GRIBACHEV, N. M. (edt.)

Soviet Union. Illustrated monthly. Published in six languages:Russian, Chinese, English, French, German and Spanish. No. 1, March 1950.

Moscow, 1950.

Folio. Orig. illustrated coloured photomontage wrappers. Nice and clean w. minor brownspotting to upper part of front wrapper and inside of back wrapper. Minor wear to back. Illustrated throughout, partly in colour.

In English. This seminal propaganda monthly was published under the Stalinist regime, initially from 1930 till 1941 in Russian, French, German, English and briefly in Spanish. When Russia was invaded by the Nazis, the magazine had to fold and was not revived untill 1949. The original title of the publication was "USSR in Construction", which was changed to "Soviet Union" in 1950. The point of the publication was to inform Western readers about the hyper-construction the nation was allegedly undergoing at the time and to give the impression of the Soviet Union as a leading industrial power. From 1949, after The Second World War, the monthly was naturally dedicated to the rebuilding of the Soviet Union, -it set out to establish the Soviet Union as a leading nation and Communism as the best form of government. The magazine is renowned for its importance to Russian art at the time. The avant-garde movement greatly benefitted from this publication with its minimal text and demand for photos, which resulted in amazing photography, photomontages, fold-outs etc. Over the years the artists/ designers of the magazine have included names such as Nikolai Troshin, El Lissitsky, Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova.

Order-nr.: 31411