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'Grigorian's Collection offers a rare glimpse into a lost world.'Sunday Herald, May 2007'Totalitarianism never looked so good.'Gay Times, June 2007'These posters look completely at odds with most current graphic design, and it's this that makes them so refreshing to look at. There's nothing subtle about them ... but it's their directness that makes them so charming.'Grafik, July 2007' ... this compact monograph ... contains plenty to admire.'Wallpaper*, August 2007
Product Description
This massive book of Soviet propaganda posters, many rare and never before published, is at once a revealing historical document and a sublime example of graphic art at its best. Dating from 1917 to the beginning of the Cold War, the posters in this book feature the work of such major Russian ground-breaking avant-garde designers as El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko as well as extraordinary works by anonymous artists. Presented in full color, the 250 posters gathered here range in themes from warnings about the dangers of alcohol abuse and the creeping Nazi menace to illustrations of utopian harmony and the Soviet industrial machine. A brief illustrated introduction offers a chronological overview of the period that produced such eloquent art, which has long been a major source of inspiration to artists and designers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was intrigued to read in the intro of this excellent book that the posters shown were printed in quantities of between five thousand and a hundred thousand and mostly had a rather short lifespan so we must be grateful to Sergo Grigorian for having the foresight and enthusiasm to create his collection.
I thought the early posters, from the 1918 onwards, are the most fascinating. There are several in the best Constructivist tradition, page fifty-four has a stunning typographic one designed by Sorbonski or page seventy-two with a movie poster showing a painting of two revolutionary peasants using a machine gun integrated into display headlines and text. However as you look through the pages the graphic style, especially after 1945, slowly morphs into safe predictable State style with plenty of happy children and contemporary versions of Stakhanovites leading the workers into the dazzling future.
The last book section with posters from 1965 to 2001 do show however a rather wide graphic style with strong abstracts, even a bit of pop art, photo montage and on page 223 a very western European style poster for a Russian shotgun (in English for Raznoexport). The last poster in the book by Vladimir and Georgy Sternberg, from 2001, celebrates past Soviet culture with ten mini posters of famous films.
Overall I thought an excellent selection of posters presented in a well produced book (and good value for the price) but there were a couple of annoying editorial flaws. The page numbers are turned sideways and they assume a bit more importance than the average publication because the details about each poster are at the back of the book and it is rather frustrating to have to keeping turning backwards and forwards. Made perhaps more annoying because there is plenty of space on each page for the captions.
I understand that Prestel will have a similar book of North Korean posters out later this year.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
I thought the early posters, from the 1918 onwards, are the most fascinating. There are several in the best Constructivist tradition, page fifty-four has a stunning typographic one designed by Sorbonski or page seventy-two with a movie poster showing a painting of two revolutionary peasants using a machine gun integrated into display headlines and text. However as you look through the pages the graphic style, especially after 1945, slowly morphs into safe predictable State style with plenty of happy children and contemporary versions of Stakhanovites leading the workers into the dazzling future.
The last book section with posters from 1965 to 2001 do show however a rather wide graphic style with strong abstracts, even a bit of pop art, photo montage and on page 223 a very western European style poster for a Russian shotgun (in English for Raznoexport). The last poster in the book by Vladimir and Georgy Sternberg, from 2001, celebrates past Soviet culture with ten mini posters of famous films.
Overall I thought an excellent selection of posters presented in a well produced book (and good value for the price) but there were a couple of annoying editorial flaws. The page numbers are turned sideways and they assume a bit more importance than the average publication because the details about each poster are at the back of the book and it is rather frustrating to have to keeping turning backwards and forwards. Made perhaps more annoying because there is plenty of space on each page for the captions.
I understand that Prestel will have a similar book of North Korean posters out later this year.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book for anybody looking for a general slice of poster art during the 20th century from the soviet countries. Shame that there doens't seem to be anything else available more specific to particular artists or decades.
Overall, a decent book with nicely printed pages.
Overall, a decent book with nicely printed pages.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A really nice coffee table book, full of interesting posters. I just keep picking it up and leafing through it again and again... Lovely.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
great book
Great book, good size images and just the right amount of text/history. If you are interested in the subject get this book you will enjoy it.
Published on 13 Jan 2010 by M. Simmons
im a student and i ...
..really enjoyed this book and it really helped me to compare images when i was writing an essay on constructivism. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2009 by C. Newman
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