Krasnaya Armiya - chasovoy revolyutsii [The Red Army is the Sentry of the Revolution], a poster by Vladimir Shtranikh (1888-1971, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union). AKhR Publishing, Moscow, 67.5 x 104 cm.

Vladimir Shtranikh was a graduate of the prestigious Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, and interned as a stage artist under Konstantin Korovine. Later, he enjoyed a robust career as a successful genre and landscape painter.

During his lifetime, Shtranikh’s Constructivist graphic works of the 1920-1930s attracted little attention, but this is no longer the case. These days, Shtrankh is hailed as “a graphic artist whose dynamic posters, book and magazine covers and newspaper designs are superb representations of the genre” (commentary to lot 222, November 2012 Russian Paintings Sale, London). A large exhibit of Strankih’s graphic works, “Konstruktivizm Vladimira Shtranikha” was organized in Moscow in 2011.