs, this is a sure sign of an decisive battle of approaching end. the war, the Battle of $2,500–$3,000 Kursk. Kharkov was finally liberated for good in August 1943. Pavel Sokolov- Skalya worked in a variety of genres, ranging from monu-mentalist art to poster production and book design. His career as a posterist spanned over 30 years; during WWII, he was the artistic director of TASS Windows. Awards bestowed on the artist by the regime are too numerous to name — full member of the Soviet Academy of Arts, 1942 and 1949 Stalin Prizes, etc. The 1942 Prize was awarded specifically for Sokolov-Skalya’s contribution to TASS Windows production. $2,000–$3,000

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 68 Patriotic War, 1941–1945 Lot 130 IVANOV, V. Death to Fascists . . ., 1944 Smert’ Fashistam—Deteubiytsam [Death to the Fascists, Killers of Children]. A poster by Victor Ivanov (1909–1968, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1944. Throughout the war years, Victor Ivanov produced a number of highly praised posters that earned him a Stalin Prize. $600–$800

Lot 131 KSENOFONTOV, T. Glory to Stalin’s Falcons, 1944 Slava Stalinskim Sokolam . . . [Glory to Stalin’s Falcons]. A poster by Timofei Ksenofontov (1912–1980?), Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1944, 86 x 60 cm. Leningrad painter and book illustrator Timofei Ksenofontov produced a number of powerful wartime posters, including the iconic Whoever Cometh Onto Us With a Sword. $700–$900

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Lot 132 Late Stalinist Period, 1946–1954 DENI, V. Ye Reap What Ye Sow, 1945 1945 god / Chto poseyal, to I pozhnesh . . . [Year 1945: Ye Reap What Ye Sow]. Poster by Victor Deni (Victor Denisov, 1893–1946), Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1945. This poster, with its limited color palette and laconic design, brings to mind Deni’s seminal works of the Civil War period, maybe even The Third International. $800–$1,200

Lot 133 GOLUB’, P. Glory to Soviet Women, 1947 Slava Sovetskim Zhenshinam [Glory to Soviet Women]. A poster by Pyotr Golub’ (1913–1953), Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1947 Graphic artist Pyotr Golub’ started producing posters in 1930s as a student at the Moscow Surikov Institute (he graduated in 1938). Through his short career he developed a reputation as an excellent posterist and illustrator. The story about his arrest and execution for producing a poster that showed Stalin with a deformed, four-fingered hand appears to be apocryphal. $400–$600

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 70 Late Stalinist Period, 1946–1954 Lot 134 PANKOKS, A. Glory to the Victorious Soviet People, 1947 Slava velikomu sovetskomu narodu, narodu — pobeditelyu! [Glory to the Great Soviet People, the Victors!]. A poster by artist A. Pankoks, Lat. Gosizdat, Riga, 1947, 75 x 50 cm. $300–$500

Lot 135 MALOLETKOV, E. We Were Raised By Stalin, 1948 Nas vyrastil Stalin / Na vernost’ Narodu [We Were Raised by Stalin / To Be Faithful to the People]. A poster by Evgeny Maloletkov (1915–1961), Voyenizdat, Moscow, 1948, 90 x 58 cm. The poster’s caption is borrowed from the Soviet anthem. Moscow graphic artist Evgeny Maloletkov worked for Voyenizdat for many years (1936–1953), with an interruption due to his service in the Army during the war. $400–$600

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Late Stalinist Period, 1946–1954 71 Lot 136 KORETSKY, V., and GITSEVICH, V. Birthplace of Aviation, 1949 Nasha Rodina — Rodina Aviatsii [Our Fatherland Is the Birthplace of Aviation. A poster by Victor Koretsky (1909–1988, Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation), and Vera Gitsevich, Moscow-Leningrad, 1949, 57 x 78 cm. An attractive poster in a mixed photomontage technique seldom used by Soviet posterists at the time. In terms of content, it testifies to the insidious rise of state-sponsored nationalism in the late Stalinist period, when even the history of science and technology was rewritten in a way that underscored the seminal role of Russian scientists and engineers in every scientific discovery. In this case, Russian scientists Zhukovsky and Mozhaisky are declared the inventor of the first airplane and the founder of the theory of flight, respectively. Victor Koretsky’s name is well known to Soviet poster collectors. Moscow artist Vera Gitsevich was Koretsky’s frequent collaborator on various projects (poster, stage design work) since the 1930s. $700–$900

Lot 137 SAMOILOV, L. Democracy Is Unstoppable, 1949 Sil Democratii Ne Ostanovit’! [Forces of Democracy Are Unstoppable!]. A Cold War-period poster by satirical artist Lev Samoilov (1912–1988, published in Estonia (RK Poliitlinie Kirjandus), 1949 Lev Samoilov’s art studies were interrupted in 1940 by the Finnish war. He spent the next six years serving as a sailor with the Baltic Fleet, taking part in the defense of Tallinn in 1941 and in the defense of Leningrad. Throughout the war years he continued to draw, mostly for the Fleet newspapers, and produced a number of posters. After the war, he became a popular satirical artist, working for over 30 years at Krokodil magazine. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 72 Late Stalinist Period, 1946–1954 Lot 138 GOLUB’, P. Peace Is Happiness, 1953 Mir — eto schast’ye [Peace Is Happiness]. A poster by Pyotr Golub’ (1913–1953), IZOGIZ, Moscow, 81 x 52 cm. The poster notes the signing of the Korean War Armistice. It is one of the last posters produced by the artist, who died in Moscow the year this poster was produced, at the young age of 40. $600–$800

Lot 139 IVANOV, V. Forward, Towards the Triumph . . ., 1954 Vpered, k tozhestvu Kommunisma! [Forward, Towards the Triumph of Communism!]. A 1954 poster after a 1953 lithograph by Viktor Ivanov (1909–1968, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), IZOGIZ, Moscow, 94 x 66 cm. $300–$500

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Lot 140 Early 1960s KORETSKY, V. Russia and Ukraine, 1954 Slav’sya, Otechestvo . . . [Glory to Our Fatherland . . .]. A poster by a group of artists headed by Viktor Koretsky (1909–1968), Izogiz, Moscow, 1954, 105 x 69 cm. The poster celebrates the tercentenary of a union between Russia and Ukraine. The poster caption uses lines from the Soviet Anthem. $500–$700

Lot 141 VOLIKOV, V. Shame On American Imperialism, 1962 Pozor amerikanskomu imperializmu [Shame On American Imperialism]. A poster by Vadim Volikov (1927–1989), IZOGIZ, Moscow, 1962, 90 x 58 cm. The poster portrays the Soviet reaction to Operation Dominic I, a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the vicinity of the Christmas Island. The first test, an airdrop of a 190-kiloton thermonuclear device, took place on April 25, 1962; this date is incorporated into the poster design. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 74 Early 1960s Lot 142 KORETSKY, V. Stigmata of American Democracy, 1963 Pozornoye kleimo americanskoy democratii [Stigmata of American Democracy]. A poster by Victor Koretsky (1909–1988), Izogiz, Moscow, 1963, 85 x 59 cm Koretsky responds to reports about the murder of Medgar Evers. A powerful poster, strikingly different from the one offered as lot 140, and far less constrained in design than his 1949 “Russia is the Birthplace of Aviation” (lot 136). The poster serves as evidence of the immediate impact of Khrushchev’s “thaw” — the artist no longer feels constrained by the procrustean rules of the rigid Social Realism canon. $1,000–$1,500

Lot 143 KORETSKY, V. No to War, 1964 Nyet — voine! [No To War!]. A photomontage poster by Victor Koretsky, Sovetsky Khudozhnik, Moscow, 1964, 92 x 66 cm. A poster worthy of the Klutsis’s and Heartfield’s tradition of political photomontage. $800–$1,200

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Lot 144 Space Posters IVANOV, V. Solidarity Is the Weapon of Victory, 1964 Mir na Zemle otstoim / Solidarnost’ — oruzhiye pobedy! [We Will Defend Peace on Earth! Solidarity Is the Weapon of Victory!]. A poster by Viktor Ivanov (1909–1968, Meritorious Art Worker of the Russian Federation), [Izogiz, Moscow], 1964, 200 x 67 cm. The gallery of “fighters for peace” on this oversized poster is comprised mostly of stock images, but it also includes Fidel Castro and Patrice Lumumba. $800–$1,200

Lot 145 VIKTOROV, V. Creative Forces of Socialism . . ., 1959 Tvorcheskiye sily sotsializma bespredel’ny! [Creative Forces of Socialism Are Limitless!. A photomontage poster by Valentin Viktorov (1909–1981), IZOGIZ, Moscow, 1959, 88 x 58 cm. The poster celebrates the successful launch of the Luna 3 probe that photographed, for the first time, the far side of the Moon. A veteran poster artist, Valentin Viktorov produced his first posters in the mid-1930s. He also worked as a magazine and book illustrator, and is credited with designing the interior of Soviet pavilions at several international exhibitions. $700–$900

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 76 Space Posters Lot 146 BELOMLINSKY, M. The World Is Raving Again, 1963 Mir vostorgayetsya opyat’ [The World Is Raving Again]. A poster by Mikhail Belomlinsky (b. 1934), Boyevoi Karandash, Leningrad, 1963, 43 x 57 cm. A space poster issued to commemorate the Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 group flight. The pilot of the latter spaceship was Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly to space. Artist Mikhail Belomlinsky has worked as a posterist, magazine artist, and book illustrator, first in Leningrad and later in New York. $500–$700

Lot 147 KHUDYAKOV, L. First Woman in Space, BK poster, 1963 Vostok-6. A poster by Leonid Khudyakov (1915–?) commemorating the first space flight by a woman (Valentina Tereshkova, June 1963), Boyevoi Karandash, Leningrad, 1963, 43 x 56 cm Leonid Khudyakov was a highly respected graphic artist and a full professor at the Repin Arts Institute in Leningrad. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Space Posters 77 Lot 148 VIKTOROV, V. USSR Is the Birthplace . . ., 1964 SSSR — Rodina Kosmonavtiki [USSR Is the Birthplace of Astronautics]. A poster by Valentin Viktorov (1909–1981), Sovetsky Khudozhnik, Moscow, 1964, 107 x 58 cm. This poster was produced to mark the unveiling of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space complex, and depicts its main architectural feature — a 107-meter tall obelisk clad in titanium. For information on the artist, see the description in lot 146. $500–$700

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011 Twentieth Century Russian and Soviet Posters

September 18, 2011 at 1 p.m. Internet and Mail bid auction

Yakov Lurye, AUctioneer

Pre-auction viewing is available March 4–5, at the Cranbury, NJ offices of Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, by appointment only. Please call us in advance at +1.609.632-1692 with a list of lots you wish to view. Correspondence may be sent to Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, P. O. Box 3040, Princeton NJ 08540. Phone: +1.609.632.1692 Fax: +1.609.235.9667 email: [email protected] Website: www.memiauctions.com

Fall Auction Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, Llc September 18, 2011