picture 1
Artist Unknown.
Rot Front! (Red Front! Freedom to the prisoners of Fascism), 1939

picture 2
Zvorykin, B.
The Struggle of the Red Knight with the Dark Force, 1919

picture 3
Moor, Dimitri.
1st of May - A Festival of Labor, 1920

picture 4
Moor, Dimitri.
The Last Decisive Battle, 1920

picture 5
Moor, Dimitri.
Be on Guard!, 1921

Collecting Soviet Posters
Soviet posters are a relatively new area of collecting. Virtually unavailable in the West until Perestroika, they were thoroughly researched by Stephen White in his 1988 monograph The Bolshevik Poster. With the decline of Communism, there is more interest than ever in the images from this bold social experiment.

Although most Soviet posters were issued in editions of 5,000 to 50,000, they are extremely rare today. The primary reason is that most posters - as intended - were posted, and survived only weeks or months. The remainder were generally not recognized as valuable historical documents or collectibles at the time they were printed. They usually were recycled or lost due to the ravages of war or neglect. Others were destroyed for political reasons (it was dangerous to keep images of Trotsky after 1928, for example).

The mid-'80s saw a steady trickle of images out of Russia, but that trickle has slowed, and many of the highest quality pieces are already unavailable. The works of Rodchenko, Lissitsky and Klutsis can reach into the tens of thousands, but many museum caliber pieces from before World War II are available at $300 to $1500. The Bolshevik period is particularly filled with collecting opportunities. Post WWII images can be found at less cost, but still are fascinating and valuable as collectibles.


this research shows that in order for ilya kabakov to plaster the walls of his installation in these posters he must have had some great demination and will power to find these things.
did the posters provoke some kind of reaction for him to go adhead with the build of his idea?
picture number 1 espically pay's reference to the feeling of escape.
if the man who flew to space had this particular poster would it have given him the reason to "escape" his life and build the contraption?
maybe these pictures and posters were his inspiration and his spur to help finish his dream??????