Ege, kapitalistu gore! Zagonim ego v Cherno more. [Aha, the Capitalist Is in Trouble! — We’ll Force Him into the Black Sea], a poster by Nikolai Kochergin (1897–1974), Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation). Printed at Levin Printing Works, Kharkov, 1919. 102 x 70.3 cm

An attractive poster in the lubok style of ROSTA Windows, signed “N. K.” in the plate. We have seen this poster dated to both 1919 and 1920. A look at the artist’s biography seems to suggest that Kochergin worked in Kharkov in 1919, and later returned to Moscow. If produced in 1919, the poster probably reflects the Soviet reaction to the evacuation of French forces from Odessa (April 1919).

In The Bolshevik Poster, Stephen White argues that Nikolai Kochergin must be considered one of the most important Soviet poster artists of the Revolutionary period. White’s monograph contains a fairly detailed account of his 1918–1921 activities based on Kochergin’s memoir. Later, the artist settled in Petrograd, where he continued to produce posters and cartoons, while also working as a book illustrator and theater artist.

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