Poster
- Place of origin:
Russia (published)
- Date:
1921 (published)
- Artist/Maker:
Mikhail Cheremnykh, born 1890 - died 1962 (artist)
Glavpolitprosvet (publisher) - Materials and Techniques:
Colour stencil on paper
- Museum number:
E.1241-1933
- Gallery location:
In Storage
From 1919 the Russian Telegraph Agency issued Bolshevik propaganda ROSTA Windows. These striking wall newspapers comprised sequences of four to twelve narrative images on a single sheet. They were reproduced from colour stencils. The simplified forms and bold colours exploited the limitations of the technique. They reflected the enthusiasm of their avant-garde designers for the traditional lubok, a Russian popular print. This example is a hostile account of a delegation, sent by the anti-Bolshevik allied powers and led by Joseph Noulens, to investigate the famine in Russia. Bolshevik supporters claimed that this mission covertly sought to destabilise Lenin's new regime. The captions, probably by the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, read as follows. 1. In the luxury carriage, in the salon wagon, three Frenchmen travel and talk among themselves. 2. Noulens says, shaking with laughter, 'What fun we'll have. 3. When we reach the famine areas we'll issue a manifesto. 4. If you want to eat to your heart's content, then down with Soviet power. 5. Here is your Tsar and your Tsarina, and here is rye and wheat.' 6. Says Gireau [?], winking slyly, 7. 'That's nothing - we'll get them up against the wall first. 8. Let them sweat a bit, as they should, and then they can eat.' 9. Says General Bravy [?], 'We know you will feed the whole crowd, 10. We'll reduce their numbers a bit, and leave the quiet ones. 11. Anyone who looks like a troublemaker - we'll give them trouble.' 12. Friends, go away at once. Russia is not your homeland.
