Golodat’ ne pridyotsya, ne pridyotsya pobirat’sya / Yesli u nas sil’na kooperatsiya [ When Cooperatives Are Strong, You Won’t Have to Starve, and You Won’t Have to Beg ], a poster by [Alexei Levin (1893-1968)], Cooperation Publishing, c. 1924-1925. 69.6 x 50.9 cm.

A remarkable poster that seamlessly incorporates Constructivist sensibilities into a ROSTA Windows style lubok design. Equally striking is the accompanying long-verse text - this describer’s first thought was, “Was this written by Mayakovsky?“ Unfortunately, this may not be the case - Mayakovsky’s poster texts have been meticulously catalogued, and unless this is one of the “lost posters”, unseen by researchers, or known only from the surviving publishers’ ledger receipts, the text would be found in Mayakovsky’s Complete Works. Still, the influence of the poet’s unique, almost inimitable style is undeniable. Barring the authorship of Mayakovsky himself, one has to think of Nikolai Aseev, Mayakovsky’s close collaborator and confidant.

It should be noted that through 1924-1925, LEF poets and artists maintained a good working relationship with Cooperative Publishing. For example, in 1924, Mayakovsky received an order for the text for 12 posters (with Varvara Stepanova providing the designs). In addition, in 1924-1925, Cooperative Publishing published two of Mayakovsky and Aseev’s collaborative poems that, like the poster shown, dealt with the “Peasantry and Cooperation“ topic.

With these observations in mind, we are fairly certain that this poster was produced by a Constructivist artist close to Mayakovsky’s circle. The consignor’s more narrow attribution of the poster to Alexei Levin may require further corroboration, but it definitely passes the plausibility test. Levin knew Mayakovsky and Aseyev since the ROSTA days, and in 1922-1925 collaborated with them on a wide range of projects, from designing candy wrappers to producing posters. He also illustrated the 1924 edition of the Mayakovsky/Aseyev collaborative propaganda poem “Rasskaz o Klime… [Story about Klim…]“. This is a late arrival, so we did not have time to dig deeper, but this poster definitely merits an in-depth research.

Search extension words: Russian poster, Soviet propaganda poster.