?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
DESIGNER UNKNOWN
[MEYERHOLD THEATER / THE FOREST]. Circa 1925.
35x25 3/4 inches, 89x65 1/2 cm. Mospoligraf, Moscow. Condition A-: minor repaired tears at edges; minor creases at edges and in image; mounted on thin paper; hinged to mat. Framed.
Vsevolod Meyerhold was known as a prominent actor and director at his self-named theater in Moscow between 1923 and 1938. A visionary director who was revolutionary in his style, Meyerhold pioneered the concept of biomechanics: "Its purpose was to widen the emotional potential of a theater piece and express thoughts and ideas that could not be easily presented through the naturalistic theater of the period" (Wikipedia). In a collection of articles published in 1926 by the Meyerhold Theatre, Alexander Slonimsky wrote: "The Forest reflects the revolutionary upsurge at the beginning of the 1870s, and it is for this reason that Meyerhold chose to stage this play in particular. In it, the object of the satire is not the mercantile middle class as is usually the case with Ostrovsky, but the landowning gentry in decline after the abolition of serfdom" (https://monoskop.org/images/8/88/Braun_Edward_Meyerhold_A_Revolution_in_Theatre.pdf). Receiving much critical response and inspiring over 50 articles over the following months, "The Forest remained permanently in Meyerhold's repertoire for the next fourteen years, being performed over 1700 times" (ibid). Many of the broadsides used to promote plays at the theatre reflect avant-garde typographic influences which were prevalent in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 30s. These posters were often designed by the same person who designed the sets and costumes for specific productions. The designs of these letterpress posters are consistent with the constructivist ideals of the theatre; they feature letter forms without adornment and through letterpress printing emphasize the importance of each small piece of type. Rare.
![DESIGNER UNKNOWN. [MEYERHOLD THEATER / THE FOREST]. Circa 1925. 35x25¾ inches, 89x65½ cm. Mospoligraf, Moscow.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//831\794831.jpg)
