Donbass is Reviving! (TASS Poster 1053)

ClassificationsPrinted Materials-advertisements

Artist Victor Pavlovich Sokolov

Author Aleksei Ivanovich Mashistov

Publisher Tass News Agency

Date1944

Made AtMoscow, Moscow Oblast, Russia, Europe

MediumHand-painted stencil on paper

Dimensions57 3/4 × 45 1/8 in. (146.7 × 114.6 cm)

Credit LineBowers Museum Collection

Object number2019.14.2

DescriptionTitled Donbass is Reviving!, the poster was created in 1944 by Viktor Pavlovich Sokolov with text by Aleksei Ivanovich Mashistov. Sokolov was an artist for TASS studios who created around 34 propaganda posters during World War Two. Sokolov was also the son of the TASS studio artistic director of the time, Pavel Sokolov-Skalia. Similarly, Mashistov was one of the most prolific writers for TASS studio, as well as an accomplished librettist who adapted several literary works into operas. The TASS News Agency, a Soviet government owned company originally formed in 1904, was the sole news outlet that had authority to gather and control information throughout the Soviet Union.The poster depicts a man gesturing towards a rebuilding city with a thriving industrial plant in the distance. It is in reference to the retaking and rebuilding of the industrial region of southwestern Russia known as Donbass (Donets Basin), with the text at the bottom mentioning the renewed sources of metal, coal, and ore the region would provide for the Soviet Union. The poster was made on short-fibered pulp paper; similar to newspaper quality, and then a stencil cut out was used to individually paint each copy by hand. Any additional pieces were glued on top of each copy.

On View

Not on view

Collections