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"We offer trade and competition!"

Poster
1959 (made)
Artist/Maker
State Publishing House of Art (printers)
Govorkov, V. (artist)
Schetkin, G. (editor)
Place of origin
USSR (made)
Moscow (made)

The figure of the fat American wearing a top hat is an archetypal image of the "capitalist oppressor" often deployed in Soviet propaganda. This poster proclaims Soviet confidence in the superiority of their industrial production and trade during the Cold War waged against America.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Politics
Posters
Object type
Poster
Title"We offer trade and competition!"
Materials and techniques
colour lithograph
Paper
Ink
Brief description
"We offer trade and competition!" Soviet propaganda poster. Lenin extending a trade agreement to overseas capitalist. USSR, 1959.
Physical description
In the foreground is an imposing Soviet man whose likeness is based upon that of Communism's founding father Lenin. His left hand rests on a box of cargo marked "export" (in English and Russian). The Soviet flag appears in the top right corner. An industrial crane hangs in the background. Ships bearing Soviet flags are shown embarking for trade journeys. In the figure's right hand is a piece of paper labelled "Trade Agreement". He offers this document with an outstretched arm to a (significantly smaller) fat capitalist standing beneath an American flag. This figure is surrounded by frost-covered cargo.
Dimensions
  • Height: 57.2cm
  • Width: 80.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Artist V. Govorkov, Editor G. Schetkin. W01216. Publication No 1-40. 5/ III 1959. Volume 1 b.e. Tirage 35,000. Order No 2886. Price 1 rouble (lower left margin)
  • from 1.1.1961 the price is 10 kopek (stamped in lower left corner.)
  • State Publishing House of Art (ISOGIS) Moscow 1959. (centre of lower margin)
  • First exemplary Typography named after A.A. Zhdanov of moscow City Economic Council Mosocw, G-54, 28 Valovaya Street. (lower right margin)
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Propaganda
Communism
Socialism
Trade
Competition
Lenin
Places depicted
USSR
United States
Summary
The figure of the fat American wearing a top hat is an archetypal image of the "capitalist oppressor" often deployed in Soviet propaganda. This poster proclaims Soviet confidence in the superiority of their industrial production and trade during the Cold War waged against America.
Bibliographic reference
Baburina, N.I. The Soviet Political Poster 1917-1980 from the USSR Lenin Library Collection, Sovietsky Khudozhnik Publishers, Moscow, 1985
Other number
LS.1420 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1756-2004

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Record createdDecember 20, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107984/we-offer-trade-and-competition-poster-govorkov-v/
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